Chelsea’s week to forget ended with a day to forget on Saturday as their advantage at the English Premier League summit was trimmed to five points by resurgent champions Manchester City.
Tarnished by the incident on Tuesday last week that saw a group of the club’s fans prevent a black man from boarding a Paris Metro train while chanting racist songs, Chelsea were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw by lowly Burnley.
Ben Mee claimed an 81st-minute equalizer for Burnley after Nemanja Matic had been sent off for lashing out at Ashley Barnes and City took full advantage by cruising to a 5-0 home win over Newcastle United.
Chelsea took a 14th-minute lead when Branislav Ivanovic scored after a weaving run from Eden Hazard.
It was the Serbian defender’s second goal in two matches following his equalizing header in the 1-1 draw at Paris Saint-Germain and seemed destined to restore a sense of normality to Stamford Bridge.
However, after his countryman Matic was shown a 70th-minute red card for retaliating when Barnes caught him on the shin with an ugly challenge, Mee headed home Kieran Trippier’s left-wing corner to equalize.
City set about dismantling Newcastle 5-0 in a sparkling performance that set them up perfectly for tomorrow’s Champions League visit of Barcelona.
Edin Dzeko won a penalty inside 30 seconds after being clipped by Vurnon Anita and Sergio Aguero scored from the spot to put City ahead.
Samir Nasri increased City’s advantage before Dzeko added a glorious third in the 21st minute, chesting down a raking pass from David Silva and steering a left-foot shot past Tim Krul.
Silva got in on the act with a brilliant quick-fire brace early in the second half and Wilfried Bony gave City’s fans further reason to cheer when he came on to make his debut.
Manchester United lost momentum in the battle for Champions League places after seeing a 19-game unbeaten run come to an end in a 2-1 defeat at Swansea City.
Ander Herrera put United ahead in the 28th minute, but Ki Sung-yueng swiftly equalized and Swansea completed a first league double over their opponents when Jonjo Shelvey’s shot flicked in off Bafetimbi Gomis in the 73rd minute.
Arsenal capitalized on United’s slip-up with a 2-1 win at Crystal Palace that saw Arsene Wenger’s side climb to third place in the table.
Santi Cazorla opened the scoring with an eighth-minute penalty after Pape Souare was adjudged to have fouled Danny Welbeck.
Olivier Giroud added a second on the stroke of half-time, following up after Julian Speroni had saved from Welbeck, before Glenn Murray tapped in a stoppage-time consolation for Palace.
Aston Villa slipped to second-bottom after losing 2-1 at home to Stoke City.
Queens Park Rangers lost 2-1 at relegation rivals Hull City, as perennial troublemaker Joey Barton was sent off for flinging a hand toward Tom Huddlestone’s nether regions
Sunderland and West Bromwich Albion played out a drab 0-0 draw at the Stadium of Light.
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
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
The San Francisco Giants signed 18-year-old Taiwanese pitcher Yang Nien-hsi (陽念希) to a contract worth a total of US$500,000 (NT $16.39 million). At a press event in Taipei on Wednesday, Jan. 22, the Giants’ Pacific Rim Area scout Evan Hsueh (薛奕煌) presented Yang with a Giants jersey to celebrate the signing. The deal consisted of a contract worth US$450,000 plus a US$50,000 scholarship bonus. Yang, who stands at 188 centimeters tall and weighs 85 kilograms, is of Indigenous Amis descent. With his fastest pitch clocking in at 150 kilometers per hour, Yang had been on Hsueh’s radar since playing in the HuaNan Cup
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
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