■SOCCER
S Korea win, hand China title
South Korea overpowered Japan 3-1 on Sunday to leave China as surprise East Asian championship winners. Qu Bo struck twice to give China a 2-0 victory over Hong Kong earlier in the day leaving hosts Japan needing to beat the Koreans by three goals to win the four-team tournament. The Chinese finished with seven points to South Korea’s six with Japan third on four points. Hong Kong lost all their matches. There was no love lost in a bruising clash between the Japanese and Koreans. Yasuhito Endo put Japan ahead from the spot in the 22nd minute before Lee Dong-gook blasted home another penalty to level 11 minutes later. Lee Seung-yeoul gave the Koreans the lead after 39 minutes with a shot from 30m that took a slight deflection. Kim Jae-sung curled in a superb third for the Koreans in the 70th minute. Japan defender Tulio was shown red for elbowing Cho Yong-hyung just before half-time while Korea captain Kim Jung-woo walked after a second bookable offense in the 52nd minute.
■SOCCER
Inter draw with Napoli
Serie A leaders Inter withstood a furious barrage from Napoli to earn a 0-0 draw on Sunday and end the weekend with a seven-point advantage. Marek Hamsik rattled the bar early on while Inter had a decent penalty shout for handball turned down. Jose Mourinho’s side then struck the woodwork with a Sulley Muntari firecracker before Goran Pandev missed a good chance in the second half and Napoli’s Fabio Quagliarella thumped a drive against the post. Earlier, Alessandro Del Piero converted a controversial penalty to give Juventus a 3-2 home win over Genoa and lift the Turin club to sixth after only their second victory in nine Serie A matches. Guglielmo Stendardo and Mauro Zarate netted to hand Lazio a 2-0 win at Parma. Cagliari beat Bari 3-1 while bottom side Siena boosted their slim hopes of survival by winning 1-0 at Chievo. Bologna also prevailed 1-0 at Livorno and Catania drew 0-0 with Atalanta.
■SOCCER
Schalke beat Cologne
Schalke 04 scored late in each half to beat Cologne 2-0 and move within three points of Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich on Sunday. Schalke went ahead in first half stoppage time when Joel Matip headed in a cross. Jefferson Farfan extended their lead in the 81st minute when he scored with a neat finish from close range. Freiburg lost 2-1 after a stoppage-time goal at Eintracht Frankfurt. Papiss Cisse pounced on a goalkeeping blunder to put the visitors ahead in the 25th minute, only for Benjamin Koehler to level with a free kick 15 minutes later. Eintracht dominated the second half and were rewarded when Halil Altintop struck with almost the last kick.
■HOCKEY
Predators down Penguins
Cal O’Reilly and Martin Erat scored in the shootout as the Nashville Predators beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 on Sunday — a game in which Penguins and Team Canada star Sidney Crosby was seen wincing shortly after blocking a shot. Crosby, who tied Alex Ovechkin for the NHL lead with his 42nd goal of the season and also added an assist, appeared frustrated and in pain on the bench after an apparent injury to his right leg moments after he blocked a shot with his shin about seven minutes into the second period. However, after the game Crosby said he was fine and was traveling to Vancouver on Sunday night. In other NHL action it was: Ducks 7, Oilers 3; Wild 6, Canucks 2; Rangers 5, Lightning 2; Senators 4, Islanders 3 and Blackhawks 5, Blue Jackets 4, SO
‘AWFUL PERFORMANCE’: Golden State were always chasing the game after failing to threaten from long range, making just eight of 33 three-point attempts Aaron Gordon on Monday scored 38 points as the Denver Nuggets shrugged off the absence of Nikola Jokic to halt the Golden State Warriors’ seven-game winning streak with a 114-105 victory over their Western Conference rivals. A dazzling display from Gordon inspired what was ultimately a comfortable win for Denver, who were missing regular starters Jokic and Jamal Murray from their lineup. The absentees were barely felt by Denver, who startled the Warriors early at San Francisco’s Chase Center and led for most of the game. The Warriors threatened to stage a late rally after slashing the Nuggets’ fourth-quarter lead from 15 points
The US’ bid for a fourth consecutive CONCACAF Nations League title came to a stunning end as they fell 1-0 to Panama after a stoppage-time goal from Cecilio Waterman on Thursday in Inglewood, California. Despite dominating possession, the US struggled to break down a resilient Panama side for long periods. Panama spent the bulk of the match defending, but pounced on a giveaway by the US before substitute forward Waterman sent a shot from the right side of the area to the bottom left corner late in stoppage time. Up next for Panama in tomorrow’s final is to be Mexico, who beat
Barcelona’s Ferran Torres scored twice on Sunday to help secure a late 4-2 comeback win at Atletico Madrid in a pulsating La Liga clash that took the Catalan side back to the top of the table. Barca have 60 points and a game in hand after last week’s postponement of their home game with CA Osasuna. They are level on points with Real Madrid, who won 2-1 at Villarreal on Saturday. “I am happy and proud of this team,” Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick told a news conference. “They never give up... It’s a great three points and we are happy to
Chris Wood has fired Nottingham Forest into surprise UEFA Champions League contention and now the striker wants to score the goals to help New Zealand make history at the FIFA World Cup. New Zealand are strong favorites to qualify out of the Oceania region over the next week and reach the World Cup for only the third time. At the country’s two previous appearances at the finals, in 1982 and 2010, they have failed to win a match in six attempts. With Wood captaining the side and leading from the front, he told local media yesterday that the current squad can finally deliver
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