PREMIER LEAGUE
Liverpool’s march continues
Liverpool overcame another obstacle on the path to what looks an almost certain Premier League title as they chalked up a record-breaking 20th win in 21 matches with a hard-fought 1-0 victory against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday. With closest rivals Leicester City suffering a shock 2-1 home defeat against Southampton, Roberto Firmino’s goal sent Juergen Klopp’s side 16 points clear at the top with a game in hand. Manchester United roared back to form with a 4-0 demolition of bottom club Norwich City, while Chelsea maintained their grip on fourth place with a 3-0 defeat of Burnley at Stamford Bridge. Everton won 1-0 at home against Brighton & Hove Albion, Arsenal drew 1-1 against Crystal Palace and Newcastle United and Wolverhampton Wanderers drew 1-1.
LIGUE 1
Lyon rally to beat Bordeaux
A fine finish from coveted striker Moussa Dembele and a deflected effort from Maxwell Cornet helped Olympique Lyonnais rally to beat Girondins de Bordeaux 2-1 in Ligue 1 action on Saturday. Dembele’s firm drive in the 53rd minute came after he was set up by Cornet, who equalized three minutes earlier for Lyon. Veteran forward Jimmy Briand put Bordeaux ahead in the 15th minute. The win moved Lyon up to sixth place and Dembele grabbed his 14th goal in 28 games. Elsewhere, Olympique de Marseille defeated Stade Rennais 1-0, Stade de Reims lost to Nimes Olympique 1-0, Montpellier HSC won 2-1 against Amiens SC, Metz bested RC Strasbourg Alsace 1-0, Toulouse went down 5-2 to Dynamo Brest and OGC Nice scraped a 1-1 draw against Angers SCO.
SERIE A
Ibrahimovic scores in win
Veteran star Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored in his first AC Milan start since his return to the club in a 2-0 win over Cagliari on Saturday. The 38-year-old played the entire match, scoring on 64 minutes for his first Milan goal since leaving the club for Paris Saint-Germain eight years ago. “I’ll celebrate like a god at San Siro, not here,” said Ibrahimovic, whose previous scored in the Milan jersey was in May 2012. “I celebrate God every time I score, that way I feel alive!” Ibrahimovic, who did not want to be substituted, said: “I feel good, the coach just wanted to think about my age and see if I needed a rest, but there’s no problem. My brain is always the same and the body has to follow.” Inter’s position on top of Serie A is at risk after a 1-1 draw against Atalanta BC. Lautaro Martinez put Inter ahead after four minutes at the San Siro only for Robin Gosens to pull Atalanta level on 76 minutes. SS Lazio consolidated third position with the only goal in their game against SSC Napoli.
COP DEL REY
Valladolid win in shoot-out
Real Valladolid’s Andriy Lunin on Saturday saved two penalties in a shoot-out after their second-round clash against second-division side Marbella ended 1-1 in regulation time, sending the top-tier side through 5-2 on penalties. Other winners were RCD Mallorca, CA Osasuna, Real Zaragoza, Mirandes, Leganes, Real Betis, Ebro, UD Ibiza, Tenerife, Elche, Badajoz, Athletic Bilbao, second-division side Badalona — who beat top-flight Getafe 2-0 — Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa, Recreativo de Huelva, Girona, UD Logrones, Granada and Villarreal.
College basketballer Kaitlyn Chen has become the first female player of Taiwanese descent to be drafted by a WNBA team, after the Golden State Valkyries selected her in the third and final round of the league’s draft on Monday. Chen, a point guard who played her first three seasons in college for Princeton University, transferred to the University of Connecticut (UConn) for her final season, which culminated in a national championship earlier this month. While at Princeton, Chen was named the Ivy League tournament’s most outstanding player three times from 2022 to last year. Prior to the draft, ESPN described Chen as
Robinson Cano spent 17 seasons playing in the MLB in front of all kinds of baseball fans, but he said there is something special about his stint with the Mexican Baseball League’s Diablos Rojos. He is not alone. The league last week opened its 100th season, aiming to keep an impressive growth in attendance that began after the national team’s surprise run at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, and is already surpassing some first-division soccer clubs. After finishing third in the 2023 tournament, many casual fans, some of them soccer enthusiasts disappointed after Mexico were eliminated in the first round in the 2022
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
In-form teenager Mirra Andreeva on Thursday crashed out of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany, after going down in straight sets to fellow Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova in the last 16. World No. 7 Andreeva, who already has two titles under her belt this season, lost 6-3, 6-2 against the 22nd-ranked Alexandrova in just over an hour. The 17-year-old Andreeva had defeated her elder sister Erika in the previous round on Wednesday, but Alexandrova quickly took control as she claimed her fourth win over a top-10 player this season. The 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva in February became the youngest winner of a WTA
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