ENGLAND
McDermott gets the boot
Reading sacked manager Brian McDermott yesterday as the Premier League strugglers look to breathe new life into their bid to avoid relegation. McDermott led Reading into the top-flight as Championship winners last season, but he has paid the price for failing to lift the Royals away from the bottom three. A 2-1 home defeat against fellow strugglers Aston Villa on Saturday proved the final straw for Reading owner Anton Zingarevich and just 48 hours later the club released a statement confirming McDermott had been dismissed. “Reading Football Club has announced today the departure of manager Brian McDermott,” a statement on the club’s Web site read. “Owner Anton Zingarevich wishes to place on record his thanks to Brian who had achieved great success with the club since taking over as manager in December 2009. Brian gained promotion to the Premier League last year for only the second time in the club’s history thanks to a remarkable run at the end of last season. However, in our current situation, owner Anton Zingarevich felt that a change was necessary.” Whoever takes over at the Madejski Stadium will have to work quickly to save Reading, who are currently second bottom of the table with just five wins from their 29 league games this season.
SPAIN
Granada, Zaragoza draw
Granada ended a run of three successive defeats to grab a 0-0 draw at fellow strugglers Real Zaragoza in La Liga on Monday, leaving both sides mired in the battle to avoid relegation. The visitors had a couple of chances to score through Odion Ighalo, but there was little else to separate the sides in a contest short on inspiration and littered with misplaced passes. Granada stayed 16th on 27 points with 11 games left in the season. Zaragoza, yet to win this year, are 17th with 26 points, two ahead of the relegation places.
ITALY
Conte confident after hearing
Juventus coach Antonio Conte said he was absolutely certain he would face no further action after being interrogated by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) Disciplinary Commission over a match-fixing scandal on Monday. The 43-year-old was accompanied by three lawyers as he answered questions over a Serie B match in the 2008-2009 season involving the side he coached at the time, Bari, against Salernitana. According to the justice authorities in Bari there are suspicions the match was fixed. However, Conte, who earlier this season served a four-month suspension for failing to disclose knowledge of match-fixing during his time at Siena in the 2010-2011 season, was adamant he would not be facing further questioning or charges over the game. “I believe I have clarified everything,” Conte said. “Am I afraid of being charged? Absolutely not.”
CHINA
Tension high ahead of game
Heightened security was due to be deployed yesterday for a Japanese team’s match in Nanjing, where the worst atrocities of the invasion of China by Japan’s Imperial Army took place. Tensions were expected to be high on the pitch for the AFC Champions League game between Japan’s Vegalta Sendai and China’s Jiangsu Sainty. It is thought to be the first senior men’s soccer game involving a Japanese team in Nanjing, where invading troops launched a brutal massacre in 1937. “The players have privately said ‘We all know the significance of facing a Japanese team at home in Nanjing,’” said the jiangsu.china.com Web site, the online mouthpiece of the local government.
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
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