Page 583 - Sports
Quintero fires River Plate to victory over leaders Racing
Colombia international midfielder Juan Fernando Quintero scored with a sublime first-half free-kick as River Plate beat leaders Racing Club 2-0 in the Superliga Argentina.
Unstoppable Man City trounce Chelsea; regains EPL lead
Manchester City reclaimed the English Premier League's top spot with its 6-0 rout of Chelsea in a matchday 26 contest held at Etihad stadium.
Prajnesh breaks top-100 barrier, touches 97
Reaping rewards of his consistent performance, Prajnesh Gunneswaran Monday broke into men's singles top-100 for the first time in his career with a jump of six places that took him to 97. Prajnesh is only third Indian player to break into the top-100 barrier in the past decade after Somdev Devvarman and Yuki Bhambri. The gritty left-hander, who had a brilliant 2018 season, reached the semifinals of the ATP Chennai Challenger last week to ensure his entry into the coveted bracket. If Prajnesh can maintain his rank inside top-100, it will secure him entry into Grand Slam singles main draws. In recent times, only Yuki managed to make the top-100 grade. The immensely talented Yuki has been unfortunate with injuries that halted his progress. Every time he entered the top-100, it was followed by a long injury break. He is now placed 156 behind Ramkumar Ramanathan, who rose to 128 with a jump of five places. At number four, is Saketh Myneni (255, +5) and following him is another talent from .
Tottenham edge Leicester 3-1 for 4th consecutive EPL win
Colombian centre-back Davinson Sanchez scored his first goal with Tottenham Hotspur to lead his team to a 3-1 win over Leicester City at Wembley Stadium, earning a fourth consecutive English Premier League (EPL) win.
Hero Gold Cup: Indian eves gear up for Nepal challenge
Indian women's football team are all set to square off against Nepal in the second match of their second match of the ongoing Hero Gold Cup, later today.Anju Tamang's 48th-minute winner had led India to a perfect start in the competition beating Iran 1-0 in their opening encounter. But for coach Maymol Rocky and her players, it was just another day in office which went right as they were continued their winning spree -- taking the tally to five victories (2 each against Indonesia and Hong Kong)."We play for a win in every match, and against Iran it was no different. We knew this will be a tough match for us. We wanted to start the tournament of a positive note," AIFF quoted Maymol, as saying."This is a win for all stakeholders involved, and every Indian. We dug deep and fought our way every minute to get the win," she added.India could have scored more but were unlucky as Sanju hit the woodwork in the second half, and Anju muffed almost scoring another in the dying embers.Goalkeeper ..
Juventus down Sassuolo 3-0 with Cristiano setting the tone
Juventus blanked Sassuolo 3-0 with Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo scoring one of the goals, contributing an assist and leading the team to victory here.
Ter Stegen saves Barcelona from defeat vs Athletic Bilbao
Barcelona's German goaltender Marc-Andre Ter Stegen prevented his team from going down to defeat with two splendid saves of shots by Athletic Club of Bilbao's Markel Susaeta and Iñaki Williams, although the match ended in a scoreless draw.
Kuldeep Yadav scales new heights in T20I rankings
Indian spinner Kuldeep Yadav has moved up one place to take a career-best second position in the International Cricket Council (ICC) men's T20I player rankings after grabbing two for 26 in the final match against New Zealand which his side lost by four runs to go 2-1 down in the series.The 24-year-old accounted for well-set openers Tim Seifert and Colin Munro in the only match he played during the series and reaped immediate dividends. He is now only behind Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan in the table.Indian Left-arm spinner Krunal Pandya is another slow bowler to move up as he advanced 39 places to a career-best 58th while India openers Rohit Sharma (up three places to seventh) and Shikhar Dhawan (up one place to 11th) have made progress with some useful knocks.For New Zealand, Kane Williamson (up one place to 12th), Ross Taylor (up seven places to 51st) and Tim Seifert (up 87 places to a career-best 83rd) among batsmen and Tim Southee (up seven places to 30th) among bowlers are .
Craig McMillan to step down as NZ batting coach post World Cup
New Zealand batting coach Craig McMillan will step down from the position after the 2019 cricket World Cup.The 42-year-old, who is holding the position for the past five years, said that with "more and more" cricket every year his family had to make a lot of sacrifices. Within myself I knew that it is time for change, he continued."I spoke to the family because they are the ones that have had to make a lot of sacrifices over the last five years, just with the amount of cricket in this day and age. It just gets more and more every year. And I sort of knew within myself that it was time for a change for me," ESPNcricinfo quoted Craig, as saying.Under Craig's guidance, New Zealand had made it to the final of the 2015 World Cup. The coach admitted that the achievement is "really special" for him."To be involved in such an incredible World Cup on home soil and see the way the country embraced the team was really special. It's been a privilege to be able to work with the likes of Brendon ...
Billy Murdoch, Cathryn Fitzpatrick, Dean Jones inducted to Australian Cricket Hall of Fame
Batting greats Billy Murdoch and Dean Jones and champion fast bowler Cathryn Fitzpatrick will be inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame (ACHoF) at the Australian Cricket Awards in Melbourne, tonight.ACHoF chairman Peter King today announced that the trio was the selection committee's choices for the 2019 induction due to their remarkable contributions to Australian cricket. Commenting on the selection process for this year, Peter King said, "After healthy deliberation, the selection committee of the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame have selected another group of outstanding inductees to join this elite collection of Australian cricket legends.""These three inductees are very worthy of this honour and we are delighted in inducting them alongside their peers and contemporaries at the Australian Cricket Awards on February 11," he added.The second captain of the Australian Test team, Billy Murdoch was one of the greatest wicketkeeper-bats of his time, with his excellent ...
Cricket Australia congratulates retired Michael Beer
Cricket Australia (CA) has congratulated Australia spinner Michael Beer following his announcement to retire from all forms of the game at the age of 34.CA CEO Kevin Roberts acknowledged the "great contribution" made by the cricketer to Australian cricket and lauded him for his achievements."Michael has made a great contribution to Australian cricket over the course of his career, at an international level and a domestic level in Western Australia and Victoria. We congratulate him on his achievements," Roberts said."Michael played a critical role in being part of the establishment of the city-based BBL and played for the Scorchers and Stars. He will be remembered for his calmness and consistency with the ball during the power-play," he added.Despite the retirement, Michael will continue working as Director of Cricket at Wesley College in Melbourne. Roberts applauded the decision and wished him the best for his future engagements."We're pleased to hear that Michael is continuing to ...
Wood's five wickets send Windies reeling
Mark Wood answered West Indian pace with fearsome heat of his own as the fast bowler claimed his first five-wicket innings haul in Tests and put England in control on the second day of the third and final Test in St Lucia on Sunday. Playing his first match of the series, Wood tore through the heart of the home side's batting to finish with five for 41 as the West Indies, replying to England's first innings total of 277, crashed from 57 without loss in mid-afternoon to 154 all out an hour before the close of play. A day which saw 16 wickets tumble ended with the tourists' opening pair of Rory Burns and Keaton Jennings safely navigating ten overs to be 19 without loss at stumps, an overall lead of 142 runs going into day three as they seek the consolation of victory following heavy defeats in the first two matches of the series. Wood's raw speed unsettled the West Indies middle-order batsmen after Moeen Ali ended another half-century opening partnership by accounting for stand-in ...
Romania stun champions Czech Republic in Fed Cup
Romania reached the Fed Cup semi-finals for the first time on Sunday with a 3-2 win over defending champions Czech Republic as Irina-Camelia Begu and Monica Niculescu stunned Wimbledon and French Open winners Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova in a marathon doubles decider. Begu and Niculescu triumphed 6-7 (2/7) 6-4 6-4 in a thrilling rubber in Ostrava which lasted just seven minutes short of three hours. Krejcikova and Siniakova, the world's leading pair, trailed a break early in the final set before hitting back to 4-4. But the Romanian pair broke straight back for 5-4 before Begu, ranked at 35 in doubles, served out the tie. The result ended the 10-time champions Czechs' hopes of making the Fed Cup semi-finals for an 11th successive year and represented their first home defeat in a decade. Earlier Simona Halep won the battle of the former world number ones with an epic 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 triumph over Karolina Pliskova, the Czechs' highest-ranked player in the absence of world ...
How Solskjaer has transformed Man Utd's fortunes
When Manchester United were paired with Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League last-16 draw in December there seemed likely to be only one winner. United were stuck in a rut under the management of Jose Mourinho, while the French champions topped the toughest section of the group stages. However, much has changed in the two months since. United go into Tuesday's first leg at Old Trafford on a run of 10 wins and one draw since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer replaced the sacked Mourinho. PSG will have to cope without the injured Neymar for both legs of the tie due to injury and Edinson Cavani is also missing. AFP Sports looks at five things Solskjaer has changed to give United hope of making the quarter-finals for the first time in five years. Playing football the United way =================== "To win games you need to pass it forward and run forward." The basics under Solskjaer may seem simple but they contrast sharply with Mourinho's conservative approach that left a host of expensively ..
Bremen routs Augsburg 4-0 in Bundesliga to keep party going
Werder Bremen continued its birthday celebrations with a 4-0 rout of Augsburg in the Bundesliga on Sunday. Bremen, which marked its 120th anniversary as a club on Monday, followed up its dramatic penalty shootout win over Borussia Dortmund in the German Cup on Tuesday with its biggest league win of the season. Milot Rashica scored two goals, getting Bremen off the mark in the fifth minute and claiming his second a minute after Johannes Eggestein made it 2-0 in the 27th. Kevin Moehwald got Bremen's fourth in the 83rd. The win helped Bremen consolidate 10th spot and put it within striking distance of the teams chasing European qualification. Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer Leverkusen, fifth and sixth respectively, are just three points clear. Augsburg stayed 15th, three points above Stuttgart in the relegation playoff spot. On Saturday, Borussia Dortmund squandered a three-goal lead and drew with Hoffenheim 3-3 at home, then watched Bayern Munich cut its lead in the Bundesliga to five ...
Brazil's Paqueta dedicates first Serie A goal to Flamengo fire victims
Brazilian international footballer Lucas Paqueta scored his first Serie A goal for new club AC Milan on Sunday and dedicated it to the victims of the fire at his former club Flamengo. Ten young people aged between 14 and 17 died when a fire ripped through a youth training facility at the Rio de Janiero club on Friday. Paqueta joined Flamengo as a ten-year-old and had spent many years at the training facility, before moving to the professional team in 2016 where he played until signing a 35-million-euro ($40 million) deal with AC Milan last month. "It was a very difficult time for me," Paqueta told Sky Sports Italia. "I am living a dream playing for Milan and scoring my first Serie A goal, but it was also a dream for me to be in the Flamengo youth academy and I can't forget those who were experiencing the same thing." Paqueta played 65 matches and scored 13 goals for Flamengo. He made his debut for Brazil in September, in a 2-0 friendly victory over the United States. The Brazilian ...
Moving Sala homage as emotional Nantes crumble
Emiliano Sala's former club Nantes gave a final rousing send off to the Argentine striker, whose body was recovered from a crashed plane this week, with a series of moving gestures in their Ligue 1 game with Nimes on Sunday. Known as the Canaries because of their yellow strip Nantes played in a one-off full black outfit with Sala's name on the back of each shirt. Tickets for the game were sold at a symbolic nine euros in memory of the player's shirt number, which they have also withdrawn from use. As the Nimes players came out onto the pitch they headed to the main Nantes stand and placed flowers before a large written tribute readin 'Emi forever'. Around 37,000 fans were on hand to see a giant portrait of Sala displayed in the centre-circle ahead of the game, and a minute's silence was observed before spilling into rousing applause. Nantes coach Vahid Halilhodzic, who excelled when he himself was the club's No.9, said he felt a special attachment to Sala, who he described as a ...
Di Maria with point to prove on return to Old Trafford with PSG
An expensive flop who lasted just a single season at Manchester United, Angel di Maria might be keen to prove a point when he goes back to Old Trafford as a Paris Saint-Germain player on Tuesday. The Argentine, who turns 31 later this week, has a vital role to play for PSG in their crunch Champions League last 16, first leg against a resurgent United with Neymar and Edinson Cavani out injured. Those absences will place even more of an onus on Di Maria to show why PSG were prepared to make him their superstar signing in the summer of 2015, two years before Neymar and Kylian Mbappe arrived in the French capital. The former Benfica and Real Madrid man cost United a British record transfer fee of just under GBP 60 million (almost 75 million euros at the time) in 2014, but he was an unmitigated failure in England. Di Maria scored only three times in 27 Premier League appearances in 2014/15 for a United side who finished fourth, a long way behind champions Chelsea. His time in England was ..
Barca give fresh hope to La Liga rivals after Bilbao stalemate
Lionel Messi was short of fitness and Barcelona lacked spark as a goalless draw away to Athletic Bilbao on Sunday offered fresh hope to their rivals in the title race. A thigh injury had limited Messi to 27 minutes against Real Madrid on Wednesday and while he played the full match at San Mames, Barca's assistant coach Jon Aspiazu had admitted before kick-off he was not yet 100 per cent. In all likelihood, he stayed on because his team needed him but Messi was not at his best and neither were Barcelona, who would even have lost had it not been for Marc Andre ter Stegen's stunning late save to deny Inaki Williams. The draw makes it three games without a win for La Liga's leaders, whose advantage is still six points but now with Real Madrid their closest challengers, after they beat Atletico on Saturday. That was Real's fifth league victory on the bounce and just as they have gained momentum, Barca appear to be losing theirs, at a crucial juncture, with more stern tests to come. After ..
Ronaldo keeps scoring as Juventus soar 11 points clear
Cristiano Ronaldo headed in his 18th league goal this season as Juventus bounced back from last week's stalemate to soar to an 11-point lead in Serie A on Sunday with a 3-0 win at Sassuolo. Ronaldo proved decisive, scoring after 70 minutes as Sami Khedira found the net first in Modena with fellow German Emre Can slotting in the third four minutes from time. The Serie A champions had been held by Parma last week despite the Portugese forward's double. Now they have left second-placed Napoli trailing after Carlo Ancelotti's side were held to a goalless draw at Fiorentina on Saturday. Paulo Dybala again started on the bench coming on late for the champions, to help set up the third goal, with coach Massimiliano Allegri saying he needed to find the right balance. "Ronaldo and Dybala can certainly play together and they will do, but we need everyone to work hard in order to keep the team balanced," said Allegri. "It all depends on who you are playing against. Sassuolo have a strong ...