SOCCER
Mbappe has bad night
Kylian Mbappe’s night on Wednesday went from bad to worse when he missed a twice-taken penalty for Paris Saint-Germain in their 3-1 Ligue 1 win against Montpellier Herault and blazed the rebound over the crossbar before limping off injured later in the game. He went off midway through the first half moments after clutching his right leg below the knee following a challenge. TV cameras also showed him rubbing the back of his left thigh as he walked to the dressing room. However, PSG coach Christophe Galtier was optimistic. “Is it a bruise? We don’t know yet. It doesn’t look very serious,” Galtier said. “We’re not too worried.” PSG were awarded a penalty in the seventh minute, but goalkeeper Benjamin Lecomte saved Mbappe’s first effort and, after the referee ordered it to be retaken, made an outstanding save to push Mbappe’s effort onto the right post. Mbappe missed an open goal when the rebound fell to him and he fired the ball high over the crossbar.
SOCCER
Barcelona reach 50 points
A goal by Robert Lewandowski on Wednesday helped Barcelona reach the 50-point mark in La Liga as they defeated Real Betis Balompie 2-1. Lewandowski sealed Barcelona’s sixth straight victory in all competitions with his first league goal since October last year. He is the league’s leading scorer with 14 goals. Meanwhile, Barcelona missed out on signing LA Galaxy defender Julian Araujo on transfer deadline day on Tuesday, as they were 18 seconds late in registering the paperwork, Barcelona director of football Mateu Alemany said on Wednesday. Barca had been trying to sign the 21-year-old rightback for US$6.5 million in a deal until 2026, Spanish newspaper Diario AS reported. “We couldn’t register due to a system error, it was just 18 seconds, we’ll see what FIFA say,” Alemany told Movistar.
RUGBY UNION
WRU cut ‘Delilah’
The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) has removed Delilah from its Principality Stadium choirs’ song list due to its “problematic” lyrics, British media reported. The song by Welsh singer Tom Jones, first released in 1968, is about a jealous lover stabbing a woman after seeing her with another man. The lyrics include the line: “She stood there laughing, I felt the knife in my hand and she laughed no more.” “The WRU condemns domestic violence of any kind,” a Principality Stadium spokesperson told Sky Sports. “We have previously sought advice from subject matter experts on the issue of censoring the song and we are respectfully aware that it is problematic and upsetting to some supporters because of its subject matter.”
CRICKET
Khawaja departs for India
Australia cricketer Usman Khawaja was cleared to join the national squad for a tour of India after his visa issues were cleared up ahead of his rescheduled departure yesterday. Cricket Australia said that Khawaja was flying out of Melbourne after having to wait for his visa to be approved. It is not the first time Khawaja, who was born in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, has faced visa challenges when trying to enter India. In 2011, the top-order batter took to social media to say he had not been permitted to enter the country because he was not born in Australia.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
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