Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s 14th goal of the season gave Borussia Dortmund a 3-2 win over bitter rivals Schalke 04 in the Bundesliga’s 87th Ruhr derby on Sunday.
“The win is more than deserved,” said Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc, whose side remained five points behind leaders Bayern Munich. “With 29 points we’d be top of the table in Spain and Italy, but Bayern Munich don’t play there.”
Japan international Shinji Kagawa broke the deadlock in the 30th minute with a header off Dortmund defender Matthias Ginter’s cross.
Photo: Reuters
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar equalized three minutes later after Mats Hummels gave the ball away. Leon Goretzka chipped forward for the impressive Leroy Sane, who headed the ball past Sokratis and gave Huntelaar a tap-in.
Ginter restored Dortmund’s lead in the 43rd minute with a header from Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s corner and Aubameyang made it 3-1 in the 48th.
Mkhitaryan sent a loose ball forward and Gonzalo Castro timed his pass perfectly for Aubameyang to score inside the far post.
The Gabon international, who has 22 goals in 20 competitive games for Dortmund this season, celebrated by taking off his jersey to reveal a Batman logo and the words “Do you remember,” referring to the last Ruhr derby where he celebrated scoring with a Batman mask.
Aubameyang was booked for Sunday’s gesture.
Schalke 04 goalkeeper Ralf Faehrmann kept his team in the game with saves from Ilkay Gundogan and Mkhitaryan, before Huntelaar claimed his second with a classy chip in the 70th minute to set up a tense finale.
“You could see we were perhaps lacking a little experience, that we conceded so soon after the break, but we showed great morale to come back,” Schalke coach Andre Breitenreiter said.
Roman Buerki made a fingertip save to push Schalke substitute Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s shot onto the post as the visitors finished strongly.
“We played well, unfortunately lost, but we did all we could,” Huntelaar said.
Tempers became frayed toward the end of the game, before Faehrmann made another huge save to deny Gundogan in stoppage-time.
“It would have been our own fault if we didn’t take all three points,” Ginter said.
Claudio Pizarro’s first goal in his third stint for Werder Bremen helped his side to a 2-1 win at bottom club Augsburg in the late game.
The Peru international struck Santiago Garcia’s cross on the volley to give Marwin Hitz no chance in the 58th minute.
Fin Bartels sealed Bremen’s win with a fine turn and strike in the 69th minute.
Augsburg captain Paul Verhaegh scored a penalty in stoppage-time, but could not prevent his side’s eighth defeat in the Bundesliga this season.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Forget Real Madrid, Manchester City or Paris Saint-Germain, the world’s best soccer team — statistically speaking — might be a little-known outfit from the closed central Asian nation of Turkmenistan. Founded last year, Arkadag, named in honor of former Turkmen president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, have been unstoppable, notching up 36 consecutive domestic victories in a run still ongoing. The side have not lost a single competitive match and swept to a league and cup double in their inaugural season — success unthinkable almost anywhere else. However, in Turkmenistan, it could hardly have gone any other way. The energy-rich country is one of the most closed
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping