19
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2012
SPORTS
Freiburg stun Schalke
Soccer results/standings Liverpool 1 (Gerrard 87) Aston Villa 3 (Benteke 29, 51, Weimann 40); Man Utd 3 (Van Persie 16, Cleverley 19, Rooney 59) Sunderland 1 (Campbell 72); Newcastle 1 (Ba 51) Man City 3 (Aguero 10, Garcia 39, Y.Toure 78); Norwich 2 (Pilkington 15, Hoolahan 64) Wigan 1 (Maloney 51); QPR 2 (Taarabt 52, 68) Fulham 1 (Petric 88); Stoke 1 (Jones 52) Everton 1 (Shawcross 36-og). English Football League results Championship Barnsley 0, Sheffield Wednesday 1; Birmingham 2, Crystal Palace 2; Blackpool 2, Blackburn 0; Bolton 2, Charlton 0; Brighton 0, Nottingham Forest 0; Bristol City 0, Derby 2; Burnley 1, Watford 1; Cardiff 1, Peterborough 2; Hull 2, Huddersfield 0; Leeds 2, Ipswich 0; Middlesbrough 2, Wolves 0; Millwall 1, Leicester 0. Division One Bournemouth 1, Colchester 0; Crewe 1, Bury 0; Doncaster 1, Coventry 4; Leyton Orient 1, Scunthorpe 3; Milton Keynes Dons 1, Hartlepool 0; Notts County 1, Brentford 2; Oldham 0, Swindon 2; Portsmouth 0, Preston 0; Sheffield Utd 0, Tranmere 0; Shrewsbury 2, Carlisle 1; Stevenage 1, Crawley 2; Walsall 2, Yeovil 2. Division Two AFC Wimbledon 0, Rotherham 1; Accrington 0, Wycombe 2; Aldershot 4, Rochdale 2; Cheltenham 1, Port Vale 1; Chesterfield 1, Burton 1; Dagenham and Redbridge 1, Barnet 0; Exeter 1, Plymouth 1; Gillingham 2, Fleetwood Town 2; Morecambe 1, Oxford 1; Southend 2, Bradford 2; Torquay 1,
Northampton 1; York 4, Bristol Rovers 1. Scottish Premier League results Aberdeen 0, Kilmarnock 2 (Kelly 45-pen, 86); Celtic 2 (Wanyama 15, Hooper 83) St Mirren 0; Dundee Utd 4 (Meekings 5-og, Daly 6, 90-pen, Skacel 8) Inverness CT 4 (McKay 26, 28, 62-pen, Warren 86); Hibernian 2 (Doyle 41, 55) Motherwell 3 (Murphy 64, 80, McHugh 88); Ross County 1 (Glen 74) Dundee 1 (Davidson 37); St Johnstone 2 (Vine 16, Maclean 60) Hearts 2 (Sutton 15, Driver 38). Scottish Football League results First Division Dunfermline 1, Hamilton 1; Falkirk 2, Cowdenbeath 0; Morton 2, Airdrie 0; Partick 3, Raith 2. Second Division Ayr 2, East Fife 3; Forfar 1, Arbroath 1; Queen Of The South 1, Brechin 0; Stenhousemuir 1, Albion 0; Stranraer 3, Alloa 2. Third Division Clyde 2, East Stirling 1; Montrose 2, Rangers 4; Peterhead 2, Annan Athletic 0; Queen’s Park 1, Elgin City 1; Stirling 6, Berwick 3. German league results Bayer Leverkusen 3 (Kiessling 26, 66, Schuerrle 36) Hamburg 0; VfL Wolfsburg 0, Eintracht Frankfurt 2 (Inui 18, Meier 12); Mainz 05 3 (Mueller 55, 71, Soto 90+2) VfB Stuttgart 1 (Harnik 48); Greuther Furth 1 (Sobiech 69) Augsburg 1 (Moelders 10); Fortuna Duesseldorf 2 (Schahin 39, Ilso 83) Hanover 96 1 (Diouf 69); Schalke 04 1 (Farfan 20) Freiburg 3 (Rosenthal 26, 61, Schmid 32). Played Friday Bayern Munich 1 (Shaqiri 59) Borussia M’gladbach 1 (Marx 21-pen).
English Premier League table after yesterday’s matches (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): Man Utd Man City Chelsea Everton Tottenham West Brom Norwich Arsenal Stoke Swansea West Ham Liverpool Fulham Aston Villa Newcastle Sunderland Southampton Wigan QPR Reading
17 14 0 3 43 24 42 17 10 6 1 33 15 36 16 8 5 3 28 17 29 17 6 9 2 28 21 27 16 8 2 6 29 25 26 16 8 2 6 24 21 26 17 6 7 4 19 25 25 16 6 6 4 26 16 24 17 5 9 3 15 13 24 16 6 5 5 26 21 23 16 6 4 6 21 20 22 17 5 7 5 23 23 22 17 5 5 7 28 29 20 17 4 6 7 15 24 18 17 4 5 8 19 26 17 17 3 7 7 18 24 16 16 4 3 9 22 32 15 17 4 310 18 32 15 17 1 7 9 15 30 10 16 1 6 9 19 31 9
English Football League tables Championship Cardiff 22 14 2 6 Crystal Palace 22 12 6 4 Middlesbrough 22 13 2 7 Hull 22 13 2 7 Leicester 22 11 4 7 Millwall 22 10 6 6 Watford 22 10 4 8 Brighton 22 8 9 5 Nott Forest 22 8 9 5 Derby 22 9 6 7 Blackpool 22 8 8 6 Leeds 22 9 5 8 Bolton 22 7 8 7 Charlton 22 7 8 7 Blackburn 22 7 8 7 Burnley 22 8 5 9 Huddersfield 22 8 5 9 Wolves 22 8 410 Birmingham 22 6 7 9 Ipswich 22 6 511 Bristol City 22 5 314 Barnsley 22 4 612 Sheffield 22 5 314 Peterborough 22 5 116
43 43 39 33 37 34 39 29 30 35 39 33 32 28 29 34 28 29 28 22 32 21 25 25
28 28 29 26 21 29 31 21 26 32 31 35 32 28 31 37 35 29 35 43 45 35 40 40
44 42 41 41 37 36 34 33 33 33 32 32 29 29 29 29 29 28 25 23 18 18 18 16
Division One Tranmere Brentford Sheffield Utd Doncaster Milton Stevenage Swindon Notts County Bournemouth Crawley Town Crewe Leyton Orient Coventry Yeovil Preston Oldham Colchester Walsall Carlisle Shrewsbury Portsmouth Scunthorpe Bury Hartlepool
38 33 29 31 31 30 32 33 37 31 28 25 37 32 32 22 23 25 28 25 27 24 23 15
18 22 18 21 17 29 18 22 33 31 28 26 29 33 27 26 34 37 43 30 33 40 36 40
41 41 40 40 39 37 36 35 35 35 33 31 30 30 29 26 23 23 23 22 21 20 19 9
Division Two Gillingham Port Vale Cheltenham Rotherham Bradford Southend Exeter Fleetwood Town Burton Albion Chesterfield Torquay Dagenham Northampton York Rochdale Morecambe Wycombe Oxford Utd Accrington Plymouth Aldershot AFC Wimbledon Bristol Rovers Barnet
22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22
22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22
11 11 10 12 11 10 10 9 9 10 9 10 8 9 7 7 6 5 6 5 5 5 4 1
13 11 11 11 10 9 10 8 9 8 8 8 8 7 8 7 7 7 7 5 5 5 4 3
8 3 8 3 10 2 4 6 6 5 7 5 6 6 8 5 8 5 5 7 6 7 111 6 8 310 8 7 510 511 8 9 511 710 611 512 711 615
6 3 7 4 6 5 4 7 6 6 7 6 4 8 9 5 6 7 8 6 8 6 7 7 6 8 9 6 6 8 6 9 510 510 510 710 611 413 612 712
Scottish Premier League table Celtic 17 10 4 3 Motherwell 18 8 6 4 Inverness CT 18 7 8 3 Hibernian 18 8 3 7 St Johnstone 18 6 7 5 Dundee Utd 17 6 6 5 Aberdeen 18 6 6 6
41 45 31 35 33 35 33 30 30 29 29 34 35 30 34 29 27 31 26 26 20 24 24 19
33 30 38 29 22 26 22
20 24 28 31 24 23 32 22 29 24 26 29 31 31 36 31 32 37 34 31 34 41 44 36
14 24 32 27 23 25 21
45 40 39 37 36 34 34 33 33 32 32 31 30 30 30 27 26 26 26 22 21 19 18 16
34 30 29 27 25 24 24
Kilmarnock Hearts Ross County St Mirren Dundee
17 18 18 18 17
6 5 3 4 3
4 7 7 6 9 6 5 9 311
27 18 20 21 11
23 20 26 31 31
22 22 18 17 12
Scottish Football League tables First Division Partick 14 10 2 2 34 Dunfermline 15 9 3 3 35 Morton 15 8 5 2 33 Livingston 14 6 4 4 22 Raith 15 5 6 4 23 Falkirk 14 4 5 5 17 Cowdenbeath 14 3 4 7 18 Hamilton 14 3 4 7 14 Airdrie Utd 14 3 3 8 16 Dumbarton 13 1 210 11
11 16 20 20 21 18 24 21 32 40
32 30 29 22 21 17 13 13 12 5
Second Division Queen of South Alloa Forfar Arbroath Brechin Stenhousemuir East Fife Ayr Stranraer Albion
15 12 2 1 33 8 38 15 9 2 4 29 16 29 14 6 2 6 26 29 20 15 5 5 5 24 30 20 14 6 1 7 24 24 19 15 4 7 4 26 30 19 14 5 2 7 22 20 17 14 5 2 7 22 25 17 14 3 3 8 17 30 12 14 3 2 9 18 29 11
Third Division Rangers Elgin Queen’s Park Peterhead Montrose Berwick Annan Athletic Clyde East Stirling Stirling
13 15 14 15 15 15 14 14 13 14
9 7 6 6 6 5 4 5 4 3
3 1 6 2 5 3 4 5 4 5 4 6 4 6 1 8 0 9 110
35 33 22 17 28 24 25 16 18 23
11 23 16 16 29 26 29 22 34 35
30 27 23 22 22 19 16 16 12 10
German league table Bayern Munich 17 13 3 1 44 7 42 Bayer Leverkusen 17 10 3 4 33 22 33 Eintracht Frankfurt 17 9 3 5 33 27 30 Borussia Dortmund 16 7 6 3 32 19 27 Freiburg 17 7 5 5 24 18 26 Mainz 05 17 8 2 7 24 21 26 Schalke 04 17 7 4 6 27 25 25 M’gladbach 17 6 7 4 25 26 25 VfB Stuttgart 17 7 4 6 21 28 25 Hamburg 17 7 3 7 18 21 24 Hanover 96 17 7 2 8 32 31 23 Werder Bremen 16 6 3 7 27 28 21 Fortuna 17 5 6 6 20 22 21 Nuremberg 16 5 4 7 16 21 19 VfL Wolfsburg 17 5 4 8 17 27 19 Hoffenheim 16 3 310 22 38 12 Augsburg 17 1 610 12 29 9 Greuther Fuerth 17 1 610 11 28 9
Matches on TV (Local Timings)
English Premier League Tottenham v Swansea 16:30 Abu Dhabi Sports HD 3 Abu Dhabi Sports HD 5 West Bromwich v West Ham19:00 Abu Dhabi Sports HD 3 Abu Dhabi Sports HD 5
Spanish league Real Zaragoza v Levante 14:00 Aljazeera Sports +2 Valencia v Rayo Vallecano 19:00 Aljazeera Sports +6 Real Madrid v Espanyol 21:00 Aljazeera Sports +2 Barcelona v Atletico 23:00 Aljazeera Sports +2
Italian League Fiorentina v Siena Aljazeera Sports +1 Milan v Pescara Aljazeera Sports +2 Catania v Sampdoria Aljazeera Sports +6 Juventus v Atalanta Aljazeera Sports +2 Parma v Cagliari Aljazeera Sports +8 Genoa v Torino Aljazeera Sports +7 Chievo Verona v Roma Aljazeera Sports +5 Napoli v Bologna - 22:45 Aljazeera Sports +1
14:30 17:00 17:00 17:00 17:00 17:00 17:00
BERLIN: Schalke 04’s disastrous Bundesliga form continued yesterday as they slumped to a 3-1 defeat at home to Freiburg to leave them with two points from their last six league games. The Royal Blues will discover their Champions League last 16 opponents in Thursday’s draw, but Schalke have now lost three of their last four league games with coach Huub Stevens under pressure. After Peru forward Jefferson Farfan put Schalke ahead on 20 minutes, Freiburg’s Jan Rosenthal equalised six minutes after taking advantage of some weak defending. Schalke’s Joel Matip then made a defensive slip to allow French midfielder Jonathan Schmid to score Freiburg’s second on 32 minutes to make it 2-1 at the break. Rosenthal netted the third, and his second of the game, on 61 minutes before he was shown two yellow cards just 62 seconds apart to be sent off after some over-zealous defending. Schalke’s Holland striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar followed him off just a minute later for his second yellow after a foul on Freiburg captain Julian Schuster. Earlier, Bayer Leverkusen’s 3-0 win over Hamburg trimmed Bayern Munich’s lead at the top of the Bundesliga table, but the Bavarian giants will still finish 2012 with a nine-point lead. After Bayern were held 1-1 at home by Borussia Moenchengladbach on Friday, second-placed Leverkusen saw off Hamburg with striker Stefan Kiessling and current Germany forward Andre Schuerrle both netting. Kiessling opened the scoring on 26 minutes when his close-range shot gave the Hamburg defence no chance and the hosts doubled their lead 10 minutes later when
GERMANY: Freiburg’s midfielder Jan Rosenthal (left) and Schalke’s midfielder Roman Neustaedter vie for the ball during the German First Division Bundesliga football match.—AFP Schuerrle netted as the ball went in off the post. Kiessling claimed his 12th goal in 17 games this season to make him the Bundesliga’s top scorer when he latched onto a clearance from Bayer goalkeeper Bernd Leno and drilled home his second on 66 minutes. It strengthens his case for a recall to the Germany squad in 2013 having last played in the 2010 World Cup third-place play-off win over Uruguay. “It shows how strong the team is, and says something of our mind-set, that we have reached second place with so many good performances,” said the 28-year-old Kiessling. “But we have the winter break now and
17 tough games are still waiting for us. Leverkusen’s victory denied Bayern a Bundesliga record as they had been set to break Borussia Dortmund’s 10-point lead at the halfway point of the season set in 2010. With defending champions Dortmund at strugglers Hoffenheim on Sunday, Eintracht Frankfurt took the chance to claim third spot with a 2-0 win over 10-man Wolfsburg. Frankfurt took the lead after only 12 minutes when captain Alexander Meier scored his 11th goal of the season. Wolves were reduced to 10 men when Brazil midfielder Josue was shown a straight red on 16 minutes for going into a challenge on Canada’s Olivier Ocean with his
studs up. Frankfurt took the chance to double their lead two minutes later through Japan midfielder Takashi Inui. Mainz moved up to sixth after coming from behind to beat VfB Stuttgart 3-1 with midfielder Nicolai Mueller scoring their second-half goals before Colombia midfielder Elkin Soto grabbed the third in the 92nd minute. Duesseldorf’s Denmark midfielder Ken Ilso drilled home an 83rd minute free-kick to seal Fortuna’s 21 win over Hanover 96. Greuther Fuerth remain rooted to the bottom of the table after they drew 1-1 at Bavarian neighbours in a high-tension affair as both sides finished with 10 men.—AFP
Blatter to discuss Serbia fine with Platini
DOHA: Al-Rayyan’s Mohammed Alaeddine (back) heads the ball past Al-Jaish’s Abdulqader Elias Bakur during their Qatar Stars League football match in Doha. —AFP
Natale snatches late leveller for Udinese MILAN: Antonio Di Natale struck an 89thminute equaliser to hand 10-man Udinese an unlikely share of the points in a dramatic 1-1 draw at home to Palermo yesterday. Palermo held a 1-0 half-time lead at the Stadio Friuli after Josip Ilicic’s superb 33rd minute strike, which impressive ‘keeper Zeljko Brkic simply could not stop hitting the back of the net. Although Udinese were creating chances, the Sicilians continued to dominate in the second half and were given a helping hand when Thomas Heurteaux was shown a red card for a rash challenge on the hour mark. Palermo came close to making their advantage count on several occasions but saw Eros Pisano, Egidio Rios and Franco Brienza all denied by an alert Brkic when they were in great scoring positions.
Brkic’s heroics would make the difference in the end for Udinese, who transformed an unlikely goalscoring chance into the equaliser at the death. Samir Ujkani had had little to do in the second half but after blocking an innocuous header from Luis Muriel on the edge of the box the Palermo ‘keeper dropped the ball in front of goal after being impeded by one of his own defenders. It fell into the path of Di Natale, who took one touch before smashing it home for the equaliser. Palermo’s sixth draw of the season meant a missed chance to move further away from the relegation zone, while Udinese’s eighth draw kept them eighth ahead of the rest of the weekend fixtures. Yesterday’s programme concludes with Inter Milan’s visit to Lazio. Leaders Juventus hold a four-point lead over the Nerazzurri.—AFP
TOKYO: FIFA President Sepp Blatter said yesterday he plans to discuss with counterpart Michel Platini the punishment UEFA handed to Serbia over violence and racist abuse in an Under-21 match against England. The Serbian Football Association was fined 80,000 euros ($105,000) on Thursday and ordered to play their next Under-21 international behind closed doors as UEFA handed out sanctions following the violent European qualifier. But the level of the fine drew criticism from some quarters with Manchester United star Rio Ferdinand accusing UEFA of not taking racism seriously. The English FA also expressed its disappointment. “I will take up the discussion with the president of UEFA,” Blatter told a news conference in Tokyo, the day after FIFA held its final Executive Committee meeting of the year. “But I don’t know if he has influence on his disciplinary committee,” the Swiss added. In chaotic scenes at the October 21 game in Krusevac, England defender Danny Rose was sent off for kicking the ball away in response to what he said was monkey chanting and physical provocation. Scuffles also broke out between players, coaches and supporters at the end of the match. In addition to the fine, two of Serbia’s coaching staff and four players were handed suspensions while two England players were also banned. Blatter reiterated his belief that FIFA were tough on racism but refused to be drawn on whether European football’s body had been. “I’m sure that we can pick up with UEFA... the level of governance that there should be in all football. Not just with UEFA but all other confederations and national associations. “There should be very strong, harsh punishment when it comes to discrimination and racism,” he added.—AFP
Benitez praises Chelsea’s passion YOKOHAMA: Chelsea interim manager Rafael Benitez praised the commitment of his players as the first holders to exit the Champions League at the group stage prepared for today’s Club World Cup final against Corinthians. “I’ve been really impressed with the mentality of the players,” Benitez told reporters in Yokohama on Saturday. “Also the commitment, the passion that they show. “Every training session you can see they are keen to learn so all these positives are good for a manager thinking about the future.” Chelsea took four games to record a victory under Benitez, who replaced the sacked Roberto Di Matteo, but have won their last three, scoring 12 goals in the process with five of them coming from a resurgent Fernando Torres. “What we are trying to do is trying to keep this winning mentality and trying to keep this hunger in the players,” said Benitez, who won the Club World Cup with Inter Milan in 2010. They will be favourites to beat South American champions Corinthians after the London side
overpowered Mexico’s Monterrey 31 in Thursday’s semi-final. Their Brazilian opponents, winners of the first Club World Cup in 2000, scraped past Egypt’s Al-Ahly 1-0 in Toyota. Corinthians are expecting at least 15,000 travelling fans, many of whom have sold their cars and quit jobs to make the long trip. To add to the pressure, European sides have won the last five editions of the Club World Cup, Manchester United the only English side to win it in 2008. Brazilian defender David Luiz started in midfield in front of Frank Lampard, still feeling his way back from injury, in the semi-final. “It’s only been a week since he returned,” Benitez, whose Liverpool side were runners-up in 2005, said of Chelsea veteran Lampard. “We have to take it one game at a time with him.” Lampard, out of contract at the end of the season, said Chelsea’s players would not make the mistake of underestimating Corinthians. “It’s obviously a cultural thing,” the England midfielder said of South America’s obsession with the Club World Cup. “They probably watch on telly - Barcelona, the Premier
JAPAN: English Premier League team Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech and his teammates warm up during a training session in Yokohama, suburban Tokyo. UEFA champion Chelsea will play with CONMEBOL champion Corinthians of Brazil in the final football match of the 2012 Club World Cup.—AFP League, Champions League - and don’t get the chance to pit their wits against us. “We have got the strongest leagues in the world in Europe. I don’t think many can say anything against that. “Brazil has that magical history of being such a footballing nation. That will bring some magic to the game today.” Corinthians coach Tite was happy
to assume the role of underdog. “We expect a high-quality game,” he said after training in bone-chilling Yokohama. “We want to focus on the match, not the occasion so we can repay our fans for their terrific support. “I can’t promise them that we will win and become world champions but I will promise we will do our best and do them proud.”—Reuters