A brace by Sergio Aguero led Atletico Madrid to a 2-0 victory over Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday to put them back on track in the hunt for a European place following rivals Villarreal’s shock 1-0 defeat by nine-man Getafe.
Atletico were always in charge against a Deportivo side that has stuttered especially away from home.
It was Aguero’s night as he first won a penalty after being upended by ’keeper Daniel Aranzubia although Diego Forlan missed the follow-up spot-kick.
But Aguero then found the back of the net with a jinking run and shot, before adding to it 10 minutes before halftime. Atletico are now sixth in the table but are still seven points adrift of Villarreal who crashed 1-0 at Getafe. Juan Albin fired home in the dying minutes.
Daniel Diaz had already been dismissed and Albin was given a second yellow card for taking his shirt off when celebrating his goal.
Despite the red cards, Villarreal coach Juan Carlos Garrido still felt the referee cost them the game.
“There were too many stoppages which favored Getafe as they organized their game to counter-attack. We needed there to be fluidity in the match,” he said.
Lowly Almeria produced an inspired performance to beat Sevilla 3-1.
Sevilla looked tense as they started the game on the back of three straight defeats and their mood did not improve when Frederic Kanoute missed a penalty.
Almeria scored with their first real chance at the start of the second half when a Vargas header just crept over the line.
A thunderbolt by Pablo Piatti increased the advantage and although Kanoute pulled a goal back, Piatti made certain of the points in injury time.
SS Lazio on Monday fired the far-right sympathizer who handles their eagle mascot after he posted online a series of videos and pictures of his erect penis. Falconer Juan Bernabe, who has been present at Lazio home matches with Olimpia the eagle since the 2010-2011 season, posted the footage on social media after having surgery on Saturday to implant a penile prosthesis to improve his sexual performance. Lazio said that they had “terminated, with immediate effect” their relationship with Bernabe “due to the seriousness of his conduct,” adding that they were “shocked” by the images. The Serie A club added that Bernabe’s dismissal
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
RSS