Kim still top 3
Escape to LA
BELGIAN Kim Clijster drops in world rankings after injury forces her out of Toronto Open Tuesday 16 August, 2011 last week
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Kun on the double
THE Los Angeles Galaxy have signed Ireland captain and striker Robbie Keane from Tottenham Hotspur
MANCHESTER: FOOTBALL/ PREMIER LEAGUE
Aguero hits brace as City give Swansea reality check
MANCHESTER CITY’S new striker Sergio Aguero netted twice on a spectacular debut after coming off the bench in their 4-0 home win over promoted Swansea City this morning as the potential Premier League title challengers made an impressive start. The Argentine, who joined in July for a reported City record of US$64 million (RM190.8m), entered the fray on the hour after Edin Dzeko gave the hosts the lead and was soon on the scoresheet himself when he tapped in Micah Richards’ low cross in the 68th minute. Three minutes later the former Atletico Madrid forward turned provider when he superbly hooked a ball back from the byline for David Silva to slam home. Aguero then fired in a mesmeric fourth goal from distance in stoppage time. “He needs two or three weeks to be 100 per cent maybe,” City manager Rober-
to Mancini told Sky Sports in an ominous warning to City’s rivals. “For me he is a fantastic striker, he is young. I’m delighted after this performance but I think in the first-half Swansea played very well.” The Welsh side did indeed make a decent fist of the opening exchanges in their first ever Premier League game but the gulf in class soon began to show. The world’s richest club took their time to break the deadlock but were solidly on top from the middle of the first-half and could have gone ahead when Silva and Gareth Barry rattled the bar while Yaya Toure blasted wide. Bosnian striker Dzeko eased any Eastlands nerves when he tucked the ball away in the 57th minute after Swansea’s busy Dutch keeper Michel Vorm, also making his league debut, parried Adam Johnson’s shot following a superb driving run
by Silva. Aguero, having had no real practice in a City shirt after finishing the Copa America last month, came on just after the goal and almost netted with his first touch as he made one of the most memorable debut cameos English football has seen in recent years. “There is a great bond in this group, I’m feeling the love,” City keeper Joe Hart said. Stephen Dobbie’s secondhalf effort was Swansea’s best although it barely troubled Hart. They will take consolation in the fact that they will face much easier tests this term even if everyone at the club knows they are in for a long hard season. Their style has been compared to Blackpool, who became the neutral’s favourite last term for their attacking endeavour but were still relegated straight back to the Championship
LOCAL
Not fast and furious
R. SURENDRAN needs to speed things up to keep his place in Kelantan’s Malaysia Cup squad
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GOLF
Stars and stripes
YOUNG talents emerging from United States and they’re taking the golfing world by storm
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football
What a Fab feeling aguero (second division). “I said to the players I was very, very proud of them tonight,” Swansea manager Brendan Rodgers said. City have their eyes fixed on the opposite end of the table
and Aguero’s explosive debut will have assured fans they have an ideal replacement for Carlos Tevez, who was not picked after asking weeks ago for a move which has not yet transpired. — Reuters
SPAIN international back on home soil after eight years with Arsenal
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MILAN: FOOTBALL/ SERIE A
Fab too expensive, says Galliani
Galliani
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AC MILAN vice-president Adriano Galliani has ruled out a possible return for Kaka to San Siro and explained his side simply could not afford Barcelona’s new signing Cesc Fabregas. Last season’s Serie A winners have been linked with a plethora of midfielders this summer but one reported target, Fabregas, completed his switch from Arsenal yesterday. But Galliani conceded his side could not compete with the European champions on a financial level.
“He had a very high cost, but this is a problem in general for Italian clubs. We cannot compete with the money they have in Spain. Fabregas could not come to us due to revenue,” Galliani told SkySport 24. Regarding another transfer target, Kaka, Galliani admitted a move for the Real Madrid midfielder is unlikely and again cited the club’s financial structure as a potential snag in any deal. “We’ll see what will happen. At the moment we are
OK like this, even if the transfered window is open until Aug 31. I would be as happy as Gattuso to see Kaka at Milan again; two years ago when he transfer to Madrid, I was very moved,” he explained. “But he has a price tag too high for Milan. To come here he would have to cut his pay by much more than what Fabregas had to for Barcelona. To get him we would have to buy him outright; I’m sorry to disappoint the fans, but his hypothetical acquisition is impossible.”
PRESS TALK
It’s Hammer time
GERMAN midfielder Thomas “der Hammer” Hitzlsperger could be making a shock return for a second spell at Aston Villa
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