SPORTS 15
Monday, 24 April, 2017
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Agencies
LEXIS Sanchez's scrambled extra-time winner secured Arsenal an FA Cup final date with Chelsea and ensured Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola will end a season without a trophy for the first time in his coaching career. Sanchez settled a contentious semi-final 11 minutes into the extra period after Manchester City failed to clear Mesut Ozil's free-kick. Arsenal showed great resilience to come from behind - and eased the pressure on manager Arsene Wenger - after Sergio Aguero raced clear of Nacho Monreal to put City ahead in the 62nd minute. Monreal made amends with the equaliser 11 minutes later as he drilled in Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's cross at the far post - but City were
left nursing a serious sense of injustice after this disappointing defeat. They had a goal wrongly ruled out in the first half when Leroy Sane's cross was adjudged to have gone out before Aguero and Raheem Sterling
Four games without win as Bayern held by Mainz
combined to turn it into the net, while Yaya Toure and Fernandinho hit the woodwork after the break. It left Arsenal victorious and Wenger aiming for a record seventh FA Cup triumph.
Rooney scores for first time since Jan as Man Utd beat Burnley
Munich Agencies
Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich have now gone four games without a win after being held by struggling Mainz. The German champions - who were knocked out of the Champions League by Real Madrid this week - are nine points clear of RB Leipzig, who have five games left to play. Bojan scored an early opener for Mainz, his first goal since his loan move from Stoke, after some sloppy defending, before Arjen Robben smashed home a leveller. Daniel Brosinski put Mainz ahead again with a penalty, but Thiago equalised after being picked out by Robben. Borussia Dortmund beat Borussia Monchengladbach 3-2 to move up to third in the table.
Dwayne Bravo's chances of playing IPL 2017 extremely slim Gujarat Agencies
West Indies allrounder Dwayne Bravo is almost certainly not going to play in the 2017 IPL because of his ongoing rehabilitation for a hamstring injury he suffered in December. Bravo has been with his IPL team - Gujarat Lions - this season but has not played a game, and his captain Suresh Raina said it was perhaps time to think about a replacement. "No Dwayne Bravo. He's been doing proper rehab and it might take three-four weeks, so he might be out of the tournament," Raina said at the toss of Lions’ game against Kings XI Punjab in Rajkot. "So now we have to talk to the management and think about a replacement." Lions are presently at the bottom of the table, having won only two out of their first six games. In 2016, their debut IPL season, Lions had finished on top of the league with nine wins in 14 games, but did not make the final. Bravo had been their second highest wicket-taker last year, with 17 wickets. Bravo suffered the injury while fielding for Melbourne Renegades - his BBL team - against Perth Scorchers on December 29. He had been stationed on the off-side boundary, and injured himself when he ran across and lowered himself to field a ball. He clutched at his hamstring as soon as he went down, and had to be taken off on a MediCab. Bravo has not played a match since, missing the Pakistan Super League and West Indies' fixtures in the lead up to the IPL.
wenGer Gets His stateMent oF intent: Wenger's future - and the lack of clarity surrounding it - has only been brought into sharper focus by Arsenal's recent fall outside the Champions League places. The manager needed a statement, as did his team, to ease the growing disquiet among Arsenal fans at the prospect that he will extend his stay as manager. Arsenal's Wembley win against Manchester City will not ease the concerns in the minds of the doubters but he can point to the victory, and the manner in which it was achieved, as evidence that he could yet be the man to take the club forward. Victory in the final on 27 May would strengthen his and Arsenal's case for continuity, but for now there was much for the Frenchman and his players to treasure about this triumph.
Manchester Agencies
Manchester United kept up the chase for the top four in the Premier League with a comfortable victory over Burnley. Wayne Rooney was handed his second league start of the year by the visitors - one of eight changes made by Jose Mourinho after Thursday's Europa League win over Anderlecht. The England captain started the impressive counter-attack which led to Anthony Martial's opener, and scored his first goal since January when he squeezed the ball home from a tight angle to double United's lead before half-time. Andre Gray had Burnley's best chance of the first half when his shot was blocked by defender Eric Bailly, but Sean Dyche's side failed to register a shot on target. It means United remain fifth in the league but are only a point off rivals Manchester City, whom they face on Thursday at Etihad Stadium. Burnley have now won only once in 11 matches
and are five points off the relegation zone in 15th. After season-ending injuries to striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic and defender Marcos Rojo, Mourinho was forced to shuffle his pack again. And, with one eye on the Manchester derby, he left Thursday's hero Marcus Rashford on the bench. Martial returned to the attack alongside Rooney and Jesse Lingard and played a part in both first-half goals. The Frenchman sprinted forward after being sent on his way by Rooney, and after a delicate lay-off from Ander Herrera, Martial swept the ball past Tom Heaton in the Burnley goal. It was Martial's 25th goal for the club and a clause in his contract, which he signed last year, means United will now have to pay an extra £8.5m to his former team Monaco. Benteke scores twice as Palace Beat liverPool: In the other match of the day, Christian Benteke came back to haunt his former club as Crystal Palace beat Liverpool at Anfield to take a giant stride towards Premier League survival and dent their opponents' top-four aspirations. Benteke scored in either half as Sam Allardyce's Eagles mounted a brilliant fightback after Liverpool took the lead through Philippe Coutinho's fine free-kick. Hull, swansea keeP HoPes alive; Boro sinks deePer: In Saturday’s matches, Hull City and Swansea City earned valuable victories in their battle for Premier League survival but Middlesbrough slid further toward the drop after a 4-0 hammering at Bournemouth Saturday. Hull’s 2-0 win over Stoke City and Swansea’s identical scoreline against Watford increased the pressure on Crystal Palace and Burnley, who are hovering above the relegation zone and play Liverpool and Manchester United, respectively, Sunday.
AFrIDI, sethI DIscuss ‘FIttIng FAreweLL’ In DuBAI sports desk Star all-rounder Shahid Afridi met chairman PCB’s ExCo Najam Sethi in Dubai Sunday to discuss the options for a farewell event and future working with the Pakistan Cricket Board. Afridi was in news for his intentions of seeking a farewell match, which he couldn’t get, but now PCB has indicated that they will provide the former captain with a proper send-off. Najam Sethi, after the meeting with Afridi, confirmed on social media that he discussed ideas for a farewell and future working with the PCB for benefit of Pakistan Cricket. “@SAfridiOfficial and I had a wonderful chat. Ideas for a fitting farewell & future contribution to cricket were also discussed,” posted Najam Sethi on his Twitter profile. Sethi had earlier stated that Shahid Afridi was Pakistan’s hero while inviting him to a meeting earlier this month. Afridi, a veteran of 398 ODIs and 98 T20Is, confirmed that he met with Sethi and discussed the farewell options and he’ll reply to PCB’s offer soon. “It was nice meeting you @najamsethi . Appreciate your suggestions. Will revert soon inshallah,” Afridi responded on Twitter. Earlier, Afridi had suggested that he was looking to set a trend for players allowing them to step out of career in a graceful manner. “I wanted to set a trend because by leaving Cricket in a graceful manner after serving the country for around two decades,” Afridi had told media in Karachi last month. It is not yet cleared what sort of farewell PCB would arrange for Afridi, but, according to a TV channel, the cricket board would arrange a function for the trio of Shahid Afriid, Misbah-ul Haq and Younis Khan and will also announce cash awards for them.
nADAL wIns hIstorIc 10th Monte cArLo tItLe
Monte carLo Agencies
Rafael Nadal won the Monte Carlo Masters for a record-breaking 10th time with a dominant 6-1, 6-3 defeat of Spanish compatriot Albert Ramos-Vinolas on Sunday. The 30-year-old Nadal will be aiming for a 10th French Open title as well next month. It was Nadal´s first title in almost a year and further cemented his place in history as he became the first man in the Open era to win the same event 10 times. He won eight Monte Carlo titles in a row from 2005 to 2012 but then lost to Novak Djokovic in 2013 final. He won the title again last year and then added the Barcelona crown a week later, yet had not lifted a trophy since, losing three finals already this year, including January´s Australian Open against Roger Federer.
KolKata Knight RideRs v Royal ChallengeRs BangaloRe
KKR defend small total in style, RCB 49 all out koLkata Agencies
One hundred and thirty-two runs. That's all Royal Challengers Bangalore needed. A little over 13 runs per wicket, only 6.6 runs an over, with Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers in their side. Against quality pace bowling led by the astute Gautam Gambhir, the most glittering batting line-up in Twenty20 cricket sensationally collapsed to 49 all out, the lowest score in the IPL and the 10th-lowest in all Twenty20 cricket. Not one man reached double figutes. This was only the 10th time in the IPL that a total of 131 or under was defended successfully. At the halfway mark, Kolkata Knight Riders felt they were about 50 short of the par score, especially after the start Sunil Narine had given them: a 17ball 34 in the fastest team fifty this IPL. They had collapsed 65 for 1 to be bowled
out only for the third time when batting first in IPL. That fall couldn't hold a candle to Royal Challengers, though, who batted with their edges, KKR 131 starting with a (Narine 34, Chahal golden duck for captain Virat 3-16, Negi 2-15, Mills Kohli. 2-31) beatRCB 49 Nathan Coulter-Nile (De Grandhomme began the slide 3-4, Woakes 3-6, with the wickets of Kohli, AB Coulter-Nile 3-21) de Villiers and by 82 runs Kedar Jadhav in his first three overs, and then Chris Woakes and Colin de Grandhomme feasted on the carcass, taking three wickets each. With Umesh Yadav taking the other wicket, this was the fifth time all 10 wickets had fallen to pace in the IPL.
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