Cristiano Ronaldo ended his barren spell with the first Europa League goal of his career as Manchester United earned victory at Sheriff Tiraspol.

Erik ten Hag's men suffered defeat at Old Trafford in their Group E opener against Real Sociedad but responded by claiming all three points in Moldova.

The Red Devils opened the scoring in the first half as a lovely team move was coolly finished off by Jadon Sancho from Christian Eriksen's reverse pass.

Sancho, who was left out of the England squad earlier in the day, came close to a second but his low shot was brilliantly cleared off the line by Sheriff captain Stjepan Radeljic on the stretch.

But United did double their advantage before half-time courtesy of Ronaldo's penalty, awarded after Patrick Kpozo tripped Diogo Dalot in the box.

Ronaldo could have taken his tally to 700 club goals but side-footed over from the edge of the area while at the other end, Sheriff could not force David de Gea into any meaningful saves.

In the group's other game, Real Sociedad made it two wins from two with a 2-1 victory over Neil Lennon's Omonia Nicosia.

African Youth Champion and bronze medallist at the 2022 ITTF African Senior Championships, Taiwo Mati, has gained 64 steps up the ladder of the latest ITTF ranking as Nigeria’s second-best rated player in the world.

His compatriot and current African champion Quadri Aruna maintained his grip on the top echelon of the continental ranking after moving to 14^th  in the world.

The 17-year-old  Mati who made the three-man contingent to Algiers for the ITTF African Senior Championships, stunned three-time African champion Ahmed Saleh of Egypt with a 4-3 win in the quarterfinal to make it to the semifinal of the men’s singles in Algiers, where he eventually lost to Aruna has been rated 91^st  in the ranking being his highest career ranking.

In the ranking released yesterday by the world table tennis ruling body, Mati is now the sixth best African player in the world behind the likes of Aruna, Omar Assar of Egypt (22), Saleh of Egypt (66), Ibrahima Diaw of Senegal (72), Mehdi Bouloussa of Algeria (86) and Mati (91).

Mati is now the second-best rated Nigerian in the world following his performance in Algiers.

CAF Champions League campaigner, Rivers United and CAF Confederation Cup flagbearer, Kwara United  would expectedly travel to Monrovia and Niamey respectively  by tomorrow ahead of this weekend’s return leg of their preliminary round toes with FC Watanga (Liberia) and AS Douanes of Niger Republic.

Both teams won the first leg games played in Lagos and Port Harcourt respectively with an identical 3-0 margin ahead of the second leg games slated for Sunday.

A source close to Rivers United  informed that the club would begin their journey with a trip to Lagos  today before connecting  to Monrovia tomorrow to face the Liberian side  that  the first leg by the three goals conceded in the first half at the Amiesimaka Stadium in Port Harcourt.

 Watanga will  be  under pressure to overturn the goals deficit when the game starts by 5pm Nigerian time on Sunday at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Stadium in Monrovia.

Similarly, Kwara United who are representing the nation in the CAF Confederation Cup, are also expected to depart the shores of the country tomorrow country ahead of their Sunday’s  second leg tie against AS Douanes  billed for the Stade Général Seyni Kountché in Niamey

Juventus were beaten at home by Benfica in the Champions League to heap more pressure on boss Massimiliano Allegri.

Juve have now suffered back-to-back Group H defeats and face an uphill task to reach the knockout stage.

The hosts led through Arkadiusz Milik's header but were pegged back by Joao Mario's penalty.

David Neres scored the winner at Allianz Stadium as Juve slipped to defeat in their opening two Champions League group games for the first time.

Having been beaten by Paris St-Germain in their group opener last week and denied a winner against Salernitana amid a chaotic finale at the weekend,  this defeat will only increase the dissatisfaction among some fans in Turin.

Juventus have won two of their opening six Serie A games this season and sit in eighth place, four points behind leaders Napoli.

Benfica, meanwhile, have won all 12 of their games this season, with a first victory in Italy since 1997 the latest.

They found the winner in the second half when Neres slotted home on the rebound after Mattia Perin parried an initial shot.

Juventus had earlier gone in front when Milik flicked in a free-kick, but were pegged back when Fabio Miretti was adjudged to have conceded a penalty following a VAR review.