Villarreal routed Real Betis Balompie 5-1 on Friday for their third win in four matches, moving them near the top of La Liga.
Karl Toko Ekambi scored twice, while Santi Cazorla, Gerard Moreno and Samuel Chukwueze added a goal each to give Villarreal the comfortable victory at home. Emerson scored for Real Betis at the Estadio de la Ceramica.
The victory moved Villarreal to fifth place with 11 points, three points behind leaders Real Madrid, who were yet to play yesterday.
Photo: EPA-EFE
BUNDESLIGA
Bas Dost and Andre Silva scored for Eintracht Frankfurt to claim a hard-fought 2-1 win against promoted Union Berlin in the Bundesliga on Friday.
The visitors withstood the home side’s early pressure and struck twice in the second half, making it clear to Union that it faces a long hard slog to stay up in its first season in the Bundesliga.
Photo: EFE
Union substitute Anthony Ujah scored in the 86th minute to set up an exciting finale, but Frankfurt weathered the home side’s late push.
“A point would have been deserved, but in the end Frankfurt were more efficient than we were,” Union coach Urs Fischer said.
BRAZIL
Photo: AFP
Four coaches in Brazil’s top flight have been fired in a 24-hour span due to bad results in recent weeks.
Fluminense’s Oswaldo de Oliveira was fired on Friday after insulting his club’s fans after a 1-1 draw with Santos at the Maracana Stadium. During that game on Thursday, Fluminense fans chanted the name of coach Cuca, who had left Sao Paulo hours earlier, apparently wanting him to replace Oliveira.
Sao Paulo hired Fernando Diniz as Cuca’s replacement, despite the club’s fans having called for Rogerio Ceni, who also lost his job at Cruzeiro on Thursday.
Ceni, who recently started a coaching career after spending two decades as Sao Paulo’s goalkeeper, is reportedly returning to Fortaleza, who fired coach Ze Ricardo on Thursday.
JAPAN
Japanese soccer star Keisuke Honda yesterday marketed himself to Manchester United in a Twitter plea as he hunts for a new club.
“Give me an offer,” the former AC Milan striker tweeted from his verified account, tagging United’s official twitter account.
“I don’t need money, but I need to play with great team and great team mate!” said the 33-year-old, one of the highest-profile names in Asian soccer.
Honda is trying to find a new club in Europe after leaving Australia’s Melbourne Victory in May.
He is aiming to continue playing international soccer after announcing his intention to compete at Tokyo Olympics as an over-age player.
More than 180 years of horse racing came to an end in Singapore on Saturday, as the Singapore Turf Club hosted its final race day before its track is handed back to the Singaporean government to provide land for new homes. Under an overcast sky, the air-conditioned VIP boxes were full of enthusiasts, socialites and expats, while the grounds and betting halls below hosted mostly older-generation punters. The sun broke through for the last race, the last-ever Grand Singapore Gold Cup. The winner, South African jockey Muzi Yeni, echoed a feeling of loss shared by many on the day. “I’d
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