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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

In brief: PSG hands Barcelona first loss

PSG players celebrate after Marco Verratti scored his side's second goal during the Champions League soccer match. (Associated Press)
From Staff And Wire Reports

Soccer: Paris Saint-Germain overcame goals from Lionel Messi and Neymar to inflict Barcelona’s first loss of the season on Tuesday.

PSG, which has endured a subdued start to its French title defense, took control of Group F with the 3-2 victory over the Spanish league leaders in the Champions League at Paris.

“You are made to pay for errors at this level and we made a few mistakes at the beginning,” Barcelona coach Luis Enrique said.

It was a star-studded occasion in the French capital – even in the stands, with celebrity couple Jay-Z and Beyonce watching with former PSG midfielder David Beckham.

And it was the perfect start for the hosts, with David Luiz becoming the first player to score against Barcelona this season in the 10th minute after connecting with Javier Pastore’s free kick.

Slack defending by Barcelona allowed Marco Verratti – one of the smallest players on the pitch – to drift in unmarked and head in his first PSG goal on his 62nd appearance in the 26th minute. PSG’s lead was extended at the start of the second half when Gregory Van der Wiel’s firmly struck cross was met by Blaise Matuidi at the back post.

Elsewhere, it was a record-breaking night for 38-year-old Francesco Totti, who became the oldest scorer in the competition’s 22-year history to give Roma a 1-1 draw at Manchester City. Bayern Munich leads Group E after winning 1-0 at CSKA Moscow, whose stadium was empty as a punishment for racist abuse.

Chelsea also beat Sporting Lisbon 1-0 to lead Group G, with Schalke held to a 1-1 draw by Maribor.

FC Porto leads Group H after a 2-2 draw against Shakhtar Donetsk that was played in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv due to the conflict in the east. BATE climbed to second place by beating Athletic Bilbao 2-1.

FIFA keeping plan to play on artificial turf

Women’s soccer: A FIFA official visiting Canada in advance of the Women’s World Cup next summer says there are no plans to reconsider playing the premier tournament on artificial turf.

A group of players are currently preparing a lawsuit in protest of the turf surface, claiming that it exacerbates injuries, and changes the way the ball moves and the players react. At the heart of the matter is gender discrimination, because the men’s World Cup would never be played on fake grass, the athletes say.

Tatjana Haenni, FIFA’s deputy director of the competitions division and head of women’s competitions, said: “We play on artificial turf and there’s no Plan B.”

Ogwumike has 18 as U.S. routs Angola

Basketball: Nneka Ogwumike scored 18 points to lead the U.S. women’s national team to a record 119-44 rout of Angola on Tuesday night and close out preliminary play at the women’s world championship in Istanbul.

The U.S. (3-0) will next play Friday in the quarterfinals against the winner of Canada and the Czech Republic.

The U.S. led 33-11 after one quarter and Maya Moore’s three-point play just before the half made it 61-25 as the Americans put on an offensive clinic, shooting 70 percent at the break.

The lead kept growing in the second half and the U.S. broke the team record for margin of victory, surpassing the 70-point win over Senegal in 1990.

The United States, Australia, Spain and Turkey all have won their groups and earned byes to the quarterfinals.

Nadal returns from injury for victory

Tennis: Rafael Nadal made a dominant return to tennis after a two-month injury layoff, beating Richard Gasquet 6-4, 6-0 at the China Open in Beijing.

Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray also advanced to the second round in vastly different fashion.

The top-ranked Djokovic improved to 20-0 at the China Open with a routine 6-2, 6-1 win over Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, while Murray took 2 1/2 hours to put away Poland’s Jerzy Janowicz 6-7 (9), 6-4, 6-2.

On the women’s side, Serena Williams had a far easier time than she did in her opening match, topping Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria 6-2, 6-3. A day earlier, Williams came from 5-0 down to beat Silvia Soler-Espinosa.

Fourth-seeded Maria Sharapova also moved on with a 6-2, 6-2 second-round win over Elina Svitolina of Ukraine and Venus Williams avenged a loss to France’s Caroline Garcia at last week’s Wuhan Open with a 6-4, 6-3 victory.

Top-seeded Wawrinka upset: Japanese wildcard entry Tatsuma Ito upset Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka 7-5, 6-2 to advance to the second round of the Japan Open in Tokyo.

The No. 103-ranked Ito converted all four of his breakpoint chances to dispatch top-seeded Wawrinka in 1 hour, 19 minutes at Ariake Coliseum.

Prosecutor: No need for new O.J. trial

Football: Former NFL star O.J. Simpson got a fair trial after a hotel room heist and there’s no need for another trial following his 2008 conviction and imprisonment on kidnapping and armed robbery charges, prosecutors told the Nevada Supreme Court.

Simpson hasn’t proved that his trial lawyer, Yale Galanter, botched his case and had conflicted interests, Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said in documents filed Sept. 24 urging the state high court to reject Simpson’s latest bid for freedom.

Simpson, now 67, is serving nine to 33 years in prison. He won’t be eligible for parole until 2017.