Soccer Football - Premier League - Newcastle United v Manchester City - St James' Park, Newcastle, Britain - May 14, 2021 Manchester City's Ferran Torres scores their fourth goal and completes his hat-trick. (Photo: Reuters)   

Ferran Torres scored a hat-trick as champions Manchester City beat Newcastle United 4-3 to set a record for consecutive Premier League away wins on Friday (May 14) with their 12th victory on the road.

* July's Finnish motorcycle Grand Prix has been cancelled due to the travel complications caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, with Austria set to host a double header in August instead, MotoGP promoters Dorna said on Friday. The Styrian Grand Prix, which made its debut last year, will be held again at the Red Bull Ring from Aug. 6-8, a week before the Austrian Grand Prix.

* Manchester City defender Aymeric Laporte will be eligible to play for Spain at next month's European Championship after world soccer governing body FIFA approved his switch from France on Friday. Laporte had his application to be a Spanish citizen granted earlier this week and his change of association was passed by the FIFA Players' Status Committee.

* Poland striker Krzysztof Piatek has been ruled out of Euro 2020 after fracturing his ankle playing for club side Hertha Berlin, the Polish Football Association said on Friday. Piatek sustained the injury in the second half of Hertha's 2-1 Bundesliga victory over Schalke 04 on Wednesday.

* French world road race champion Julian Alaphilippe will skip the Olympic road race for personal reasons, he said on Friday (May 14). Alaphilippe, who was fourth in the Olympic road race in 2016, will however be at the start of the Tour de France on Jun 26 in Brest.

* Hector Cuper has been appointed the new coach of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the country’s football federation said on Friday (May 14). It is a second appointment in Africa for the 65-year-old former Argentina international defender, who has also had an extensive coaching career at top European clubs.

* Neymar will not play for Paris Saint-Germain in next week's French Cup final against Monaco after a booking in Wednesday's (May 12) semi-final saw the Brazilian incur a suspension. The world's most expensive player was shown a yellow card not long after coming on as a late substitute in the last-four tie in Montpellier, triggering a one-game ban that had been hanging over him since he was sent off in a Ligue 1 match against Lille last month.

* Brazil have recalled Dani Alves for their World Cup qualifiers against Ecuador and Paraguay, giving the Sao Paulo fullback the chance of an international comeback almost two years after his last appearance.

* Caleb Ewan claimed his second stage win at this year's Giro d'Italia as he again showed his sprinting prowess at the end of the 181km seventh stage on Friday. The Australian Lotto Soudal rider followed his victory on a crash-hit stage five with a well-timed surge at the finish in Termoli after an uneventful day.

* Arsenal's Brazilian defender David Luiz will leave the Premier league club at the end of the season, according to British media reports on Friday. The 34-year-old has been at Arsenal for two seasons after joining from London rivals Chelsea where he won the league title, Champions League and two FA Cups.

* World number one Ash Barty was forced to retire from her Italian Open quarter-final against Coco Gauff with an arm injury, raising doubts on her participation at the French Open. Barty, the 2019 French Open winner, was leading 6-4 2-1 against her American opponent when she called a physio and had her right-arm strapped with a compression sleeve.

* Phil Mickelson said on Friday he accepted a special exemption from the United States Golf Association (USGA) to play in next month's U.S. Open, the only major tournament he has not won. Mickelson, a runner-up at the US Open a record six times, will be making his 30th appearance in the national championship which this year will be played June 17-20 at Torrey Pines in San Diego, California.

* Second-seeded Rafael Nadal raced out to a quick start and posted a 6-3, 6-4 win over sixth-seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany in the quarterfinals of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia on Friday.

* World number one Novak Djokovic's quarter-final match against Stefanos Tsitsipas has been pushed back until Saturday after play was suspended because of rain on Friday. Monte Carlo winner Tsitsipas was leading defending champion 6-4, 2-1 when the match was interrupted for a second time at the Foro Italico.

Reuters