Brighton coasted to a 4-0 win over Lithuanian opponents Kauno Zalgiris to launch their Uefa Conference League bid Thursday, while Ligue 1 leaders Monaco earned a 2-1 victory at CSKA Sofia. Georginio Rutter slotted in a cutback from Ibrahim Osman as Brighton took the lead late in the first half at the Amex, with the goal awarded after a VAR review as the Ghanaian just managed to keep the ball in play. Rutter turned provider for Jack Hinshelwood as Brighton struck again on the stroke of half-time before the Frenchman netted his second of the night on 53 minutes. Matt O'Riley headed in his first goal in over a year to complete the rout and the Seagulls extended their winning run in all competitions to five matches. "I'm very happy to have two goals today, but more importantly is the three points. We are very happy to start the competition like this, we have a good side, we are in good shape at the moment, so we have to keep going," Rutter told TNT Sports. Only Barcelona and Bayern Munich have scored more than Brighton's 29 goals among clubs in Europe's biggest leagues this season. "It's not every time one player. We are a good team, everybody scores and everybody assists so I think the atmosphere of the team at the moment is very good," said Rutter. Brighton beat Norwegian side Tromso 4-0 in the play-off round in August to reach the league phase. Their only past taste of European football came when they reached the last 16 of the 2023-24 Europa League. However, they are viewed as favourites in the Conference League and will seek to become the third English winner in as many years after Chelsea and Crystal Palace. West Ham also lifted the trophy in 2023. In-form striker Paris Brunner scored for the seventh time in eight games as Monaco won in Bulgaria. The Germany Under-21 international fired Filipe Luis's team into an early lead and Ansu Fati added a second before half-time. CSKA pulled one back through Dutchman Joel Zwarts. Four-time European champions Ajax slid to a 2-1 loss at Hajduk Split, while Atalanta eased to a 3-1 victory over Pafos. Former Liverpool star Mohamed Salah was on target in Trabzonspor's 4-2 win away to Finland's KuPS Kuopio. (AFP) Edited by Cecil Wong

French club Lyon held off Crystal Palace 3-2 in the Europa League on Thursday, while Sunderland made a late comeback to break the hearts of Portuguese second-division side Torreense. Bayer Leverkusen, Juventus, Benfica and Bournemouth all also won to maintain their perfect starts to the league phase. It was a painful return to his old home for Crystal Palace boss Pierre Sage as the Uefa Conference League champions fell to their fourth defeat of the season in all competitions. "It's a very disappointing return because we lost. I can't take satisfaction from coming back home or seeing familiar faces when the result isn't there," Sage said. "The scoreline may have been close, but there was a big difference in the way the two teams played. We were nowhere near our usual standards in the first half." Lyon took the lead inside the opening 10 minutes through Corentin Tolisso and Ernest Nuamah then doubled Lyon's advantage two minutes into first-half injury time. Yeremy Pino halved the deficit for Palace early in the second period, but a close-range flick by Pavel Sulc restored Lyon's two-goal buffer. Daichi Kamada smashed home a second for Palace with nine minutes remaining but the hosts held out to make it two wins from two to start the league phase. Bayer Leverkusen followed up their opening 2-0 win with a 4-0 success at Polish side Lech Poznan. AC Milan cruised to a 4-0 victory at Red Bull Salzburg, courtesy of a hat-trick scored by Italian teenager Alphadjo Cisse. Club-record signing Goncalo Ramos made it four on 72 minutes before a red card for Filippo Terracciano took some of the sheen off the win for Ruben Amorim's men. In the Estadio Municipal de Leiria, Portuguese Cup winners Torreense looked set to hold their Premier League opponents to a draw until Noah Sadiki's 93rd-minute strike made it 2-1 for the visitors. The 15th-placed side in Portugal's second tier stunned Sunderland in the 37th minute as centre-half Volnei Feltes cut past a flimsy challenge and unleashed a piledriver 30 yards from goal, which left Robin Roefs rooted to the spot. Black Cats boss Regis Le Bris sent on first-team regulars Granit Xhaka and Enzo Le Fee just shy of the hour and the move paid dividends as Jules Ahoka struck shortly afterwards to level the scores. After a lengthy VAR check decided against awarding Sunderland a late penalty, Torreense must have thought they had done enough to earn a famous point until Sadiki popped up at the death to thrash in the winner. "Conceding a goal in the last minute is a blow to the chest," Torreense coach Carlos Simoes said. "The players are in the dressing room, devastated." Fellow Premier League outfit Bournemouth enjoyed a fine home debut in Europe as they eased to a 3-0 win over Sturm Graz, courtesy of goals by Evanilson, Rayan and Alvaro Rodriguez. Juventus fought from behind to emerge 2-1 victors at Celta Vigo after Newcastle loanee Nick Woltemade made it two from two in Europe to cancel out Hugo Alvarez's opener for the hosts, and Randal Kolo Muani scored an injury-time winner. Martin O'Neill's Celtic continued their difficult start to the season as they sank to a fourth defeat in their last five outings, outclassed 4-1 at Benfica. (AFP) Edited by Cecil Wong

Rams coach Sean McVay is hopeful new kicker Blake Grupe will help steady a special teams unit that struggled mightily in the team's overtime loss to the Bills.

Gianni Infantino apologised to the Fifa Council on Thursday, but English and German football chiefs said they remained unconvinced he was fit to continue as president of soccer's world governing body. Infantino said he had apologised during the closed meeting for mistakes in communicating and consulting over the now-abandoned Fifa Forward Enterprise (FFE) project, but stressed that it had been only a proposal and “in no way a done deal”. "First of all, I apologised for the mistakes that we made in relation to the communication and consultation process related to the Fifa Forward Enterprise project, which then led to many consequences," Infantino said in a video published by Fifa. "But what is important to remember is that it was a proposal, so in no way a done deal." The FFE plan involved creating a company to run the commercial interests of Fifa competitions, including the World Cup, and selling a minority stake to private investors. Infantino said it was intended to generate additional funding for Fifa's 211 member associations. While Infantino appeared to retain strong support among African officials, opposition from some of Europe's most influential football associations remained pronounced. German FA president Bernd Neuendorf called for a "complete restart" at Fifa, saying the governance reforms the organisation needed could not be delivered with Infantino in charge. "The first thing is we need reforms. That's true. And everyone knows that," Neuendorf said. "The old administration has to be reformed, and the whole governance has to be reformed. But I'm pretty clear here in this that ⁠this is not possible with Gianni. "So we ⁠need a complete restart, I think, a political restart." English FA chair Debbie Hewitt said Infantino needed to provide answers to questions raised by Fifa Council members and warned that failure to do so would make him unfit to remain president. "I think the man has to answer those questions," Hewitt said. "And if he doesn't answer those questions, no, he's not fit to be Fifa president." Neuendorf questioned the extent of Infantino's apology, saying he believed it related primarily to the failure to consult the council rather than to the FFE project itself. "I didn't have the feeling that this apology was because of the FFE project in total," Neuendorf said. "My impression was it was just because it wasn't brought forward to the council and no one was involved." Neuendorf said council members had learned about the project through the media rather than from ⁠Fifa's leadership and that representatives from other confederations had also complained about the lack of consultation. "When it came to the FFE project as such, I have the impression that this still was not included when he apologised," he said. Hewitt said Infantino’s apparent regret over not consulting the council strengthened the case for releasing the relevant FFE documents to its members. "You have an obligation. We all have an obligation, a fiduciary responsibility to answer the questions that have been put forward," Hewitt said. "He told us to submit those questions. There were so many of them, and now it's up to him to do that and do that in the open way. "If there's nothing to hide, then share (the FFE documents) with us... if you regret it that deeply, please share it with us." The criticism, however, was not unanimous. Ahmed Yahya, the president of the Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania (FFRIM), defended Infantino, saying his leadership had helped develop football around the world, pointing to increased funding for national associations and the expansion of the World Cup to 48 teams. "We (the African nations) believe Gianni is the right person to continue leading football," Yahya said. Asked whether most people wanted Infantino to remain president, he added: "I'm certain. The majority want Gianni to stay." (Reuters) Edited by Cecil Wong