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Monday, January 14, 2013
International
CMYK
International
CMYK
Sp rt Reuters
AP Photo/Jon Super
Chelsea’s Frank Lampard celebrates after scoring against Stoke during their English Premier League soccer match at the Britannia Stadium, Stoke, England, Saturday Jan. 12, 2013.
Hazard stunner wraps up dominant Blues win
A superb second-half display from Chelsea saw it cruise to a 4-0 win over Stoke and send the Potters to their first home defeat of the season. The first half lacked quality but a Jon Walters own goal right before the break gave the visitors the lead, and in the second half the Blues ran riot. Walters unluckily added a second own goal before a Frank Lampard penalty and a Eden Hazard rocket sealed the points. Stoke made one change to the side that started the last Premier League game against Manchester City as Matthew Etherington started on the left in place of Cameron Jerome. The visitors made four changes to the side that was beaten by Swansea in the Capital One Cup semifinal with Demba Ba, Petr Cech, Frank Lampard and Ryan Bertrand starting in place of Fernando Torres, Ross Turnbull, Gary Cahill and Oscar. The opening half was short on skill and entertainment with both sides limited to half chances until right before the break. Stoke had the game’s first chance as Kenwyne Jones found himself with room inside the Chelsea penalty area but he dragged his shot wide of Cech’s
goal. And the visitors responded 10 minutes later with a nice passing move that led to Ba finding Lampard inside the penalty area, but Begovic saved well with his feet from the midfielders low shot. With the half seemingly drifting to an end without a goal, Chelsea opened the scoring. Hazard released Cesar Azpilicueta on the right hand side, the Spaniard delivered a dangerous cross to the back post where Jonathan Walters headed past his own goalkeeper in his attempt to clear the cross. Stoke began the second half full of life and after a Steven N’Zonzi shot tested Cech, the Potters thought they won a penalty just before the hour. Azpilicueta appeared to bring down Etherington inside the penalty area. Andre Marriner awarded the penalty only for assistant referee Sian Massey to overrule the decision as the winger had drifted into an offside position. Four minutes later the Stoke players were cursing that decision as Walters again headed past his
own goalkeeper. Lampard challenged the winger from a rightwing corner and the ball hit the Stoke man before dropping into the back of the net. Stoke’s misery was compounded two minutes later as Robert Huth was adjudged to have brought down Mata inside the penalty area. The decision looked harsh but that made no difference to Lampard, who smashed the ball past Begovic from 12 yards to become Chelsea’s second highest goal scorer with 194 goals. Chelsea hammered the final nail into the Stoke coffin in the 73rd minute as Hazard fired an unstoppable shot into the top corner. The Belgian received the ball inside the Stoke half from Mata, drifted away from Glenn Whelan and lashed an absolute rocket past Begovic. Stoke was awarded a penalty in the closing seconds as substitute John Terry brought Walters down in the penalty area, but the forward lashed his spot kick over the cross bar to complete a dreadful day.
SCORING CHARTS
Sixteen goals in 18 games for Vitesse Arnhem this season makes him the top scorer in the Dutch league, the only African to head the scoring charts in a major league. Lancina Traore has been restored to the Ivory Coast squad after a run of nine goals for Anzhi Makhachkala in the Russian league, one more than Nigeria’s big hope Ahmed Musa, who has eight for CSKA Moscow. Musa first made an impact in the Dutch league too. Manucho, briefly on Manchester United’s books, has six goals for Spain’s Real Valladolid, including a pair last month against Real Madrid, but has often failed to fulfil his potential. Holders Zambia hope a return from injury for Jacob Mulenga will provide them with a prolific target man, while hosts South Africa are relying on Katlego Mphela, top scorer in domestic competition over the last three seasons but just back from a six month lay-off following knee surgery. The best bet to step up is a player proven at club level already. Tottenham Hotspur’s Emmanuel Adebayor has often been in the shadow of Drogba and Eto’o but, just when opportunity knocks, he has been embroiled in off-field turmoil which leaves little scope for him or his Togo team to make an impact
Disgraced former Juventus director to try politics Reuters
ROME - Controversial former Juventus director Luciano Moggi, who was at the heart of a 2006 match-fixing scandal, will stand as a candidate in Italian parliamentary elections in February. Moggi will stand in Piedmont for the Italian Reformists, a group which is set to ally with the centre-right People of Freedom party of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who is seeking a fifth term in government. Moggi was banned for life from Italian football and sentenced to five years four months in prison following the Calciopoli corruption scandal. He was also convicted of trying to manipulate the transfer market via a management agency in a separate criminal trial. However he is unlikely to spend time in jail due to Italy’s lengthy appeals process and an edict not to imprison offenders for many nonviolent crimes. “For us, Moggi’s candidacy is a symbol of the political battle against the media and judicial circus which ruins lives and careers,” the Italian Reformists movement said in a statement.
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Kaka sees red as Real held to 0-0 draw at Osasuna
Africa awaits new goal king at Nations Cup finals JOHANNESBURG - Africa is waiting to anoint a new goal king at the Nations Cup to succeed Didier Drogba, likely to be playing in his last tournament, and Samuel Eto’o who misses out again. The list of potential successors at this month’s finals in South Africa is thin but there is always hope that at least one future goal machine could emerge from among the 16 finalists. Drogba, with 56 goals in 89 games for Ivory Coast, has been virtually unstoppable at international level while Eto’o holds the record for most goals at the tournament - 18 at six finals. However, Eto’o’s hopes of extending that have been halted by Cameroon’s failure to qualify for the last two editions. While a path is clearing for pretenders to emerge, there has been a dearth of striking talent from Africa in the last few years. The top scorers at the last Nations Cup managed just three goals - and there were seven of them. Drogba, Zambia pair Chris Katongo and Emmanuel Mayuka, Cheick Tidiane Diabate of Mali and Angola’s Manucho return for the 2013 finals, which kick off in Johannesburg on Saturday. But it is more likely that a new scoring sensation could emerge from near obscurity. Ivory Coast’s Wilfried Bony has been dubbed the ‘next Drogba’ and, if preferred in the starting lineup in South Africa to struggling pair Salomon Kalou or Gervinho, could go on to make good on his promise at club level.
Monday, January 14, 2013
Reuters
AP Photo/Luca Bruno
Inter Milan forward Rodrigo Palacio, of Argentina, celebrates after scoring during a Serie A soccer match between Inter Milan and Pescara, at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Jan. 12, 2013.
MADRID - Real Madrid’s faint hopes of retaining their La Liga title receded further when they had Kaka sent off and were held to a 0-0 draw at struggling Osasuna on Saturday. Jose Mourinho’s side appeared lost without inspirational top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo, suspended for the game in Pamplona, and unbeaten leaders Barcelona can go 18 points clear of their arch rivals with a win at fourth-placed Malaga on Sunday. Real stay third on 37 points, four behind Atletico Madrid, who meet Real Zaragoza at home on Sunday. In a poor-quality and bad-tempered clash at Osasuna’s Reyno de Navarra stadium,
the main incident came in the 76th minute when Kaka was shown a second yellow card for preventing Osasuna taking a quick free kick. The little-used Brazilian playmaker had been on the pitch for a little over a quarter of an hour and had been booked moments after coming off the bench for jumping with a flailing arm. It was the 2007 World Player of the Year’s first sending off since he joined Real from AC Milan in 2009 and his first red card since he was dismissed playing for Brazil against Ivory Coast at the 2010 World Cup. Osasuna’s well-earned point lifted them off the bottom of the table above Deportivo La Coruna, who play at Real Sociedad on Sunday.
Inter boost title bid with victory over Pescara Reuters
ROME - Inter Milan invigorated their Serie A title challenge by beating Pescara 2-0 at the San Siro on Saturday to move within six points of leaders Juventus. Goals in either half from Rodrigo Palacio and Fredy Guarin gave Andrea Stramaccioni’s side their first win in four games and moved them up to third in the table on 38 points. Pescara remain in 16th place on 20 points, four points above the relegation zone. In Saturday’s earlier kickoff, Alberto Gilardino scored twice as Bologna hammered Chievo 4-0 at home. Inter’s victory gave them hope they might be able to catch Antonio Conte’s champions, who on Sunday face Parma (1400 GMT), the only side yet to lose at home this season. “The most important thing is that Inter have rediscovered that balance on the pitch ... and I think today we made progress in terms of our play against the type of side who will often have 10 men behind the ball all game,” Stramaccioni told reporters. “Every time we’ve come up against a side that defends with lots of players we have a much harder time of it than we did tonight. “We have a lot of players out and I think we did well because we didn’t concede anything and created plenty of chances, and I think part of Pescara’s poor performance was down to our good play.” It took Inter half an hour of toil to open the scoring, with first Palacio going close on seven minutes and then Antonio Cassano forcing a save from Mattia Perin 10 minutes later. It was a superb Cassano flick that led to
his strike partner Palacio giving the hosts the lead, the Argentine taking advantage of his team mate’s vision to roll his sixth goal of the season past Perin. Palacio had a goal ruled out for the most marginal of offside calls less than a minute after the break, and Esteban Cambiasso was lucky not to give away a penalty a minute later when he handled in the box. Inter doubled their lead on 54 minutes through Guarin, who was on hand to tap into an empty net after excellent work on the right from Palacio. Pescara gave up the ghost after that, and Inter could have added to their lead on more than one occasion. It was Palacio who forced Perin into his best save of the match on 82 minutes with a powerful left-foot strike after being fed by Marco Benassi, but Stramaccioni’s team wasted a host of promising positions. Inter had several players missing through injury and suspension, while Wesley Sneijder continues his exile because of a contract dispute, but their squad players, including 18-year-old midfielder Benassi, who made an impressive Serie A debut, were too strong for Pescara. “Taking part in my previous matches (in the Europa League against Rubin Kazan and Neftchi Baku) helped me with keeping my emotions under control tonight,” Benassi said. Earlier, Bologna eased their relegation worries as two goals from Gilardino, his first in nearly two months, led them to a comfortable victory over Chievo. Panagiotis Kone and Manolo Gabbiadini also found the net to lift Stefano Pioli’s side to 13th in the table on 21 points, five clear of the relegation zone. Chievo stay in 11th spot.
REUTERS/Vincent West
Real Madrid’s Kaka (R) fights for the ball with Osasuna’s Alvaro Arbeloa during their Spanish first division soccer match at Reyno de Navarra stadium in Pamplona January 12, 2013.