The Republic of Ireland beat the US 4-1 in an entertaining friendly at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Tuesday with goals from Anthony Pilkington, James McClean and two from Robbie Brady handing Martin O’Neill’s second-string side victory.
O’Neill started an entirely different side to the one that lost 1-0 in Scotland in a bruising Euro 2016 qualifier on Friday last week, but was rewarded after seven minutes when Pilkington scored his first goal for Ireland following a fine move.
Pilkington exchanged passes with impressive debutant David McGoldrick, whose wonderfully weighted pass put the Cardiff City midfielder through and his finish was just as sweet, dinking the ball over Bill Hamid.
The US, starting with four of the team who lost out to Belgium in the round-of-16 of the FIFA World Cup finals, had been on top before Pilkington’s strike and took control after with Fabian Johnson going closest to leveling after his drilled long-range shot hit the post.
It should have been 2-0 just before the half hour after some comical US defending handed Daryl Murphy a clear sight at goal and he would have joined Pilkington with a first international goal were it not for a good stop by Hamid.
It was another error, this time from Ireland’s David Meyler, that let the visitors back in the game.
The Hull City midfielder gave up possession in his own half and after a neat knock down from Chris Wondolowski, Mix Diskerud poked home the equalizer.
The US grew in confidence and were close to leading at halftime after Jozy Altidore smashed an effort against the crossbar, but Brady, playing in the unfamiliar role of leftback, put Ireland back in front shortly after the break, with McGoldrick again providing the deft assist.
Ireland had Shay Given to thank for keeping the US out with a couple of great saves, but the home side’s second-half dominance told when moments after the woodwork denied substitute Shane Long a sublime third, McClean netted with a deflection.
Hull City’s Brady completed the rout five minutes from time with the pick of the night, curling a left-footed free-kick into the top corner.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but