Maika Hamano scored the only goal as a formidable Japan battled past Australia to clinch a third Women’s Asian Cup title on Saturday in front of a record-breaking crowd in Sydney.

The Tottenham star hit a stunning long-range strike in the 17th minute at Stadium Australia to break Australian hearts and add to their continental crowns from 2014 and 2018.

Those finals were also against Australia and also ended 1-0.

“I feel relieved, I think it was a 50-50 game just as I predicted,” Japan’s Greenlander coach Nils Nielsen said.

“It’s very difficult to play Australia in Australia and I have to say they made themselves proud.

“In the end, I’m just happy. The girls fought with everything they had.”

The edge-of-the-seat decider culminated a landmark tournament with more than 350,000 fans through the turnstiles, reinforcing the growth in popularity of the women’s game.

This was around six times as many as the previous record set in 2010 in China, with the 74,397 fans at the final setting a new attendance mark for a single game in tournament history.

The Asian Cup doubled as qualifying for the World Cup in Brazil next year, with Australia, Japan, South Korea, China, North Korea and the Philippines all punching their tickets.

The Japanese team stacked with English-based players were invincible in their run to the final, fluid across the park and defending well to steamroll everyone in front of them.

While Australia proved a much tougher test, nothing could stop them as they accumulated 29 goals and conceded just one through their six games to reinforce their status as Asia’s number one team.

Barcelona moved seven points clear at the top of La Liga with a narrow victory over Rayo Vallecano at Spotify Nou Camp.

Ronald Araujo headed home a Joao Cancelo corner to give the hosts the lead after 24 minutes.

However, they could have been behind in the first minute when Carlos Martin had a tap in from six yards, but goalkeeper Joan Garcia raced out to close down the angle.

That was Rayo’s only shot on target in a largely uneventful first half.

Raphinha fired an effort towards the top corner but it took a deflection and Rayo goalkeeper Augusto Batalla did well to push it on to the crossbar.

After the break, Garcia produced a brilliant save to stop Unai Lopez’s close-range header from drawing Rayo level.

Pacha Espino curled a shot over the bar for Rayo in the 83rd minute as Barca clung on for a vital win.

Real Madrid face rivals Atletico Madrid late last night as they looked to close the gap back to four points.

Hansi Flick’s side travel to Atletico after the international break on Saturday, 4 April before facing them twice more in the Champions League quarter-finals.

In Germany, Harry Kane scored to move within 10 of the Bundesliga single-season goals record as Bayern Munich beat Union Berlin 4-0 at Allianz Arena.

Michael Olise opened the scoring before a Serge Gnabry double either side of Kane’s strike moved Bayern 12 points clear of second-placed Borussia Dortmund.

Kane’s goal, which took him to 31 for the season in the Bundesliga, means he is now 10 behind the record set by former Bayern striker Robert Lewandowski in 2020-21.

“It’s still possible, I just have to keep doing what I’m doing,” Kane told reporters after the game.

“All it takes is a hat-trick or a couple of braces in a row and then it’ll look a bit more likely.”

The England forward’s bid for the record could be aided by Thomas Tuchel’s decision to rest him for the Three Lions’ friendly match against Uruguay.

Kane was named in Tuchel’s 35-man squad but the England boss confirmed the striker, along with a number of others, would join the camp later to take part in the second friendly against Japan.

“I think it makes sense when we look at the April schedule, May and then going into the World Cup, trying to use this time now to be as fresh as possible in that period,” the 32-year-old Kane said.

“For me and the boys who get a bit of time off, you have to use it wisely, you have to stay fit, stay sharp, but just kind of mentally rest and get ready for a really busy schedule when we get back.”

Kane will get his next chance to chip into the record when Bayern travel to Freiburg on Saturday, 4 April.

LeBron James set the record for the most regular-season games played in NBA history as he helped the Los Angeles Lakers to a dramatic buzzer-beating 105-104 victory against the Orlando Magic in his 1,612th outing.

James, 41, moved one clear of Robert Parish’s 1997 record of 1,611 appearances, in a game the Lakers won when Luke Kennard scored a three-pointer with 0.6 seconds left.

“It just kind of happened. It was not on the list of things that I wanted to accomplish,” said four-time NBA champion James.

“I wanted to be the best player in this league at some point. I wanted to be one of the greatest, if not the greatest, to ever play this game. I wanted to be an NBA champion.

“I wanted to possibly win rookie of the year, make All-Star appearances, win a gold medal, win some MVPs, those were some of my goals.

“But some of the stuff that’s just been happening over the course of the last few years has been super-duper cool.”

James, who is the first player to take part in 23 consecutive NBA seasons and is also the NBA’s record points scorer, contributed 12 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals as the Lakers beat Orlando for a ninth straight win.

The Lakers are third in the Western Conference, while Magic are eighth in the Eastern Conference.

“Availability, I’ve always wanted to be available to my team-mates,” added James.

“It’s a mental toll, trying to play a lot and being out there. I just give a lot of praise to the man above and [it’s about] just loving the game and appreciating the game.”

James was not the only player to achieve a milestone as Kevin Durant passed NBA legend Michael Jordan to go fifth in the all-time scoring list in regular-season games.

Durant moved to 32,294 – two ahead of Jordan – courtesy of a 27-point display for the Houston Rockets, who are fourth in the Western Conference, in their last gasp 123-122 win against the Miami Heat, who are ninth in the Eastern Conference.

“It means a lot,” said Durant, who passed Jordan with a three-pointer in the fourth quarter.

“I’m grateful to be here and for this incredible journey it’s been. I’m looking forward to continuing.”

Elsewhere, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 40 points for the Oklahoma City Thunder as four players were ejected in his side’s fiery 132-111 win against the Washington Wizards.

The Thunder’s Ajay Mitchell, Jaylin Williams and Cason Wallace were ejected, along with Washington’s Justin Champagnie, following a mass brawl near the end of the second quarter.

Reigning NBA champions Thunder remain top of the Western Conference, while the Wizards are one place off the bottom in 14th place.