PREMIER LEAGUE
Burnley defeat Norwich City
Burnley kept their bid for Europa League qualification alive as striker Chris Wood inspired a 2-0 win over nine-man Norwich City on Saturday. Wood struck in first-half stoppage-time at Carrow Road after Emiliano Buendia and Josip Drmic of relegated Norwich had been sent off. Ben Godfrey’s late own-goal extended Burnley’s unbeaten Premier League run to seven games as they climbed to ninth. They are one point behind seventh-placed Tottenham Hotspur in the race for a spot in next season’s Europa League. The odds are still against Sean Dyche’s side, as they have just one game left, while Tottenham, Sheffield United and Wolverhampton Wanderers all have two games to ensure that they finish above the Clarets. “I don’t think I’ve played against a team with two sendings off. It was a bizarre game! We’ll take the clean sheet and the win,” Dyche said. “To have 15 clean-sheets and the wins on the table is very pleasing, so I’m delighted for the players.” Daniel Farke’s bottom-of-the-table team have lost their past 10 games in all competitions and this was an embarrassment. “We walked into the trap and got two red cards. Naive, inexperienced, stupid, all the words are right. It’s not acceptable,” Farke said. Norwich were reduced to 10 men in the 35th minute as midfielder Buendia clashed with Ashley Westwood. Buendia elbowed the Burnley midfielder in the back of the head after a collision between the pair. In first-half stoppage-time, Drmic was sent off after lunging into a reckless studs-up foul on Erik Pieters.
SERIE A
Atalanta’s hunt hampered
Atalanta BC’s push for second spot was hampered by a 1-1 draw against Hellas Verona in Serie A on Saturday. Duvan Zapata took advantage of a mistake to give Atalanta the lead in the 50th minute, but Matteo Pessina — who is on loan from Atalanta — leveled nine minutes later. The result left Atalanta level on 71 points with second-place Inter, who were to play AS Roma after press time last night. League leaders Juventus have a six-point advantage and host fourth-place SS Lazio today. Elsehwhere, AC Milan humiliated Bologna 5-1 to strengthen their chances of qualifying for the Europa League and US Sassuolo drew 1-1 with 10-man Cagliari.
LIGUE 1
Lille players test positive
Lille OSC midfielders Renato Sanches, Jonathan Ikone and Jonathan Bamba have tested positive for COVID-19, coach Christophe Galtier said on Saturday, calling for more firmness in enforcing social distancing. All three tested positive on Monday last week, Galtier said after a 2-1 friendly win against Belgian club Royal Excel Mouscron. Sanches had returned to Portugal during a week off and there shown symptoms and tested positive, Galtier said. “Renato is still in Portugal and he cannot travel yet because he has to pass two negative tests,” he said. Ikone and Bamba had been confined to their homes, but “should come back to training on Monday [today],” he said. Galtier urged people to follow the rules on social distancing. “I’ve had eight days off and I’ve seen how we behave,” he said. “Let’s continue like this and we’ll all be reconfined and it’ll be a mess. It’s up to the state to be firm. If we continue like this, we won’t be able to avoid a second wave.”
The US’ bid for a fourth consecutive CONCACAF Nations League title came to a stunning end as they fell 1-0 to Panama after a stoppage-time goal from Cecilio Waterman on Thursday in Inglewood, California. Despite dominating possession, the US struggled to break down a resilient Panama side for long periods. Panama spent the bulk of the match defending, but pounced on a giveaway by the US before substitute forward Waterman sent a shot from the right side of the area to the bottom left corner late in stoppage time. Up next for Panama in tomorrow’s final is to be Mexico, who beat
DOMINATION: McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris took the first two spots as Mercedes’ George Russell and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen followed them Australian Oscar Piastri yesterday roared back from season-opening disappointment in his home race by winning the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix from pole position in a McLaren one-two with championship-leading teammate Lando Norris. George Russell finished third for Mercedes, ahead of Red Bull’s reigning champion Max Verstappen with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Saturday’s sprint winner Lewis Hamilton fifth and sixth respectively. Piastri’s win denied Norris a third victory in a row, including last year’s Abu Dhabi season-ender, but left champions McLaren unbeaten in two races so far this year. “Mega job guys. The car was very, very lovely,” Piastri said
TO FINAL FOUR: France had 22 chances and scored two goals, while Croatia could not manage a single shot on target in 120 minutes. Les Bleus won 5-4 on penalties France on Sunday overturned a two-goal deficit to qualify for the UEFA Nations League Final Four by eliminating Croatia 5-4 on penalties after a 2-0 victory in their quarter-final second leg at the Stade de France. Dayot Upamecano scored the winning spot kick in a nail-biting shootout in which France keeper Mike Maignan made two saves, sending Les Bleus into the semi-finals against Spain. Michael Olise opened the scoring and Ousmane Dembele doubled their lead 10 minutes from time to send the tie into extra time after their 2-0 loss in Split, Croatia, on Thursday. France had a total of
Armand Duplantis will be among the reigning Olympic champions adding star power to the world indoor championships this weekend when the Chinese city of Nanjing hosts the first major global athletics meet since the Paris Games last year. The three-day event was originally slated for 2020 and faced multiple postponements due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Nanjing’s Sports Training Center would finally welcome more than 570 athletes for the start of the showpiece today. One of the main attractions would be pole vaulter “Mondo” Duplantis, who soared 6.27m to break the world record for a staggering 11th time in Clermont-Ferrand last
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