Today's sports news: What you need to know

Latest - Late goals from Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah earned Liverpool a 2-0 victory at Inter Milan in their Champions League last-16 first leg.

Liverpool were struggling to create many opportunities, with coach Juergen Klopp ringing the changes in the second half, and one of those substitutes came up trumps - Firmino flicking home from a corner to break the deadlock in the 75th minute.

With their resistance broken, the errors started to creep in for Inter and Salah pounced when they failed to clear a long ball into the box to put the game to bed seven minutes from time.

Even with the away goals rule no longer in force, the victory puts the 2019 Champions League winners in a commanding position ahead of the return leg on March 8 at Anfield.

Meanwhile Bayern Munich midfielder Kingsley Coman struck in the 90th minute to snatch a 1-1 draw at Salzburg.

The Austrian side, who were competing in the knockout stage of the competition for the first time, took the lead midway through the first half with a goal on the counterattack from Chukwubuike Adamu.

-Reuters

India beat Windies

India overcame a mid-innings blip to beat West Indies by six wickets in the first Twenty20 International to stretch the tourists' winless streak.

Chasing 158 for victory, the hosts, who swept the preceding one-day series 3-0, got off to a flying start before West Indies made a brief comeback in the contest.

Suryakumar Yadav and Venkatesh Iyer turned the match back in the hosts' favour with 48 runs in 4.2 overs to help India home with seven balls to spare at Kolkata's Eden Gardens.

West Indies skipper Kieron Pollard returned from a knee injury but they managed a modest 157-7 after being put into bat.

Kolkata also hosts the next two matches on Friday and Sunday.

-Reuters

Force sack unvaccinated player

The Western Force have released lock Sitaleki Timani, who is not vaccinated against COVID-19, by mutual agreement due to the state government's vaccine regulations.

The Perth-based club said Timani remains unvaccinated due to his medical concerns and has been unable to qualify for a medical exemption to play in the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season which begins tomorrow.

Timani, who made his test debut for Australia in 2011, said it had been a difficult decision.

"With the help of the Force, I am still consulting specialists, but unfortunately with the season about to start, I understand the position it puts both the Western Force and Rugby Australia in," the 35-year-old said.

"This is not how I wanted to end my time in Australian rugby, but I am thankful for the opportunity I had to pull on the Force jersey again and wish them all the best for the upcoming season."

-Reuters

Bengals keeping coach on

The Cincinnati Bengals have extended head coach Zac Taylor's contract through the 2026 National Football League season after he led the team to their first Super Bowl appearance in 33 years.

Taylor has engineered one of the most incredible turnarounds in NFL history since being hired by the Bengals in 2019 and this week had the team in position to secure their first Super Bowl championship until a late rally by the Los Angeles Rams.

Taylor went 6-25-1 during his first two seasons as an NFL head coach during which the Bengals finished last in the AFC North but, with the help of quarterback Joe Burrow, has built one of the best young offences in the NFL.

-Reuters

Phoenix win again

The Phoenix have surged into the top six of the A-League with their fourth win from five matches.

The Wellington side's unbeaten streak has extended with a 3-0 rout of Brisbane Roar to pull level on points with fourth-placed Sydney FC.

English defender Scott Wootton scored his first goal for the club to give Wellington a deserved half-time lead, before a sublime strike from fellow new recruit Gael Sandoval doubled their advantage and Reno Piscopo completed the scoring midway through the second-half.

The Phoenix have now claimed 10 out of a possible 12 points in February.

Coach Ufuk Talay was impressed.

"This is our fourth game in 11 days [and] the boys backed it up very well," Talay said.

"I think it was a dominant display with and without the ball tonight and we scored some really good goals."

After being bottom of the ladder a week and a half ago the Nix are now just three points off top spot.

"There's still a long way to go, there's still a lot of matches to be played, but that's the aim to make the top six and play finals football."

Talay named the same XI which started the previous two matches against Melbourne Victory and Adelaide United as the Phoenix looked to continue their unbeaten run.

The Wellington Phoenix will return to Leichhardt Oval on Saturday when they play Sydney FC in their fifth match in 14 days.

Reuters

Rahm voted 2021 Player of the Year

World number one Jon Rahm has been voted the 2021 Player of the Year by professionals on the DP World Tour, picking up the Seve Ballesteros Award named after his fellow Spaniard.

Rahm has won the award for the second time in three years after a season in which he secured his first major at the U.S. Open, becoming the first champion from Spain and just the fourth Spaniard to win any major.

The 27-year-old also finished as Europe's leading points scorer at the 2021 Ryder Cup, with 3.5 points from his five matches, and has spent an overall of 27 weeks as world number one.

The Player of the Year award is named after the late five-times major champion Ballesteros, and, for the first time this year, incorporates the former Golfer of the Year award into one singular award, voted for by players.

"Winning anything with Seve's name on it is a huge honour for me, as is the fact that this is voted for by the players of the DP World Tour," Rahm said.

"It is very unique to be recognised by your peers like this. It is a true honour to be able to win this award for a second time and hopefully I can continue to make the DP World Tour proud."

Reuters

Aubameyang ready to play against Napoli, says Barca boss Xavi

Barcelona striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is 100% ready to play in their Europa League knockout tie game against Italy's Napoli, manager Xavi Hernandez said.

The Gabon international moved to Barcelona on a free transfer last month after terminating his contract with English Premier League club Arsenal.

"He's good, and he trains really well. He's 100% ready. He's a player who can make a difference, he works well in spaces and makes good runs into the area," Xavi told reporters ahead of the home game against Napoli.

"He's put in performances in recent years that have been very good. I'm very happy with him, he's working positively in our group, and he's very professional."

The Spaniard also dismissed speculation that he would not use Ousmane Dembele in home games, after the France international was greeted with a chorus of boos on his return to the squad in a LaLiga win over Atletico Madrid at Camp Nou.

"Dembele playing will not depend on whether we're at home or away," Xavi said.

"He will play according to what we are looking for and of course he will be an important player until the end of the season, he has helped us a lot."

Barcelona crashed out of the Champions League after finishing third in their group behind Bayern Munich and Benfica, and Xavi said the club's ambition was to get right back into Europe's top competition.

Reuters

Bengals extend coach Taylor's contract after run to Super Bowl

The Cincinnati Bengals said on Wednesday they have extended head coach Zac Taylor's contract through the 2026 National Football League season after he led the team to their first Super Bowl appearance in 33 years.

Taylor has engineered one of the most incredible turnarounds in NFL history since being hired by the Bengals in 2019 and on Sunday had the team in position to secure their first Super Bowl championship until a late rally by the Los Angeles Rams.

"I know the effort and passion Zac brings to the building and to our team, and I am pleased by his approach," Bengals President Mike Brown said in a news release.

"And I think the city of Cincinnati sees him the way the players and I do. He's brought excitement to the town and deserves credit and recognition for that."

Taylor went 6-25-1 during his first two seasons as an NFL head coach during which the Bengals finished last in the AFC North but, with the help of quarterback Joe Burrow, has built one of the best young offences in the NFL.

In Taylor's third season, Cincinnati went 10-7 during the regular season to win the AFC North division title before making a surprising run to the Super Bowl.

In the NFL's championship game, the Bengals held the lead well into the fourth quarter until the hometown Rams scored the go-ahead touchdown with 85 seconds left and then leaned on their dominant defence to close out the 23-20 victory.

Reuters