Chelsea missed the opportunity to break into the top four of the Premier League yesterday after grinding out a 0-0 draw with third-placed Arsenal at Emirates Stadium.
With Chelsea facing a daunting Champions League trip to Barcelona next week, manager Roberto di Matteo rang the changes by naming only three members of the side that had beaten the Spanish club 1-0 in Wednesday’s first leg.
Chelsea will try to defend their 1-0 lead at Camp Nou on Tuesday
The makeshift Chelsea lineup were able to keep Arsenal at bay for long periods as the Gunners were frustrated in their efforts to tighten their grip on an automatic Champions League qualifying berth.
The result left Arsenal six points clear of fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur, who have two games in hand over their north London rivals and who were to play Queens Park Rangers later yesterday.
Chelsea could have leapfrogged over Spurs and Newcastle United into fourth, but the result left the Blues in sixth place, one point outside the top four.
Di Matteo’s men had ridden their luck in a first half where Arsenal were unlucky not to take the lead after twice hitting the woodwork.
Robin van Persie saw his shot bounce back off an upright after a curling free-kick from Theo Walcott and Laurent Koscielny’s glancing header hit the bar three minutes before halftime.
In the closing seconds of the half, Van Persie threatened again, latching on to Alex Song’s lofted pass and volleying straight at Petr Cech.
At the other end, Chelsea had strong appeals for a penalty rejected after Salomon Kalou was brought down in the area.
The second half saw Arsenal look the more threatening, but Chelsea’s sterling defensive effort kept the Gunners at bay.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB