Bayern Munich's French star Franck Ribery hit the winner in a 1-0 victory at Arminia Bielefeld on Sunday to put Ottmar Hitzfeld's team back on top of the German league table.
Werder Bremen's 2-1 victory against Hamburg the previous day meant Bayern were temporarily ousted from the lead, but Ribery's 22nd-minute effort restored their superiority. It was Ribery's fourth league goal for Bayern.
Bayern were happy to sit on their lead and contain Bielefeld, who lie in just 14th spot with one victory in their last 10 matches.
South African striker Sibusiso Zuma nearly opened the scoring for Bielefeld just before the goal, but the ball hit 'keeper Oliver Kahn's left hand post.
It was a welcome victory for Bayern, who have now just won two matches in their last seven, in all competitions, since Oct. 28.
With just two matches to go to the winter break, Bayern lead with 34 points from second-placed Bremen on 33 and third-placed Hamburg on 30.
Sunday's other matches saw Duisburg, who beat Nuremberg 1-0, rise off bottom spot leaving Energie Cottbus rooted to the foot of the table.
Tainan TSG Hawks slugger Steven Moya, who is leading the CPBL in home runs, has withdrawn from this weekend’s All-Star Game after the unexpected death of his wife. Moya’s wife began feeling severely unwell aboard a plane that landed at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday evening. She was rushed to a hospital, but passed away, the Hawks said in a statement yesterday. The franchise is assisting Moya with funeral arrangements and hopes fans who were looking forward to seeing him at the All-Star Game can understand his decision to withdraw. According to Landseed Medical Clinic, whose staff attempted to save Moya’s wife,
Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt yesterday backed Nick Champion de Crespigny to be the team’s “roving scavenger” after handing him a shock debut in the opening Test against the British and Irish Lions Test in Brisbane. Hard man Champion de Crespigny, who spent three seasons at French side Castres before moving to the Western Force this year, is to get his chance tomorrow with first-choice blindside flanker Rob Valetini not fully fit. His elevation is an eye-opener, preferred to Tom Hooper, but Schmidt said he had no doubt about his abilities. “I keep an eye on the Top 14 having coached there many years
ON A KNEE: In the MLB’s equivalent of soccer’s penalty-kicks shoot-out, the game was decided by three batters from each side taking three swings each off coaches Kyle Schwarber was nervous. He had played in Game 7 of the MLB World Series and homered for the US in the World Baseball Classic (WBC), but he had never walked up to the plate in an All-Star Game swing-off. No one had. “That’s kind of like the baseball version of a shoot-out,” Schwarber said after homering on all three of his swings, going down to his left knee on the final one, to overcome a two-homer deficit. That held up when Jonathan Aranda fell short on the American League’s final three swings, giving the National League a 4-3 swing-off win after
Seattle’s Cal Raleigh defeated Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero 18-15 in Monday’s final to become the first catcher to win the Major League Baseball Home Run Derby. The 28-year-old switch-hitter, who leads MLB with 38 homers this season, won US$1 million by capturing the special event for sluggers at Atlanta’s Truist Park ahead of yesterday’s MLB All-Star Game. “It means the world,” Raleigh said. “I could have hit zero home runs and had just as much fun. I just can’t believe I won. It’s unbelievable.” Raleigh, who advanced from the first round by less than 25mm on a longest homer tiebreaker, had his father
RSS