Today's sports news: What you need to know

In today's sports news - Top finish for Lydia Ko, career best for skier Alice Robinson and Chelsea unable to get past United.

Latest - New Zealand golfer Lydia Ko has started the new season in good form with a second placed finish at the Gainbridge LPGA tournament in Florida.

Ko led after the first and second rounds before dropping to third after the third round.

However she finished the tournament strongly with a three under par 69.

American Nelly Korda won the tournament finishing three shots ahead of Ko and American Lexi Thompson.

The result will see world number 29 Ko continue to rise up the rankings.

Top 10 finish for Robinson.

Queenstown skier Alice Robinson has finished in 10th place in the Super G World Cup held in Italy, achieving her career best result in this discipline.

"Top 10 is really great; Super G - I have really been trying hard to get in there this season. To finish it off with a top 10 is great, especially from my bib number 41. It's a great position for me to be in for next season so I am really, really happy".

Robinson finished in a time of 1:16:15 and was just +1.54 seconds behind the winner.

Italian Federica Brignone took her fourth Super G World Cup win of her career, with 16-time Super G World Cup gold medallist Lara Gut-Behrami of Switzerland second.

Stalemate at Stamford Bridge

Chelsea missed a chance to regain their place in the English Premier League's top four as they dominated Manchester United but had to be content with a 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge.

The home side carved out the best chances but United, who had a decent first-half penalty appeal turned down, defended solidly throughout to earn a point.

Chelsea remain in fifth spot with 44 points from 26 games, one point behind West Ham United, while Manchester United are second with 50 points from 26 games, 12 points behind runaway leaders Manchester City.

Liverpool ended a run of four successive Premier League defeats and scored their 7,000th top-flight goal during a 2-nil victory at Sheffield United that moves them within two points of a Champions League place.

Gareth Bale scored twice and made another as Tottenham cruised to an easy 4-0 win over Burnley that boosted their hopes of European qualification.

Arsenal also revived their European ambitions next season after a 3-1 win at Leicester City.

Arsenal are now 10th, while Leicester stay third.

Fulham and Crystal Palace drew 0-0.

Phoenix beat Jets

The Wellington Phoenix have moved off the bottom of the A-League table following their second win of the season.

The Phoenix have beaten the Jets 2-0 in Newcastle with David Ball scoring in the 22nd minute and Ben Waine scored early in the second half.

The result ended the Phoenix's four game winless streak, while it was their first game this season that they didn't concede a goal.

It also ended Newcastle's run of five games unbeaten.

"I think the boys showed a lot of character tonight, they were very disciplined and they defended very well - Newcastle had a lot of ball, but not in areas where they could hurt us," said coach Ufuk Talay.

"Obviously a team lifts the sprits of the team and builds confidence, three points was the most important thing tonight, and that'll build confidence for the players in the next games."

The Phoenix move above Melbourne Victory into 11th spot with eight points.

The Phoenix play Perth in Wollongong next Sunday.

Ford Trophy finalists found

Canterbury, Northern Districts and Wellington will contest the play-offs in the Ford Trophy one day men's cricket competition.

Canterbury claimed top spot after beating Auckland by 13 runs in Rangiora with Tom latham scoring a century for the homeside.

Northern Districts beat Central Districts in Hamilton by five wickets.

Wellington sneaked into the top three thanks to Canterbury's win and their 82-run win over Otago at the Basin Reserve.

Wellington's 427 for 8 was the highest was a New Zealand record, while Finn Allen scored 128 off 59 balls.

Northen and Wellington will meet in the elimination game in Hamilton on Wednesday with the winner meeting Canterbury in the final on Saturday.

SVG makes perfect start

One round doesn't make a season as far as New Zealand driver Shane van Gisbergen is concerned.

The Holden driver took maximum points from the opening round of the Australian Supercars, the Mt Panorama 500.

With fellow New Zealander and 3-time champion Scott McLaughlin now driving Indycars, many racing commentatrors believe this year's title will be fought out between van Gisbergen and Cam Waters.

"Yeh I think there are probably six guys who are going to be there, normally there are two or three that establish themselves but at the moment there are probably six guys that are going to be up front I think."

The next round is in Sandown in Victoria in 3 weeks.

Two in a row for Blenkinsop

Canterbury's Sam Blenkinsop has won his second straight national downhill mountainbike title in Christchurch.

The Canadian-based professional stormed home with the final run to beat Christchurch local Boaz Hebblethwaite by four seconds.

Queenstown-based teenager Sam Gale claimed the final podium spot a further four seconds back.

Meanwhile Queenstown-based teenager Jessica Blewitt followed up from her Under-19 title last year with an impressive debut elite women's title.

Blewitt, 18, formerly from Nelson, won by more than nine seconds from Robin Goomes of Rotorua to signal her international promise.

Anton Cooper and Sammi Maxwell won the cross country titles on Saturday.

Boyd wins another title

Mandy Boyd has claimed a remarkable sixth national fours bowls title in 11 years.

The former Blackjack has held on to beat defending champion Sandra Keith 18-16 in the women's final at the National Fours at Alexandra Bowling Club in Central Otago.

Boyd, Kirsten Edwards, Leigh Griffin and Angela Boyd withstood a late rally from Keith, Clare Hendra, Selina Smith and Tayla Bruce after leading 18-8 with four ends to play.

Maurice Symes ensured a second national title wouldn't be returning to Mandy Boyd's household today, after coming from behind to beat Mike Kernaghan 20-19 in the men's fours final.

Boyd's partner Lance Pascoe, playing three for Kernaghan, was forced to settle for the silver medal for the second straight year.

Cruelly it is the third straight year Kernaghan has finished runner-up in the men's fours, with all finals decided by just one shot.

Penney says he would stand down

New South Wales Waratahs coach Rob Penney said he would walk away from the job "gracefully" if it was determined that he was not the man to lead the embattled team forward.

The Waratahs have conceded more than 100 points in two record losses to start the Super Rugby AU season after a 41-7 thrashing by the Queensland Reds last week and a 61-10 humbling at the ACT Brumbies on Saturday.

New Zealander Penney said his young side were "shattered" and "broken" after a masterclass in ruthless rugby from the nine-try Brumbies at Canberra Stadium.

"I love these boys and I'm doing my best," Penney said. "If other people think I'm not the right person, I'm not going to stand in the way.

The Waratahs have suffered more than most from the financial crisis in the game caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and lost a squad's worth of internationals in the last two years.

The Waratahs play Perth-based Western Force in their first home match of the season next week.

-Reuters

Tanak wins Finland Rally

Estonian Ott Tanak won Arctic Rally Finland for Hyundai while 20-year-old Toyota driver Kalle Rovanpera stepped up as the championship's youngest ever leader.

Tanak, the 2019 world champion, and co-driver Martin Jarveoja led the second round of the season from start to finish and won five of the 10 stages to end up 17.5 seconds clear of home driver Rovanpera.

Belgian Thierry Neuville was third for Hyundai with Irish team mate Craig Breen fourth.

The snow and ice rally, based in Rovaniemi, was the World Rally Championship's first within the Arctic Circle and replaced the Swedish round which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rovanpera, son of former WRC driver Harri, won the day's closing Power Stage for five bonus points, with Breen taking four and Neuville an extra three.

The next round is in Croatia in April.

-Reuters