In Brief: Chad Marshall’s first-half goal enough, Sounders beat Fire 1-0
Soccer: Chad Marshall headed in a corner kick in the 24th minute, and the host Seattle Sounders beat the Chicago Fire 1-0 on Wednesday night to get back into the MLS playoff picture.
The Sounders (12-13-5) have 41 points and climbed into a tie with idle Portland for the sixth and final playoff berth in the Western Conference. Seattle still has one game at hand on the defending champion Timbers, and also has one more win. Total wins is the first tiebreaker.
Chicago (6-15-9) was eliminated from postseason contention. The Fire have four games remaining and can finish with no more than 39 points. D.C. United is sixth in the East with 40 points after beating Columbus earlier Wednesday.
Andreas Ivanschitz set up Marshall’s fourth goal of the season with a corner kick from the right wing side. The ball floated to the top right corner of the 6-yard box, and Marshall went up with a twisting header that went into the far side of the net, way beyond the reach of goalkeeper Sean Johnson.
D.C. United blanks Crew: Lloyd Sam opened the scoring in the 71st minute, Lamar Neagle had a late goal and assist, and D.C. United beat the Columbus Crew 3-0 in Washingtin for their first two-game winning streak of the season.
D.C. United (9-9-13) remained in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, but moved just two points behind fourth-place Philadelphia. Columbus (7-12-11) is ninth.
Toronto FC leads conference: Toronto FC regained the Eastern Conference lead with a 0-0 draw with visiting Orlando City.
It was the third straight draw at BMO Field for Toronto, extending its unbeaten streak to four. Greg Vanney’s team has lost just once in 12 games (7-1-4). But it has not won at home since Aug. 6, going 0-1-3.
Manchester City rallies, ties Celtic: Manchester City came from behind three times to draw 3-3 at Celtic in a Champions League thriller in Glasgow, Scotland, that ended the English team’s 100 percent start to the season under new coach Pep Guardiola.
City’s winning run to open the campaign stopped at 10 games in all competitions – one short of matching the English record – in a Group C match littered with poor defending by both teams at Parkhead.
Fernandinho and Raheem Sterling scored equalizers for City in an action-packed first half after Celtic went ahead twice through Moussa Dembele, in the third minute, and Sterling’s own goal in the 20th.
Dembele restored Celtic’s lead barely a minute into the second half after Aleksandar Kolarov’s defensive error, only for Nolito to equalize for City in the 55th.
Watt on IR, out for minimum eight weeks
NFL: J.J. Watt is out until at least December and could miss the rest of the season with an injured back, leaving the Texans searching for ways to deal with the loss of the NFL’s best defensive player. Watt was placed on injured reserve, which means he’ll be out for a minimum of eight weeks. Coach Bill O’Brien said Watt had re-injured his back and putting him on IR was the best thing for his long-term health. It is unclear if Watt’s injury will require surgery.
Supreme Court asked to block concussion settlement: A second petition has been filed asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reject the $1 billion settlement of NFL concussion lawsuits because of how it treats current brain injuries versus future ones.
The former players who filed the petition complain that chronic traumatic encephalopathy diagnosed before the April 2015 cutoff can bring $4 million while future CTE diagnoses aren’t compensated. They say that violates Supreme Court rulings that insist each subgroup in a class action settlement be treated fairly.
The petition, filed Monday, echoes earlier complaints that the lead players’ lawyers signed a quick deal with the NFL in 2013 favoring their clients over thousands of others. Lawyers on the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee, who negotiated the deal, reject those arguments and say the appeals are holding up payments that ailing retirees need.
CTE, a degenerative disease found in people who’ve suffered severe hits to their heads or repeated concussions such as boxers and other athletes, currently can be diagnosed only at autopsy.
NFL receives overall B grade in diversity report card: The NFL received a high grade for its racial hiring practices and a C+ for its gender hiring efforts in 2016, according to a diversity report.
The annual report by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport gave the league its seventh consecutive A on racial hiring practices and a combined grade of B for hiring minorities and women. The second straight C+ indicates the NFL still has a long way to go in improving hiring opportunities for women, but it is a dramatic improvement from two years ago, when the numbers were abysmal.
Bryant could be out with knee injury: Cowboys’ Dez Bryant could be joining Tony Romo on the sidelines again. Dallas said there’s a chance Bryant could play Sunday in San Francisco despite a hairline fracture in his right knee.
Bryant didn’t practice Wednesday, three days after the receiver was hurt in a win over Chicago, and the same day he had the MRI that revealed the fracture.
Lynx beat Mercury in Game 1 of semifinals
WNBA: Maya Moore scored 31 points, including 15 in the second quarter, as the Minnesota Lynx opened their WNBA title defense with a 113-95 win over the Phoenix Mercury in the first game of the WNBA semifinals in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Lindsay Whalen added 19 points and seven assists for top-seed Minnesota, which has beat Phoenix in all four meetings this season. Center Sylvia Fowles scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as the Lynx broke the WNBA record for points in a regulation playoff game.
Diana Taurasi scored 25 points for the Mercury, who won the matchup between the two teams in 2014 on the way to their own championship. Brittney Griner added 16 points for Phoenix but was held to just two rebounds.
Game 2 of the best-of-five series is Friday night.
San Antonio wins the draft lottery: San Antonio won the WNBA draft lottery and will have the No. 1 pick next April. The Stars, who have the top choice for the first time, had a 44 percent chance to secure the No. 1 selection based on having the worst combined record the past two seasons.
The Washington Mystics will pick second with the Dallas Wings going third and the Los Angeles Sparks fourth.
Gov. Ricketts, anthem protester to meet
Miscellany: Gov. Pete Ricketts has agreed to meet next week with one of the Nebraska football players he criticized for kneeling during the national anthem at the Cornhuskers’ most recent game. Michael Rose-Ivey and two teammates each took a knee before last Saturday’s game at Northwestern as a protest against police brutality and racial injustice.
Ricketts spokesman Taylor Gage said a day for the meeting had not been set but that it would be held next week, at Rose-Ivey’s request, so it doesn’t interfere with football game preparation. The Cornhuskers don’t have a game on Oct. 8.
After Ricketts called the act “disgraceful” and “disrespectful” on his radio show Monday, Rose-Ivey tweeted at Ricketts that he would like to discuss the issue with him.
Ricketts on Tuesday night responded on Twitter: “Thanks for reaching out. Direct message me your information, and we will get something set up right away!”
No. 1 Kerber falls to Kvitova: Angelique Kerber lost for the first time since becoming the No. 1-ranked player, losing to Petra Kvitova in the third round of the Wuhan (China) Open. Kvitova saved 17 of 22 break points on her way to the 6-7 (10), 7-5, 6-4 win over Kerber, who committed eight double faults.