this is sport today live in the bbc‘s sports centre. coming up, the dramatic late equaliser boosts west ham's premier league survival hopes and sends stoke closer to the drop. the asian champions league. and novak djokovic is back on the charge on the clay of monte carlo. the battle at the basement of the english premier league. west ham left it late. paul lambert‘s side second from bottom of the table took the lead thanks to peter crouch who capitalised on a long—range effort. peter crouch is now stoke‘s top scorer in the premier league. earlier west ham had two goals disallowed for offside. the home side drawing level in the 90th minute. the volley saving the day.

stoke denied a first win in ten games, west ham seven points clear of relegation. you have to keep picking up points. i thought a0 would be a point you can say safe. if we are hammered a0, we are not able to get that so that target is still to get that, we can hopefully reach that as soon as we can. elsewhere in the bundesliga, controversy after a penalty was awarded after players that the pitch at half—time. the referee called both sides back from the dressing room after consulting the video assistant referee system and analysing freiburg brahams ball. theyjump analysing freiburg brahams ball. they jump above freiburg analysing freiburg brahams ball. theyjump above freiburg in the table. gary lineker says english football will always be grateful for the influence of manchester city boss pep guardiola. city were

confirmed as champions on sunday after manchester united's 1—0 defeat to west brom. i think pep guardiola was great for our game. so mini people said he can't play his style of football in the premier league, i a lwa ys of football in the premier league, i always thought that was nonsense. i'm glad he's stuck with his principles, that he came through at his style of football is not only proved he can win with it but it's so proved he can win with it but it's so beautiful to watch at times and i think we will always be grateful in the premier league and in english football because we all know that success football because we all know that success is copied and imitated by other teams for a start, other coaches, children playing the game, and it can only be good and i think eventually, pep guardiola's legacy is that improved not only manchester city and brought great success to the club but also english football. yes they have spent a lot of money but so have all the big teams, more than some others but it's not like they have gone out and brought in

messi and ronaldo, which guarantees success. messi and ronaldo, which guarantees success. the recognised where they might be weak. the interesting thing is how pep guardiola has improved so many footballers, not footballers we re many footballers, not footballers were just young players like walker, de bruyne. you can make the list through the site and that is where his levels of management are above eve ryo ne his levels of management are above everyone else is, the like we have not seen possibly before and they are winning or they can keep that going for three orfour are winning or they can keep that going for three or four years, are winning or they can keep that going for three orfour years, and keep the levels as high as they've kept them this season, and possibly a couple of champions league is to it as well, they will be competing to be one of the greatest sides in english football hits —— history if not world —— world club football history. eindhoven celebrated with a parade through the city on monday.

they have won three of the past four league titres —— titles. prosopolis defeated al saud on monday. and the al sadd defender inadvertently headed past his own keeper to give ita run headed past his own keeper to give it a run giant ‘s lead. they will face the second place team in the round of 16. esteghlal beat al hilal of saudi arabia 1—0. and the gorgeous surroundings of monte carlo with the european clay—court season

is under way. novak djokovic ‘s showed no signs of the injury that has blighted him. after lengthy spells of the court with an elbow injury, nobody quite knew what to expect from novak djokovic. in a matter of minutes, but the fellow serb did not know what it hit. the former world number one raced through the first set without losing the game. since djokovic parted company with andre agassi has teamed up company with andre agassi has teamed up with his former coach. so far the changes seem to be working and it took under an hour to book a second round meeting. another player trying to find his best form is kei nishikori. he has been frustrated by industry —— injury and had a slow start and is set to tomas berdych. despite a slow start, the japanese number one down some rhythm and raced through the next sets. his first appearance in monte carlo for

six years and faces the russian medvedev in the second round. milos raonic looks in good form but it took a wild to get going in his match. after surviving an early scare, the former wimbledon runner—up soon took control of the match and made the game look very easy at times. a quarter—finalist during 2016, milos raonic would be a dangerous opponent for anybody. some controversy on monday as jalland donaldson angrily confronted an umpire, the american outraged when a surf on his opponent was called in. as you can see, he was far from happy. it's just as you can see, he was far from happy. it'sjust there. where? just there. what are you talking about? there is a marked right here. there. what are you talking about? there is a marked right harem there. what are you talking about? there is a marked right here. it was a previous ball. show me the mark. the fact that i cannot see the mark

there. there is a marked right here. there is a marked right here! just calm down. you are not showing me a mark. stop this, stop this. why are you doing this? donaldson eventually lost and apologised but refused to shake the umpire's hand. next, the organisers of the next commonwealth games in birmingham say they are convinced that the event will give the english city and economic boost. it follows warnings from traders in australia's gold coast that the games were bad that this descent scare people away. the 11 days of competition are now over. being host city brings the promise of —— the promise of gold, medals for the athletes and lots of money the local economy but some on the gold coast have been left feeling shortchanged by these games. i've been here 22

yea rs. by these games. i've been here 22 years. the worst i've seen in 22 yea rs, years. the worst i've seen in 22 years, it's impacted almost a month and a half of trade and we are all down at least 50%. when they planned the games, the organisers warned of delays and disruption but reality has been rather more empty for the local people who have left town. the get ready campaign was done so well that it made people imagine there was going to be gridlock. use get them away? in a way, i have to admit that we would have played our car differently. so what can birmingham learn from all this? there has been a team on the ground looking at what to copy and what to avoid. there are some things they can't replicate without miles of golden sand. there probably won't be beach volleyball in birmingham. every host city has to play to its advantages. and so birmingham wantsa to play to its advantages. and so birmingham wants a diverse urban games. they were only awarded in december after being taken away from

durban, giving them much less time to prepare. it means we may not have three years about wrangling what a decision might be. we have for years to go soeda got to crack on. we need to go soeda got to crack on. we need to make our decisions quickly so that might actually play to our advantage. the games helped to produce medals. australia didn't haveit produce medals. australia didn't have it all its own way. the captain of england's victoria smith ball tea m of england's victoria smith ball team is a brummie and thinks the games bring something special. talking to the general public and volu nteers talking to the general public and volunteers and i go around burning and no one looks at me so if it can bring the city together for the games, that's a bonus birmingham. every games needs its golden moment. it's up to birmingham to prove it can deliver. more on the website. from me and the team, they keep that

watching. we will see very soon. —— we will see you very soon. the long—awaited spring warm—up has almost arrived. from wednesday, with high pressure close by, most places will be dry for a few days with some good sunny spells around and it'll be much warmer, temperatures widely into the high teens, low 20s, and in some spots, a bit warmer than that as we look at a selection of temperatures from probably the warmest day on thursday. so not everyone will get to 25, 26 degrees but i think most places will be having the warmest weather of the spring so far. but we're not quite there yet. we have one more weather system affecting us. and as tuesday begins, that will be giving some quite wet and windy weather to some northern and western parts of the uk. it's blustery across the board though during tuesday and any

temperatures, nowhere particularly cold as the day begins. let's take a closer look at this weather system — it's pushed in by an area of low pressure to the west of us and this weather front becomes slow—moving and will clear on through much of northern ireland and scotland during the day as it brightens up but we keep cloud and outbreaks of rain for parts of northern, western england and wales and this is how it looks at 7, 8 o'clock in morning. a lot of cloud for south—west, england, seeing a bit of patchy rain during the day, more especially some outbreaks of rain in wales, north—west england. look how much of it is clear through northern ireland, even at this stage, to last, some early sunshine for many of us. in scotland, there are some heavier bursts to content with,

especially in the hills of south—west scotland and the strongest winds will be northern ireland and western scotland, gusting up to 50mph at times. but it's blustery wherever you are. scotland, northern ireland brightening up. catch an afternoon shower, it could be heavy and possibly thundery. that area of cloud covering much of northern england, the midlands, wales and the south—west, delivering a bit of patchy rain in places. best of the sunshine, eastern counties of east anglia and south—east england, albeit quite hazy at times, and the highest temperatures here at near 20 celsius. as wednesday begins, don't be surprised by a bit of early rain for parts of northern ireland, northern england and scotland but as pressure continues to build in, we push that away and more of us see the sunshine. a good deal of afternoon sunshine on wednesday, and it is warmer as a result and some spots are breaking the 20 celsius mark by several degrees in places. the best of the sunshine will be in central and eastern parts of england but we have certainly got the warmth on thursday and the vast majority are going to be dry. temperatures may be peaking in some spots into the mid—20s but most will be enjoying the warmest weather of the spring so far.

welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. my name is mike embley. our top stories — state television in syria says air defences have shot down missiles fired at an airbase near homs. the pentagon's denied any us involvement. a bbc exclusive with russia's foreign minister, who says relations with the west are worse than the cold war. during the cold war, there were channels of communication. there was no obsession with russophobia. donald trump hits back at the former fbi directorjames comey who claims he was "morally unfit to be president". and a taste for toxic waste. the scientific breakthrough that could help tackle plastic pollution.