Palmeiras are in control of their last-16 tie against Cerro Porteno in the Copa Libertadores after claiming a 3-0 win in Tuesday's first leg in Asuncion.

A second-half brace from Rony before a late sealer from Murilo gave the two-time defending Libertadores champions a healthy buffer coming back to Sao Paulo for next Wednesday's second leg.

Abel Ferreira's side just edged it on the basis of play over 90 minutes and took the lead right on the hour, with Rony meeting Gustavo Scarpa's inviting cross to the back post, to head home in transition.

After a VAR confirmation and some wonderful individual work from Raphael Veiga to bring Gustavo Gomez's hoof under control to release Scarpa, Rony made it 2-0 in the 69th minute and effectively ended the contest.

Murilo put the punctuation mark on the result, heading home from close range in the 87th, following Gomez's knock down from a corner.

Palmeiras moved to 19 straight away games without a defeat in the Libertadores, looking to win the tournament three times in a row for the first time since Independiente claimed four consecutive titles between 1972 and 1975.

Quintero returns but Velez triumph

Velez Sarsfield claimed a shock first-leg win over River Plate, winning 1-0 at the Estadio Jose Amalfitani.

Lucas Janson scored the lone goal from the penalty spot in the 15th minute, but Velez arguably should have won by more, with a scuffed effort from Manchester City signing Julian Alvarez in the 38th minute the only notable chance for River.

Juan Fernando Quintero was introduced for River after half-time, making his return from an injury sustained in April, but Velez had the better chances of the second half.

Velez captain Lucas Pratto had an chance to double the margin in the 52nd minute, with Franco Armani also denying substitute Abiel Osorio twice from close range. Janson then had a goal disallowed in the 75th minute, keeping River in the tie.

Flamengo take first leg victory

Last season's finalists Flamengo side took the first-leg victory despite a poor performance in Ibague, defeating Deportes Tolima 1-0.

Andreas Pereira capped off what will be his final week at the club on loan from Manchester United, scoring the winning goal in the 17th minute.

Lucas Silvestre's side did little to consolidate their margin with the ball, with a passive majority of possession taking over and facilitating chances on the other end.

Faced with a salary-cap crunch, the Minnesota Wild traded high-scoring forward Kevin Fiala to the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday for prospect Brock Faber and a first-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft. 

Fiala is coming off a breakout season during which he set career highs with 33 goals and 85 points while playing in all 82 games for Minnesota.  

The Swiss-born winger needed a new deal as a pending restricted free agent, and the Kings have reportedly taken care of that by signing him to an eight-year contract extension worth an average annual value of $7.9million.  

Fiala likely slots into the top line for Los Angeles with veteran centre Anze Kopitar and All-Star right wing Adrian Kempe. The Kings can use Fiala’s offense after they finished 20th in the league last season with 2.87 goals per game.  

''LA, they came in right away and were serious right away,'' Wild general manager Bill Guerin said. ''There was no tire-kicking or feeling-out process. They were serious right away, so it made it easy to do a deal.'' 

Minnesota gets the 19th overall pick in next week’s draft along with Faber, the Kings' second-round pick in 2020 and a star defenseman at the University of Minnesota. The Wild also own the 24th overall pick in the draft. 

Though he had an outstanding regular season, Fiala struggled in the playoffs for the second straight year. He did not score a goal in a six-game loss to the St. Louis Blues in the first round after he had one goal in a seven-game loss to the Vegas Golden Knights in 2020-21.  

The Wild had little choice but to move on from Fiala with buyout penalties of both Ryan Suter and Zach Parise kicking in this season and accounting for over $12.7 million in dead money on the team’s books.  

Guerin all but predicted he would have to trade Fiala to stay under the cap after signing forwards Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek to long-term contracts last year.  

James Harden has declined his player option – which would have paid him $47.4million for the upcoming season – to become an unrestricted free agent, although all signs point to an extension with the Philadelphia 76ers.

Since arriving with the 76ers this past season in the trade that sent Ben Simmons to the Brooklyn Nets, Harden's production was up-and-down.

He averaged 21 points, 10.5 assists and 6.5 rebounds in his 21 regular season games with his new team, but he also shot a career low 40 per cent from the field while attempting his fewest shots per game (13.6) since coming off the bench with the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2011-12.

His numbers in the playoffs dipped even further, averaging 18.6 points, 8.6 assists and 5.7 rebounds while no-showing in the second half of some crucial defeats in their six-game series loss to the Miami Heat.

The report about Harden declining his player option, broken by The Athletic's Shams Charania, states his reasoning for declining the option is to extend with the 76ers at a more team-friendly salary that would allow the team to spend the savings on additional talent.

In the report, it is said that Harden has also returned to the 76ers' practice facility to begin his off-season program early, with his "sole focus" being to win a title in Philadelphia in this coming season.

By signing a deal more in the range of three years, $100m, the 76ers would have slightly more wiggle room to sign additional talent, but if they have plans on totally revamping the landscape, it would require trading Tobias Harris ahead of a season where he will be paid $37.6m – more than star Joel Embiid ($33.6m).

The Atlanta Hawks have acquired All-Star guard Dejounte Murray from the San Antonio Spurs in exchange for Danilo Gallinari and three first-round picks, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. 

As part of Wednesday's trade, the Spurs are receiving the Hawks' 2023 first-round pick, as well as first-rounders in 2025 and 2027. Atlanta and San Antonio are also swapping a draft pick in 2026. 

Murray enjoyed a breakout year in his fifth NBA season in 2021-22, averaging 21.1 points, 9.2 assists and 8.3 rebounds while being named to his first All-Star Game. The 25-year-old point guard joined LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Oscar Robertson as the only players to average 20+ points, 9+ assists and 8+ rebounds in a season. 

The addition of Murray, who has two years left on his current contract, gives Atlanta one of the more explosive backcourts in the league as he will team up with two-time All-Star Trae Young. 

The Spurs, meanwhile, look to be entering a rebuild by trading away their young All-Star for three first-round picks and the 33-year-old Gallinari. 

The sixth overall pick of the 2008 NBA Draft, Gallinari averaged 11.7 points and 4.7 rebounds in 66 games last season for the Hawks.  

The veteran from Italy struggled a bit from the perimeter after being one of the more dangerous three-point shooters during the previous few seasons.

After averaging 2.4 made three-pointers a game while shooting 41.5 per cent on threes from 2018-19 to 2020-21 – the seventh-best rate in the league among those with at least 600 three-point tries – Gallinari made an average of 1.7 three-pointers a game and shot 38.1 per cent from long range last season. 

Washington Wizards standout Bradley Beal will enter the NBA’s unrestricted free agent market after officially declining his $36.4 million player option for the upcoming 2022-23 season.

Beal’s agency, Priority Sports, confirmed the decision to ESPN Thursday, the deadline for teams and players to decide on options for next season.

The move allows Beal to seek a maximum contract extension worth just over $250 million over five years if he re-signs with the Wizards, or a four-year deal for approximately $185 million if he signs with another team.

ESPN reported earlier this week that the industry expectation was for Beal to decline his option to sign a maximum extension with the Wizards, the team he has spent his entire 10-year career with.

The three-time All-Star is likely to receive a max deal despite an injury-plagued and down 2021-22 campaign in which he was limited to 40 games by a left wrist injury that required surgery. Beal finished the season shooting a career-low 30 percent from 3-point range.

Beal finished second in the league scoring race in both 2019-20 and 2020-21, and was named to the All-NBA Third Team in that latter season after averaging a career-high 31.3 points per game for a Washington team that earned the Eastern Conference’s eighth playoff seed.

Should he return to Washington, Beal would have a new backcourt partner after the Wizards acquired point guard Monte Morris from the Denver Nuggets in a four-player trade Thursday.

The Wizards also received veteran wing Will Barton from Denver while sending wing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and reserve guard Ish Smith to the Nuggets.

Romelu Lukaku's second spell with Chelsea lasted just one season.

Inter have confirmed the return of Lukaku in a season-long loan deal just 321 days after selling him to Chelsea for just under £100million.

It reunites Lukaku with the club with whom he won the Scudetto in 2021 and writes another chapter in the history of the Blues signing a high-profile striker, only for them to fail to produce.

As the London club perhaps wonder what might have been with Lukaku, Stats Perform looks back at the string of forwards who saw their goals dry up after moving to Stamford Bridge.

Mateja Kezman

Kezman did not arrive for big money by today's standards, joining from PSV for a £5.3m fee in 2004, but he came with significant expectations after a goal-laden spell in the Eredivisie in which he plundered 105 in 122 league appearances and won the title twice.

However, he came nowhere close to living up to the billing in his sole season in the Premier League, finding the net seven times in 41 games in all competitions. His most important goal was the ultimately decisive third in Chelsea's League Cup final win over Liverpool as the Blues did the double, going on to claim a first Premier League crown under Jose Mourinho.

He was subsequently sold to Atletico Madrid and had spells with Fenerbahce and Paris Saint-Germain that delivered more trophies, though he never managed to recapture his PSV form.

Andriy Shevchenko

Few strikers in world football were as feared as Shevchenko during his golden years at Milan, for whom he remains the second-highest goalscorer in the club's history with 175.

Chelsea's £30.8m move to lure him from San Siro in 2006, then a record fee paid by an English club, reflected his reputation. Yet Shevchenko's transition to the Premier League did not go to plan.

In his final season in Serie A, Shevchenko averaged a goal every 116 minutes. Across two seasons with Chelsea, that dipped to one every 284 minutes in the Premier League. He netted 22 in 77 games in all competitions, with the appointment of Avram Grant as Mourinho's successor in 2007 limiting his game time. Shevchenko won the FA Cup and League Cup with the Blues but was an unused substitute as they lost the 2008 Champions League final to Manchester United.

He was sent back to Milan for an unsuccessful loan spell before finishing his career back at boyhood club Dynamo Kyiv.

Fernando Torres

Torres' 2011 move from Liverpool to Chelsea was one of the most famous January transfers in Premier League history. As with a lot of January moves, it did not have the desired impact.

In his final two full seasons with Liverpool in 2008-09 and 2009-10, 'El Nino' scored 32 Premier League goals from 166 shots that had an expected goals (xG) value of 13.3. In 2010-11, he scored nine for Liverpool from an xG value of 8.5. Across three and a half seasons with Chelsea, Torres scored 20 league goals from 217 shots with an xG value of 26.5.

In terms of silverware, Torres was still successful with Chelsea, winning three trophies. His crowning moment came as he scored the decisive goal at Camp Nou against Barcelona to send the Blues into the Champions League final, where they beat Bayern Munich on penalties.

But his overall output was never close to good enough, and he too had a brief spell at Milan before heading back to where it all began with Atletico Madrid.

Alvaro Morata

Of all the players on this list, Morata's relative lack of goalscoring success was the least surprising given he made the move to Stamford Bridge having never scored more than 15 league goals in a single season in his career.

Moving from Real Madrid on the back of that career-best campaign in 2016-17, Morata was unable to live up to his reported £60m fee, scoring 11 goals in 31 games in his first season and five in 16 in the first half of his second before being loaned to Atletico, who he then joined on a permanent basis having won the FA Cup and Europa League with Chelsea.

Timo Werner

Werner still has the chance to turn his Chelsea career around, but the former RB Leipzig striker's time at Stamford Bridge has followed a very similar trajectory to Chelsea's high-profile misfires.

Having scored 95 goals in 159 games for Leipzig, Werner has netted only 23 in two seasons for Chelsea since his £47.5m move, with his 191 shots carrying an xG value of 33.7, illustrating just how poorly the Germany international has performed in front of goal.

He has brought value in other areas, serving as a high-energy focal point of the Chelsea attack, but Thomas Tuchel will surely want to see more in terms of end product for Werner to free himself from the 'flop' tag.

Romelu Lukaku

Unable to cement a place in the Chelsea first team during his first spell with the club, Lukaku's second act at Stamford Bridge was expected to be much more profitable.

Chelsea forked out a club-record £97.5m on that proving to be the case but have now moved to cut their losses and allow Lukaku to return to Inter, if only on loan.

Lukaku scored a goal every 120 minutes in helping Inter to Serie A glory in 2020-21 but managed just eight in the Premier League at one every 198 minutes.

Between Werner and Lukaku, Chelsea could not afford to carry two struggling strikers, with the latter becoming the latest in a long line of misguided attacking investments to make a swift exit.

Andy Murray's Wimbledon journey has ended in the second round despite a spirited fightback against John Isner in a four-set thriller.

The three-time grand slam champion - two of which have come at SW19 - will not add a fourth to his collection after he was downed by the big-serving American 6-4 7-6 (7-4) 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 on Centre Court on Wednesday.

Yet the 35-year-old did not go down quietly against the number 20 seed, forcing a tie-break in the third set to prevent a straight-sets win for his opponent before ultimately fading in the fourth.

For Murray, it marks the earliest exit of his Wimbledon career, having previously always reached the third round at senior level.

Despite never dropping more than two games behind Isner across the contest, the Scot was crucially never able to break serve. 

Isner sent down a stunning 36 aces, including three in succession in the final game of the match to put him on the brink of victory, before a neat backhand over the net sealed the deal.

The New York Mets have yet to have their two multiple Cy Young Award winners healthy at the same time this season, though that appears closer to becoming a reality.

Jacob deGrom took the biggest step towards a return from a shoulder injury by throwing 29 pitches on Wednesday in a live batting practice session at the Mets' spring training complex in Port St. Lucie, Florida. It could be the final hurdle the two-time National League Cy Young winner has to clear before starting a minor league rehab assignment that could have him back around the All-Star break.

"We have a schedule worked out and know what will happen if everything feels well [on Thursday]," Mets manager Buck Showalter said. "He hasn't had anything that has taken him off schedule so far."

DeGrom has not pitched for the Mets since July 7 due to two significant injuries. The ace right-hander missed the entire second half of last season with forearm tightness and came down with a stress reaction in his throwing shoulder in spring training.

While DeGrom's return is still not imminent, the Mets could have Max Scherzer back by next week. The three-time Cy Young recipient, out since mid-May with a strained left oblique, will make a second rehab start for Double-A Binghamton on Wednesday against the Hartford Yard Goats.

Scherzer threw 65 pitches – 46 for strikes – in his first outing for Binghamton on June 21. The 37-year-old struck out six while allowing two runs on three hits and one walk.

"I was going to send him a 'good luck with the Yard Goats,' but I don't think he'd take it well," said Showalter of the notoriously intense Scherzer. "I think I will, anyway."

It's believed Wednesday's start will be Scherzer's last before rejoining the Mets for their series in Cincinnati against the Reds that begins on Monday, though Showalter said a final decision won't be made until after he pitches.

"We're not going to rush him," he said. "We're not going to make that mistake."

Since signing a three-year, $130million contract with the Mets in December that made him baseball's highest-paid player in terms of annual salary, Scherzer has gone 5-1 with a 2.54 ERA in eight starts and has struck out 59 in 49.2 innings.

Tony Parker has confirmed that heralded teenager Victor Wembanyama will be leaving his ASVEL club to seek more playing time and better prepare for the 2023 NBA draft.

Wembanyama, a towering 18-year-old who is considered to be one of the early favourites to go number one overall in next year’s draft, averaged just 18.4 minutes per game for champions ASVEL in LNB Pro A, the top professional league in France.

In 13 EuroLeague games, the Frenchman averaged 17.5 minutes per contest.

Wembanyama exercised a get-out clause in his contract with AVSEL, which had one year remaining.

"The overriding feeling is 'too bad'," former San Antonio Spurs star Parker said in an interview with L'Èquipe. "Honestly, he’s a good kid. He has a really good attitude and it's a shame he didn't give us an opportunity to continue."

L'Èquipe reported that Wembanyama is considering signing with one of two Paris-based clubs, either Paris Basketball or Metropolitans 92. Another option for the talented power forward could be to move to the United States to play for the NBA G League’s developmental team, the Ignite.

Parker, who has been in charge of AVSEL since 2014, said Wembanyama would have played a far more prominent role with his team next season.

"We would have had him play 30 minutes per game next season. That was the plan; give him responsibility and grow. That’s what we promised," Parker said. "That's why I don’t understand. If he thinks he will have a better opportunity with Boulogne-Levallois or Paris, which are the current rumours, I respect his decision.

"I wish him all the happiness in the world. He will succeed anyway. But it's really unfortunate for us."

Wembanyama averaged 9.4 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.8 blocks in LNB Pro A last season and received the league’s best young player award for the second straight campaign.

Lesia Tsurenko says she has heard from only a solitary Russian and one Belarusian player who have opposed the invasion of Ukraine after she beat compatriot Anhelina Kalinina to reach the third round at Wimbledon.

The 33-year-old won an all-Ukrainian contest against Kalinina 3-6 6-4 6-3 to set up a clash with Jule Niemeier following the German's upset of second seed Anett Kontaveit on Wednesday.

The pair were cheered on by flag-waving supporters at SW19, while Tsurenko sported a blue-and-yellow.

Tsurenko expressed her disappointment over the lack of vocal opposition from Russian and Belarusian athletes, who are banned from playing at the All England Club, to the war in Ukraine after she moved into round three.

"I would be the first one to say that, no, you should not ban them," she stated.

"But I have heard only from one Belarusian player and from one Russian player, who talked to me personally and told me: ‘I’m against the war.’

"I did not hear anything from any other player. So for me, the silence means … I mean, it's not good when … I don’t know. I thought I had a lot of friends on tour, especially from Russians and Belarusians.

"It’s just a step. [But] it's a good step to show that that's what we all have to do. I am Ukrainian. There is no other opinion in my head."

Novak Djokovic says he will support his former coach Boris Becker and the German's family in any way he can during his time in prison.

Becker was jailed for two-and-half years at the end of April after being found guilty of concealing £2.5million of assets to avoid paying money he owed after his bankruptcy.

The six-time grand slam champion's girlfriend, Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro, and his son, Noah, were in Djokovic's box on Centre Court for his first and second-round matches at Wimbledon.

Djokovic had Becker in his corner for three years as his coach until the end of 2016.

The legendary Serbian has not been in direct contact with Becker, but vowed after outclassing Thanasi Kokkinakis at SW19 on Wednesday that he will always be there for the 54-year-old and his relatives.

He said during a media conference at the All England Club: "I haven't been communicating directly with him, but I've been communicating to him through them [Becker's family] and I was really glad to have hosted his girlfriend and his son Noah for my first round and now today second-round match.

"Noah and his younger brother, Elias, are going to visit Boris I think in the next few days for the first time since he went to prison and I've been just trying to give support to people around him, his closest people, his family members because I consider Boris as a family member. He's someone that I greatly appreciate, respect and care about.

"We've been through a lot together and during those three years of collaboration and our relationship dates back even before that. After we finished our professional relationship we always stayed close; him with my team, my agents and my family.

"It breaks my heart to see what is happening to him, so this is a little gesture of friendship to invite them. He knows and they now they can always count on me for whatever support or help I can provide."