A spectator ran onto the pitch and hit Franck Ribery with a scarf in stoppage-time of Bayern Munich’s 3-1 victory at Hamburg SV in the second round of the DFB Pokal, or German Cup, on Wednesday.
The man ran the width of the field before hitting the France winger after he had secured victory for the Cup holders. The intruder also made insulting gestures before being caught by guards and escorted from the pitch.
“Fortunately, nothing much happened,” a relaxed and smiling Ribery told German television after the match. “It was a difficult situation, I didn’t see him coming.”
Photo: Reuters
Hamburg later apologized to Bayern and Ribery, who was booed by the home fans every time he touched the ball.
“We apologize for the scene shortly before the end. That’s not HSV,” the club said.
Bayern, who take on Borussia Dortmund tomorrow in the Bundesliga and face AS Roma in the UEFA Champions League next week, got off to a dream start on Wednesday when forward Robert Lewandowski fired in on the rebound after a Heiko Westermann mistake had set up the hosts’ lead in the seventh minute.
Die Roten, undefeated in the Bundesliga as well as the Champions League, then struck just before the break after an earlier effort had been ruled off-side.
Austria international David Alaba found space outside the box and rifled in a long-range effort that took goalkeeper Jaroslav Drobny by surprise on the stroke of halftime.
Ribery, back in the starting lineup after a lengthy injury break, killed off any lingering comeback hopes from Hamburg after his deflected shot beat Drobny in the 55th.
Die Rothosen managed a late consolation goal via Pierre-Michel Lasogga’s header at the far post on a deft chip from Rafael van der Vaart.
Fellow Champions League club Bayer 04 Leverkusen had a far more adventurous evening after needing penalties to edge past fourth-tier side Magdeburg 5-4.
What had looked like an easy task when in-form Hakan Calhanoglu put Leverkusen ahead after just three minutes turned out to be a thriller, with the hosts leveling and taking the lead in extra-time.
Leverkusen, who had South Korean Son Heung-min sent off with a straight red card for a foul, needed a 116th-minute equalizer through Kyriakos Papadopoulos to take the game to penalties, where they kept their cool as goalkeeper Bernd Leno saved three shots.
In an all-Bundesliga clash, Borussia Moenchengladbach defeated Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1, while TSG 1899 Hoffenheim crushed second-tier FSV Frankfurt 5-1 with two goals from Brazilian Roberto Firmino, VfL Wolfsburg defeated second-division Heidenheim 4-1 and SC Freiburg got a hat-trick from Admir Mehmedi to beat second-tier 1860 Munich 5-2.
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
Rafael Nadal on Tuesday lost in straight sets to 31st-ranked Jiri Lehecka in the fourth round at the Madrid Open, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced to the semi-finals in the women’s doubles. Nadal said that he was feeling good about his progress following his latest injury layoff. Nadal called it a “positive week” in every way and said his body held up well. “I was able to play four matches, a couple of tough matches,” Nadal said. “So very positive, winning three matches, playing four matches at the high level of tennis. I enjoyed a lot playing at home. I leave here with
A soccer jersey carrying a national map including disputed Western Sahara has become a hot commodity in Morocco after a diplomatic dispute with Algeria. Retailers said RS Berkane jerseys have been flying off the shelves after a Confederation of African Football (CAF) Cup match against Algerian club USM Alger was canceled last month over the jerseys. “We are overwhelmed by the influx of messages and requests,” said Brahim Rabii, representative of the official RS Berkane jersey distributor. Algeria broke off diplomatic relations with Morocco in 2021, partly over the issue of Western Sahara. The former Spanish colony is largely controlled by Morocco, but claimed
When 42-1 underdog James ‘Buster’ Douglas shocked ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson 34 years ago at the Tokyo Dome, the result reverberated worldwide. Spectators at the 45,000-plus seater venue witnessed one of boxing’s biggest upsets as unbeaten heavyweight champion Tyson was knocked out in the 10th round by the unheralded Douglas in February 1990. Boxing returns to the famous venue on Monday for the first time since that unforgettable encounter when Japan’s undisputed super-bantamweight world champion Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue puts his belts on the line against Mexican Luis Nery. The 31-year-old Inoue (26-0, 23 KOs) is a huge star in Japan and is just