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Chelsea opened the Premier League season with victory over Everton as Jorginho's penalty decided a scrappy contest at Goodison Park, BBC reported.

Thomas Tuchel introduced summer signings Kalidou Koulibaly and Raheem Sterling from the start but it was one of Chelsea's established stars who settled affairs when Jorginho rolled a composed penalty past Jordan Pickford in first-half stoppage time following Abdoulaye Doucoure's foul on Ben Chilwell.

Everton, without a recognised striker following the sale of Richarlison and injury to Dominic Calvert-Lewin, battled gamely but were woefully short of quality and threat in attack.

Manager Frank Lampard's cause was not helped by a serious early injury to defender Ben Godfrey, who was taken off on a stretcher following a challenge on Kai Havertz and was later confirmed to have fractured his leg, with Yerry Mina another casualty in the second half, according to BBC.

Chelsea survived in relative comfort and were able to give a debut to new signing Marc Cucurella, the defender signed from Brighton in a deal that could eventually by worth £62m, as they made it a winning start.

The US has urged Moscow to accept a deal to free basketball player Brittney Griner, who has been sentenced to nine years in a Russian prison, Associated Press reported.

The double Olympic winner was convicted of possessing and smuggling drugs after admitting to possessing cannabis oil.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby said the US offer was "a serious proposal", but gave no details.

US media reports suggest Washington is offering a prisoner swap involving a Russian arms trafficker.

Viktor Bout - known as the "merchant of death" - is serving a 25 year-prison sentence in the US.

He could be transferred by Washington to the Russian authorities in exchange for Griner and former US Marine Paul Whelan, the reports say.

Whelan, who has US, British, Canadian and Irish passports, was sentenced in 2020 to 16 years in jail in Russia after being convicted of spying.

Mr Kirby told reporters that the duo were being wrongfully detained and needed to be let go.

On the subject of the US proposal, Mr Kirby said: "We urge them to accept it. They should have accepted it weeks ago when we first made it."

But according to Reuters news agency, one stumbling block is that Russia wants to add convicted murderer Vadim Krasikov, who is in prison in Germany, to the proposed swap.

When questioned about this possibility, Mr Kirby dismissed it, saying: "I don't think we go so far as to even call it a counter-offer."

Griner, 31, told the court she had made an "honest mistake" and had not intended to break the law.

Considered one of the best female players in the world, she was detained in February at an airport near Moscow when vape cartridges containing cannabis oil were found in her luggage. She had come to Russia to play club basketball during the US off-season, according to Associated Press.

Soon afterwards, Russia invaded Ukraine and her case has become subject to high-profile diplomacy between the US and Russia.

Her defence team said they would appeal against the verdict.

Griner's Phoenix Mercury teammates staged a gesture of solidarity on Thursday, when they and their Connecticut Sun opponents observed 42 seconds of silence before their game, in honour of her number 42 jersey.

US President Joe Biden called her sentencing "unacceptable", adding: "I call on Russia to release her immediately so she can be with her wife, loved ones, friends, and teammates."

Meanwhile Secretary of State Antony Blinken added: "Russia, and any country engaging in wrongful detention, represents a threat to the safety of everyone travelling, working and living abroad."

Mr Blinken raised the issue in a phone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov last week, in the first conversation between the two men since the start of the war in Ukraine.

Both are now in Cambodia for a meeting of the Association of South-East Asian Nations. The US says Mr Blinken will try to speak with Mr Lavrov again while they are there, Associated Press reported.

Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Maguire have received the most Twitter abuse of any Premier League players, a new report has found, BBC reported.

Ofcom analysis of 2.3 million tweets in the first half of last season found nearly 60,000 abusive posts, affecting seven in 10 top-flight players.

Half of that abuse was directed at just 12 individuals - eight from United.

However, the study by the Alan Turing Institute also found the vast majority of fans use social media responsibly, according to BBC.

"These findings shed light on a dark side to the beautiful game," said Kevin Bakhurst, Ofcom's group director for broadcasting and online content.

"Online abuse has no place in sport, nor in wider society, and tackling it requires a team effort."

England created history by winning their first major women's tournament in a dramatic Euro 2022 final against old rivals and eight-time champions Germany at Wembley, BBC reported.

Substitute Chloe Kelly poked home a loose ball from a corner to send the raucous record crowd of 87,192 into a frenzy with ten minutes of extra time remaining.

She waited for confirmation of the goal before taking off her shirt and waving it around her head, while being lifted by her team-mates in a moment of pure elation.

On a monumental day in English football history, Sarina Wiegman's side showed they were equal to anything a strong and physical Germany team threw at them.

Ella Toone had earlier come off the bench to score the opener in normal time before Germany's Lina Magull set up a nervous ending when she equalised in the 79th minute.

There were scenes of jubilation in the stands and an outpouring of emotion by players on the pitch at full-time as the magnitude of their achievement sank in.

The final was advertised as a battle between the competition's two best-performing sides, and for large parts they cancelled each other out - but the biggest crowd in the history of a men's or women's Euros was given their money's worth.

Striker Ellen White missed a few chances in the first half, Lucy Bronze was denied with a header, Germany's Magull struck wide and England defender Leah Williamson had to scramble a corner off the line before Toone was introduced to break the deadlock, according to BBC.

She had given England fans the winning taste before Magull stunned the home crowd, though it would only delay the celebrations that Kelly, who only returned to football in April after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, gave them.

England did what no other nation had done before - beat serial winners Germany in a European Women's Championship final, and the feeling was sweet.

It comes 56 years after England's men beat West Germany in the 1966 World Cup final, the only previous major trophy won by a men's or women's England senior team.

The players fell to the ground at full-time in tears of joy, in scenes which will be remembered and replayed for years to come on one of the greatest nights in English sport, BBC reported.