SOCCER
Egypt win penalty shoot-out
Veteran 44-year-old goalkeeper Essam El Hadary saved Bertrand Traore’s spot-kick as Egypt beat Burkina Faso 4-3 on penalties on Wednesday to secure their place in the Africa Cup of Nations final. A tense semi-final in Libreville, Gabon, had ended 1-1 after 90 minutes and extra-time, with AS Roma star Mohamed Salah’s superb 66th-minute opener for Egypt quickly canceled out by Aristide Bance for Burkina Faso. That goal was the first conceded by El Hadary — the oldest ever player at the Cup of Nations — in 653 minutes at the tournament going back to 2010. Abdallah El Said missed Egypt’s first penalty in the shoot-out, but El Hadary kept the Pharaohs in it when he saved from opposing goalkeeper Herve Koffi, before denying Traore. Unbeaten in 24 games at the tournament, Egypt play Cameroon or Ghana in the final on Sunday.
SOCCER
Totti fires Roma to semi-final
A last-gasp penalty from Francesco Totti fired AS Roma into a Coppa Italia semi-final with city rivals SS Lazio after a shaky 2-1 win over AC Cesena on Wednesday. Totti was given a rare start by Roma coach Luciano Spalletti, but it took the Serie A title challengers until the 68th minute to hit the mark, Edin Dzeko making up for a series of glaring misses by sweeping Stephan El Shaarawy’s pass from the left past onrushing goalkeeper Federico Agliardi. Second-tier Cesena were given a chance to pull level when Roma goalkeeper Alisson, standing in for Wojciech Szczesny, almost collided with defender Kostas Manolas as he rose to challenge for a high ball, spilling it into the path of a thankful Luca Garritano, who fired home from the edge of the penalty area on 73 minutes. The match looked to be heading for extra-time until Totti stepped up to beat Agliardi from the spot in the seventh minute of stoppage-time.
CRICKET
Morgan laments batting
Skipper Eoin Morgan said England’s batting collapse in the third Twenty20 international was their worst performance in recent times after India inflicted a crushing defeat in the series decider in Bengaluru. Chasing 203 for victory, England’s much-vaunted batting lineup imploded on Wednesday, losing their final eight wickets for eight runs after being set to push for victory. Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal’s 6-25 combined with Jasprit Bumrah’s three wickets ripped through the English middle and lower order, with five batsmen being dismissed without scoring. “I can’t put my finger on it. We haven’t produced a batting performance as bad as that in two-and-a-half years,” Morgan said.
ICE HOCKEY
Blues fire coach Hitchcock
The Blues abruptly fired coach Ken Hitchcock on Wednesday, cutting short the veteran’s final season in St Louis and putting coach-in-waiting Mike Yeo in charge of the underperforming team months earlier than planned. General manager Doug Armstrong announced the change one day after the Blues’ fifth loss in six games. “We don’t lose with pride,” Armstrong said. “I don’t think that we’ve given our best effort and Ken, ultimately he’s paying the price with all our failures, starting with mine.” Hitchcock had a 248-124-41 record and made the playoffs in each of his five seasons, but St Louis are 24-21-5 and mired in eighth place in the Western Conference.
US national team star Folarin Balogun was among the scorers as AS Monaco on Friday won 3-1 at Paris Saint-Germain, dealing a blow to the side from the French capital before they face Chelsea in a crunch UEFA Champions League round-of-16 tie. Maghnes Akliouche gave Monaco a first-half lead at the Parc des Princes, and Aleksandr Golovin doubled their advantage early in the second half of the French Ligue 1 clash. Bradley Barcola pulled one back for the reigning European champions, but Balogun struck shortly after with a fifth goal in his last five games as Monaco claimed a precious
Teenage star Lamine Yamal’s superbly-taken goal on Saturday earned Barcelona a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao in Spanish La Liga. The champions restored their four-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid, who had on Friday temporarily closed the gap by beating Celta Vigo. Atletico Madrid tightened their grip on third with an entertaining 3-2 win over Real Sociedad. Yamal, 18, curled into the top corner after 68 minutes to split the sides at Athletic’s San Mames stadium. “We’re already seeing what Lamine can do — he puts it right in the top corner, and there’s nothing the keeper can do,” Barca
West Ham United on Monday advanced to the FA Cup quarter-finals with a 5-3 penalty shoot-out win against Brentford, who paid the price for Dango Ouattara’s spot-kick blunder. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side twice blew the lead as Jarrod Bowen’s double was canceled out by an Igor Thiago brace to force extra-time in the 2-2 draw at the London Stadium, but in the shoot-out, Brentford winger Ouattara attempted a chipped Panenka penalty, but his woeful effort was straight at West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola. It was an awful mistake by the Burkina Faso international and West Ham took full advantage. Bowen, Valentin Castellanos, Callum
CHANCE TO QUALIFY: Both teams now have three points from two games, and Taiwan sit ahead of Vietnam and behind Japan, who last night beat India 11-0 Taiwan yesterday defeated Vietnam 1-0 to move into second place in Group C at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup with one match remaining. Su Yu-hsuan scored the decisive goal in the 26th minute after Taiwan midfielder Saki Matsunaga’s shot hit the crossbar, leaving Su to nod the rebound into an empty net for the team which won the last of their three Asian Cup titles in 1981. It was a deserved victory for Taiwan, 2-0 losers to Japan on Wednesday, who created several chances to extend their lead. Vietnam, the 2022 quarter-finalist, beat India in their opener, but struggled to
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