SERIE A
Sousa’s woes continue
Embattled ACF Fiorentina coach Paulo Sousa’s woes continued after the misfiring Viola were held to a scoreless stalemate at home to Atalanta BC yesterday. Fiorentina were among the early season challengers to champions Juventus last season, but with only three points from their last four Serie A outings the Florence-based club are well below mid-table position. Fiorentina have a game in hand, but are in 13th spot, 12 points behind leaders and champions Juventus, who have a five-point lead on second-placed AS Roma. Injury to Slovenian international Josip Ilicic meant Sousa drafted in Khouma Babacar for a rare start at a sun-drenched Artemio Franchi stadium. However, despite creating a series of chances throughout, Nikola Kalinic notably coming closest for the hosts in both halves, the perfect playing conditions failed to inspire the hosts against a decidedly defensive Atalanta.
LA LIGA
Messi scores on return
Lionel Messi scored within three minutes of returning to action for the first time in more than three weeks to help fire La Liga champions Barcelona to a resounding 4-0 home win over RC Deportivo de La Coruna on Saturday. Brazilian midfielder Rafinha put Barca ahead in the 21st minute with the help of lax goalkeeping from Deportivo’s German Lux and slid in the second in the 35th after the stopper failed to hold Gerard Pique’s header. Luis Suarez combined with Neymar to stretch Barca’s lead two minutes before the break and substitute Messi latched on to a through ball from the Brazilian to stroke the ball high into the net in the 58th.
LIGUE 1
Cavani steers PSG to win
Top scorer Edinson Cavani netted his ninth goal of the Ligue 1 season as Paris Saint-Germain geared up for next week’s Champions League match with a 2-1 win at bottom club AS Nancy-Lorraine on Saturday. PSG got off to a brilliant start before letting Nancy back into the contest. The French champions moved up to second with 19 points from nine matches, four behind leaders OGC Nice who beat Olympique Lyonnais 2-0 on Friday. They lead third-placed AS Monaco, who slumped to a 3-1 defeat at Toulouse on Friday, on goal difference. PSG went ahead in the 13th minute when forward Lucas scored with a long-range free-kick. It took the visitors five minutes to double the tally when Cavani intercepted a poor header toward Ndy Assembe and easily beat the keeper. Nancy’s Alou scored in the 55th minute with a header into the top corner from Benoit Pedretti’s free-kick.
BUNDESLIGA
Embolo breaks ankle
Schalke 04 are expected to be without teenage striker Breel Embolo for the rest of the year after the Swiss international broke his left ankle on Saturday. The 19-year-old was stretchered off after 25 minutes of Schalke’s 1-1 draw at Augsburg, which lifted them out of the Bundesliga’s relegation places into 15th. Embolo was taken to hospital where X-rays revealed the injury suffered in a clumsy tackle from Augsburg defender Konstantinos Stafylidis, who was booked. “We wish Breel Embolo all the best and a speedy recovery,” Augsburg coach Dirk Schuster said. “Stafylidis got himself into a stupid situation.” This is the latest blow to Schalke’s new head coach Markus Weinzierl, who set a new club record after they lost their first five games of the season. “Very unfortunate news. Breel Embolo will be out for some time with a broken ankle,” Schalke tweeted on the club’s official account.
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
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
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