Queens Park Rangers ended their three-match losing streak in the Premier League by rallying to a 1-1 draw at Swansea City on Tuesday.
Jamie Mackie scored QPR’s equalizer at Liberty Stadium when he got in behind Swansea’s notoriously stubborn defense from a long clearance by goalkeeper Paddy Kenny to stab home a finish in the 58th minute.
Fellow striker Danny Graham had given the Welsh team the lead in the 14th minute when he curled a shot into the bottom corner from the edge of the area for his sixth league goal of the season. QPR’s players claimed Graham deliberately handled the ball in the buildup to the goal.
“The referee saw it was handball, but said it was not intentional,” QPR manager Neil Warnock said. “It was a crucial decision, a big decision like that. You’ve got to know the game.”
The draw lifted 16th-place QPR three points clear of the relegation zone after 18 games. Swansea, who rose one place to 14th, have two more points after maintaining their impressive form at home, where the team have only lost once — to Manchester United.
“I thought it was two points dropped with our form here this season,” Swansea manager Brendan Rodgers said. “We showed some fantastic spells in the first half which had us in front, which we deserved, but we never really got going in the second half.”
Taiwanese tennis veteran Hsieh Su-wei (謝淑薇) and her Latvian partner Jelena Ostapenko finished runners-up in the Wimbledon women's doubles final yesterday, losing 6-3, 2-6, 4-6. The three-set match against Veronika Kudermetova of Russia and Elise Mertens of Belgium lasted two hours and 23 minutes. The loss denied 39-year-old Hsieh a chance to claim her 10th Grand Slam title. Although the Taiwanese-Latvian duo trailed 1-3 in the opening set, they rallied with two service breaks to take it 6-3. In the second set, Mertens and Kudermetova raced to a 5-1 lead and wrapped it up 6-2 to even the match. In the final set, Hsieh and
Taiwanese tennis veteran Hsieh Su-wei and her Latvian partner, Jelena Ostapenko, advanced to the Wimbledon women’s doubles final on Friday, defeating top seeds Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic and Taylor Townsend of the US in straight sets. The fourth-seeded duo bounced back quickly after losing their opening service game, capitalizing on frequent unforced errors by their opponents to take the first set 7-5. Maintaining their momentum in the second set, Hsieh and Ostapenko broke serve early and held their lead to close out the match 6-4. They are set to face the eighth-seeded pair of Veronika Kudermetova of Russia and Elise Mertens
Outside Anfield, the red sea of tributes to Diogo Jota and his brother, Andre Silva, has continued to grow this week, along with questions over whether Liverpool could play at Preston today, their first game since the brothers’ tragic loss. Inside Anfield, and specifically a grieving Liverpool dressing room, there was no major debate over the pre-season friendly. The English Premier League champions intend to honor their teammate in the best way they know how. It would be only 10 days since the deaths of Jota and Silva when Liverpool appear at Deepdale Stadium for what is certain to be a hugely
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