PREMIER LEAGUE
Chelsea defeat Spurs 2-1
Chelsea on Saturday retained top spot in the Premier League after goals from Pedro and Victor Moses earned them a comeback 2-1 win over London rivals Tottenham Hotspur. Chelsea looked disjointed for most of the first half and in the 11th minute, Tottenham’s Christian Eriksen whipped the ball home from just outside the area after a defense-splitting run from Dele Alli. Just before halftime, Chelsea midfielder Nemanja Matic slipped the ball to Pedro, who executed a neat turn and curled a magnificent shot past Hugo Lloris. After that, Chelsea looked rejuvenated and Tottenham, knocked out of the Champions League midweek, were beaten by a 51st-minute goal from Moses, whose bullet shot rebounded off Lloris and Jan Vertonghen on its way in to give Chelsea a seventh straight win.
LIGUE 1
Monaco rout Marseille 4-0
AS Monaco on Saturday kept up their outstanding recent form as Valere Germain scored twice in a 4-0 win over Olympique de Marseille in the Mediterranean principality. Bordeaux made it six league games without defeat as Guinea forward Francois Kamano scored two late goals to secure a 3-2 win at home to Dijon FCO. They are behind En Avant de Guingamp in fifth on goal difference, with the Bretons coming from behind to draw 1-1 at Stade Malherbe Caen thanks to Nill De Pauw’s late equalizer. Bottom club Lorient threw away a two-goal lead to draw 3-3 at Metz, while Montpellier Herault’s meeting with Nancy ended goalless, as did the encounter between Nantes and manager-less Lille OSC.
LA LIGA
Ronaldo leads Real to win
Cristiano Ronaldo on Saturday struck twice as Real Madrid were thankful for a late missed penalty from Duje Cop to open up a seven-point lead over Barcelona with a 2-1 win over Real Sporting de Gijon. Sevilla leapfrogged Barcelona into second with a 2-1 win over relegation-threatened Valencia. Earlier, Malaga and RCD Espanyol moved into the top half of the table with victories over RC Deportivo la Coruna and CD Leganes respectively.
BUNDESLIGA
Bayern beat Leverkusen 2-1
With Uli Hoeness back in charge, Bayern Munich on Saturday bounced back from two straight defeats to beat Bayer 04 Leverkusen 2-1 at home and keep pace with Bundesliga leaders RB Leipzig, who defeated Borussia Dortmund 2-1. Neither Hamburg SV nor Werder Bremen will be happy after sharing the points in the northern derby, drawing 2-2. Borussia Moenchengladbach’s patchy form continued after letting a lead slip against unbeaten TSG 1899 Hoffenheim to draw 1-1. VfL Wolfsburg rode their luck early against Ingolstadt 04 in a 1-1 tie, with Moritz Hartmann hitting the post and then having a penalty saved by Diego Benaglio. Elsewhere, Cologne were held to a scoreless draw at home by Augsburg.
SERIE A
Milan demolish Empoli 4-1
AC Milan on Saturday motored into second place in Serie A with an emphatic 4-1 win at Empoli. Gianluca Lapadula, taking advantage of the absence through injury of Colombia striker Carlos Bacca, bagged a brace, while Spaniard Suso also hit the target. An own-goal from Andrea Costa completed the rout. In Saturday’s other game, Joe Hart’s Torino thanked a double inside three first-half minutes from Spanish forward Falque for a 2-1 win over AC Chievo Verona.
“I don’t remember the moment, but ever since I was a kid, that’s the first thing I loved,” two-time NBA All-Star Isaiah Thomas said of his lifelong romance with basketball. However, that journey unfolded against the limitations of his size in a game where height often dictates opportunity — a reality he confronted throughout his career. At 175cm, Thomas is less than 2cm taller than the average Taiwanese adult male, while NBA players during his career stood at about 200cm on average. Compared with the NBA’s average career length of less than five years, Thomas’ 13-season career stands out as
Hans Niemann declares he would become a “stone cold killer” in a Netflix documentary released on Tuesday about his feud with five-time classical world champion Magnus Carlsen, a pledge that injects new edge into the lingering fallout from the cheating scandal that shook elite chess. “I’m gonna be a stone cold killer the rest of my life,” the US’ Niemann says in the film. “I’m going to become the best player in the world, and no one is going to believe that now, but this clip will play over and over again in 10 years — just wait.” “I just
Dakar and Rabat have longstanding ties, but relations have been strained since the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final, which Senegal won in mid-January before being stripped of the title, which was transferred to Morocco. Now, the AFCON trophy is something of a thorn in the two countries’ sides. On Rue Mohamed V, the street where Moroccan vendors are based in the Senegalese capital, a police van is parked. “The police have been on high alert since the Confederation of African Football [CAF] decided to award the title to Morocco, but there have been no incidents,” a local resident said.
Top seeded Jessica Pegula on Friday once again fought back from a set down to reach the WTA Charleston Open semi-finals with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win against Russia’s Diana Shnaider. Defending champion Pegula has lost the first set in all three of her matches at the tournament so far, but again dug deep to maintain her hopes of retaining the title. The world No. 5 from the US took 2 hours, 10 minutes to defeat 19th-ranked Shnaider, relying on a formidable service game that included eight aces. Shnaider battled well in the first two sets and broke early for a 2-0 lead
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