SOCCER
On a day when English soccer mourned the passing of Bobby Charlton, Manchester City and Liverpool got back on track with wins in the Premier League.
The death of Charlton, the 1966 World Cup winner and perhaps England’s and Manchester United’s greatest ever player, was announced during the halftime break of Saturday’s five afternoon games. He was 86.
An extravagantly gifted attacking midfielder with a ferocious shot, Charlton was the leading scorer for both United (249 goals) and England (49 goals) for more than 40 years until being overtaken by Wayne Rooney.
“The whole football world is losing a legend, a big personality, a giant,” Manchester United Manager Erik ten Hag said ahead of his team’s emotionally charged visit to Sheffield United in the evening kickoff.
United’s players laid a wreath in the center of the field and took part in a period of applause before the game started.
Liverpool got two late goals from Mohamed Salah to beat crosstown rival Everton 2-0 in an early kickoff, before City ended a two-game losing streak in the league with a 2-1 win over Brighton.
Arsenal then came from two goals down to draw 2-2 at Chelsea to sit level on points with Manchester City atop the standings.
FOOTBALL
NFL: San Francisco 49ers receiver Deebo Samuel will miss at least the next two games because of a hairline fracture in his shoulder.
Coach Kyle Shanahan said a CT scan determined the extent of the injury suffered on the first play last week in Cleveland. Samuel will miss game’s Monday night against Minnesota and the following week against Cincinnati.
The Niners are hopeful he can return after the bye week when San Francisco visits Jacksonville on Nov. 12.
GOLF
LPGA: Former Women’s British Open champion Ashleigh Buhai shot a 3-under 69 to move into a share of the third-round lead at the LPGA South Korea tournament.
Buhai and Minjee Lee, who shot 71, had 12-under totals of 204 on the Seowon Valley Country Club course outside Seoul.
Defending champion Lydia Ko, a South Korean-born New Zealander, shot 69 and was a stroke behind, tied for third with American Alison Lee, who shot 67.
PGA: Justin Suh shot a 3-under 67 to take a one-shot lead through three rounds of the Zozo Championship in Inzai City, Japan – the first time he’s the leader going into the final day of a PGA Tour event.
Suh is seeking his first career victory.
Fellow Americans Eric Cole and Beau Hossler, also winless on the PGA Tour, were tied for second. Cole shot 66 and Hossler had a 68 on a sunny fall day at the Narashino Country Club just outside Tokyo.
EUROPEAN TOUR: Jeff Winther and Matti Schmid shot 7-under 65s to take a two-stroke lead over defending champion Adrián Otaegui into the final round of the Andalucia Masters in San Roque, Spain.
Winther and Schmid were at 14-under 202.
Otaegui (69), the local favorite, was their nearest chaser at 12 under.
AUTO RACING
XFINITY: Sam Mayer became the first driver to claim a spot in the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship race with a victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Mayer, driver of the No. 1 for JR Motorsports, held off Riley Herbst in the final laps to earn his fourth win in his last 12 races.
Next weekend’s race at Martinsville Speedway will determine the final three drivers in the running for the championship, which will take place at Phoenix Raceway on Nov. 4.
TENNIS
JAPAN OPEN: Ben Shelton rallied from a set down to beat fellow American Marcos Giron 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5), 6-4, reaching his first ATP Tour final.
The 21-year-old Shelton will play Aslan Karatsev in Sunday’s final. Karatsev defeated Shintaro Mochizuki, 6-3, 6-4.
EUROPEAN OPEN: French teenager Arthur Fils stunned top-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4) in Antwerp, Belgium, to become the youngest finalist in the history of the European Open.
Fils, 19, will seek a second career title against third-seeded Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan, who beat German qualifier Maximilian Marterer, 6-4, 6-4.
JIANGXI OPEN: Katerina Siniakova and Marie Bouzkova will contest an all-Czech final in China after winning their semifinal.
Siniakova beat Leylah Fernandez, 7-5, 6-4, ending the Canadian’s eight-match winning streak.
Earlier, Bouzkova eased to a 7-6 (5), 6-2 over Russia’s Diana Shnaider.
– Staff and news services