Schalke 04 are up to third in the Bundesliga after Peru’s Jefferson Farfan and Georgia’s Levan Kobiashvili scored in the 2-1 win over Cologne on Sunday, while Hamburg stay top of the league.
Farfan headed Schalke into the lead after just two minutes, but Cologne, who are still chasing their first win of the season since promotion, equalized when Lukas Podolski scored his first league goal since returning from Bayern Munich.
But Schalke took the three points when Kobiashvili scored immediately after the break to pick up their fifth win in seven games.
“I was nervous for the last half hour,” said Schalke coach Felix Magath. “But I am happy that we were able to weather this pressure. For the young team we have I think it was fine today.”
Werder Bremen were held to a 0-0 draw at home to midtable Hanover to leave them sixth.
Hanover’s Florian Fromlowitz, substituting for Germany goalkeeper Robert Enke who is suffering from an infection, denied the hosts on half a dozen occasions.
Bremen laid a second-half siege in the Hanover defense but Per Mertesacker had a point-blank header kicked off the line by defender Steven Cherundolo.
Tim Borowski’s long-range effort flew wide and Marko Marin’s drive was blocked well by Fromlowitz.
The 23-year-old keeper denied Claudio Pizarro’s double strike in the 58th and then blocked the Peruvian’s next effort minutes later.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care