Today's sports news: What you need to know

Latest - Manchester City stretched their lead at the top of the Premier League standings to 12 points after a comfortable 2-0 home win over Brentford.

Brentford did a good job of keeping City at bay in the first half, and almost got to the interval without being breached, but conceded a soft penalty in the 40th minute, which Riyad Mahrez converted to give the champions the lead.

City remained untroubled after the break and put the game to bed in the 68th minute, with Kevin De Bruyne firing home after a poor clearance from Brentford goalkeeper David Raya.

The result keeps Pep Guardiola's side in charge of the title race, even though second-placed Liverpool do have two games in hand.

Southampton twice came from a goal behind to put a huge dent in Tottenham Hotspur's top-four ambitions with a 3-2 away win.

Tottenham's second successive league defeat left them in seventh place, Southampton are tenth.

Norwich City striker Teemu Pukki scored the fastest goal of the Premier League season after 38 seconds, but Crystal Palace winger Wilfried Zaha netted a stunning equaliser as the teams drew 1-1 at Carrow Road.

Leeds United drew 3-3 at Aston Villa.

-Reuters

Coast to Coast course could be changed

Organisers of Saturday's Coast to Coast multi-sport event are considering alternate plans if rain hitting the West Coast region impacts safety.

The Longest Day race will go ahead, but changes may be required for the 243km traverse of the Southern Alps due to swollen rivers.

There is a contingency which could result in either the paddle down the Waimakariri River or the mountain run changed.

An event official says the race will definitely go ahead.

The first wave of competitors will start from Kumara Beach after 5am on Saturday as athletes cross the divide from the West Coast through to the finish at Christchurch's New Brighton Beach.

The 2022 event is the 40th edition of the event, and the 250 athletes will start in pods of less than a hundred due to the Covid 19 Red Traffic light setting.

Dougall Allan and Simone Maier will defend their titles.

The two-day event was cancelled last month.

Silver Lake rugby deal closer

New Zealand Rugby and Silver Lake are reportedly closing in on a deal for the American private equity firm to take a stake in the All Blacks.

Sky News UK is reporting that Silver Lake and New Zealand Rugby are on the brink of finalising a deal that would see the investor acquire a minority shareholding in a new commercial holding company.

The report says the stake would be smaller than the 12.5 percent initially mooted over a year ago which at the time was suggested to be worth $387 million.

They says the deal may only involve five percent.

The Players Association had voiced their concerns about Silver lake taking a stake and had propsed an alternative deal.

However all of the country's 26 provincial unions were committed to the deal which was passed unanimously at last year's New Zealand Rugby AGM.

In 2019 Silver Lake acquired a 10 percent stake in City Football Group (CFG), which owns English Premier League side Manchester City and teams in the United States, Australia and China.

An investment in one of the most famous brands in world sport would expand the buyout giant's $US 75 billion ($NZ 104 billion) portfolio of companies, most of which are technology and sports venues and teams, according to its website.

-RNZ

Chelsea into final

A first-half Romelu Lukaku strike earned Chelsea a 1-0 victory over Saudi Arabia's Al Hilal to seal a spot in the Club World Cup final.

The European champions will face Brazilian side Palmeiras on Saturday in Abu Dhabi after Belgian striker Lukaku fired home from close range in the 32nd minute.

Without coach Thomas Tuchel on the touchline, after he tested positive for COVID-19, the Blues looked in control in the first half, fully deserving their lead at the break.

However, Asian champions Al Hilal improved a great deal in the second half, with Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga pulling off several fine saves to keep them at bay.

But the European champions held on in the end and, in Saturday's final, will have the chance to avenge defeat in this competition a decade after their last appearance.

-Reuters

Norris to race for McLaren until 2025

Lando Norris will remain a McLaren Formula One driver until at least the end of 2025 after committing to a new four-year deal, the former champion said.

The 22-year-old, whose four podium finishes earned him sixth in the overall standings and secured fourth in the constructors' battle for McLaren in 2021, had been handed a multi-year contract extension last year.

The new deal locks the Briton down at McLaren for the entirety of the current rules era, starting with this year's new-look cars, during which the Woking-based team hope to rekindle their former championship-challenging form.

His team mate is Australian Daniel Ricciardo whose contract runs until the end of 2023.

Norris made his Formula One debut with McLaren in 2019 after graduating from a test and reserve role.

McLaren, despite slipping from third to fourth in the standings last season, took their first win since 2012 at the Italian Grand Prix with Ricciardo leading Norris across the line in a one-two.

The team, who are powered by Mercedes, are hoping to continue their climb back to the head of the field under Formula One's new rules which are designed to boost wheel-to-wheel racing and will extend through to the end of 2025 when a new power unit is set to be introduced.

-Reuters

IPL's new Ahmedabad franchise named Gujarat Titans

The Indian Premier League's new Ahmedabad franchise has been named Gujarat Titans.

The 15th edition of the world's richest Twenty20 league will be a 10-team affair with the inclusion of the Titans and Lucknow Super Giants franchises, who paid a combined $1.71 billion be part of the competition.

India all-rounder Hardik Pandya will lead the Titans, who have also signed national team opening batter Shubman Gill and top Afghan leg-spinner Rashid Khan ahead of the weekend's auction for the league in Bengaluru.

A total of 1,214 players, including 318 overseas cricketers from 18 countries, have signed up for the auction.

The Titans will be based out of a 132,000-seat venue in Ahmedabad, the world's largest cricket stadium, which is named after Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Former South Africa batter Gary Kirsten will be mentor and batting coach while former India fast bowler Ashish Nehra will be the head coach of the side.

The league is scheduled to begin in the last week of March and run until the end of May.

-Reuters