Valencia yesterday moved to within one point of Spanish La Liga leaders Barcelona by winning 2-1 at lowly Deportivo Alaves, recording a sixth consecutive league victory to post their best-ever start to a season.
Simone Zaza opened the scoring in the 34th minQute for Marcelino’s high-flying side to grab his ninth strike of the campaign and score for the sixth game in a row. Their excellent run came under threat when veteran defender Alexis Ruano headed the hosts level three minutes into the second half.
Former Valencia loanee Munir El Haddadi nearly put Alaves in front with a thunderous strike that was turned away by Brazilian goalkeeper Neto, but the visitors restored their lead after Rodrigo Ely handled a cross in the area.
Photo: Reuters
Spain forward Rodrigo Moreno converted from the penalty spot in the 66th minute to make it seven wins and three draws for Valencia, their best-ever return in the league after 10 games.
UNITED V SPURS
Reuters
Substitute Anthony Martial’s 81st minute strike yesterday gave Manchester United a 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford in Manchester, England, to keep them in touch with Premier League leaders Manchester City.
After last week’s surprise defeat at Huddersfield Town, Jose Mourinho’s team could ill afford another slip-up, but they found it hard to break down a resilient Spurs defense.
Tottenham, without their top scorer Harry Kane who was ruled out with a hamstring injury, could have gone in front themselves in the 76th minute when Christian Eriksen threaded a superb ball towards Dele Alli, but the England midfielder’s effort went the wrong side of the post.
After Romelu Lukaku headed a Jesse Lingard cross against the post, United finally broke through and it was in direct fashion.
A long ball from keeper David De Gea was flicked on by Lukaku into the path of the on-running Martial and the Frenchman confidently slotted past Hugo Lloris.
Badminton world No. 3 Anders Antonsen clinched his first Indonesia Open title yesterday after beating Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen, while South Korea’s An Se-young won her second championship in Jakarta. The 28-year-old Dane sank world No. 7 Chou at the Indonesian capital’s Istora Senayan arena, winning 22-20, 21-14 in a 60-minute match to secure the prestigious Super 1000 event. Antonsen came out on top in a tightly contested first game before cruising to victory in the second. In a more closely fought women’s singles final, South Korean ace and world No. 1 An fought back from one game down to beat China’s
‘STILL’: In front of a packed New Jersey arena attended by Donald Trump and Mike Tyson, UFC 316 delivered high drama as Merab Dvalishvili retained his title Georgia’s Merab Dvalishvili scored a second-round submission win over Sean O’Malley to retain his bantamweight title at Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 316 on Saturday, with Kayla Harrison also winning by submission in the co-main event, tapping out Juliana Pena to claim the women’s bantamweight crown. In front of a packed crowd at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, which included US President Donald Trump and retired heavyweight great Mike Tyson, Dvalishvili, a 34-year-old from the country of Georgia, won the belt in a convincing, although not aesthetically pleasing, unanimous decision. Dvalishvili (19-4) sat on top of the cage and shouted
Manchester City on Monday completed the signing of left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri from Wolverhampton Wanderers for a reported ￡31 million (US$41.8 million). The 24-year-old Algeria international has signed a five-year contract and will be available for the FIFA Club World Cup, which begins later this week. Ait-Nouri is expected to be just one of a trio of new City faces for that tournament with deals close to completion for AC Milan midfielder Tijjani Reijnders and Olympique Lyonnais playmaker Rayan Cherki. After missing out on a major trophy in the recently completed season for the first time since 2016-2017, City are hoping
Hulking Italian sprinter Jonathan Milan on Monday surged away from the pack to win the second stage of the Criterium de Dauphine in Issoire, France, to take the overall lead from Tadej Pogacar. The 1.93m, 87kg Milan had to battle to keep up on a hilly 204.6km run through central France from Premilhat. When the pack hit the home straight, he rocketed away from his rivals to collect a 10-second victory bonus and the yellow jersey. “That was really tough,” Milan said. “I was dropped at one point, and I was really on the limit, but I have to say
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