COPPA ITALIA
Juventus reach quarters
Juventus on Tuesday advanced to the quarter-finals with a 2-0 win over Udinese after teenage defender Matteo Palma scored an own-goal and conceded a penalty. Juventus, who hold the record for the most Cup trophies with 15, next face either Atalanta BC or Genoa, who were to play after press time last night. The Bianconeri took the lead midway through the first half when US international Weston McKennie did well down the right flank before putting in a low cross that Palma turned into his own net as he tried to anticipate Jonathan David. A video review in the second half spotted that the 17-year-old Palma had fouled Juan Cabal in the penalty area. Substitute Manuel Locatelli struck the resulting spot-kick straight down the middle.
Photo: EPA
LA LIGA
Barcelona boost lead
Barcelona on Tuesday increased their lead in the league by coming from behind to beat Atletico Madrid 3-1, with Dani Olmo scoring the go-ahead goal, but hurting his shoulder in the process. Olmo injured his left shoulder in a fall after sending a left-footed strike into the net in the 65th minute for Barcelona’s second goal at the Camp Nou. Atletico had opened the scoring with Alex Baena. Raphinha equalized for the hosts in the first half. Olmo was in visible pain after going down and could not celebrate the goal that left Barcelona four points ahead of Real Madrid. The Barcelona playmaker was immediately substituted and had to be assisted off the field by the club’s medical staff. Tempers flared late in the first half, with Barcelona’s Gerard Martin booked for a rash sliding tackle on Giuliano Simeone during an Atletico counterattack. The visitors called for a red card, but referee Ricardo de Burgos deemed the challenge deserving of only a yellow. Ferran Torres, who replaced Olmo, sealed the victory for Barcelona deep into stoppage-time. “It was a key match and these three points were important,” Raphinha said after Barcelona’s fifth straight league win. “They could help decide the league in the end.”
DFB-POKAL
Leverkusen advance
Ibrahim Maza’s first-half strike on Tuesday was enough for Bayer 04 Leverkusen to knock Borussia Dortmund out of the Cup with a 1-0 win in their third-round encounter. Maza scored in the 34th minute after a team move from the back. Alex Grimaldo played the 20-year-old Algeria forward through, and though Waldemar Anton blocked Maza’s first effort, he curled the ball in with his second after beating Anton and another Dortmund defender to the ball. Elsewhere, Hertha BSC enjoyed a 6-1 rout of second-division rivals Kaiserslautern, Louis Oppie scored the winner for St Pauli, who beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-1, and Christoph Baumgartner scored twice as RB Leipzig won 3-1 against second-division side Magdeburg. Fans across all of the games stayed quiet for the first 12 minutes to protest a German government proposal to increase security measures around games. The mooted changes include personalized tickets, increased surveillance — including facial-recognition software — and centralized stadium bans for alleged troublesome fans. The proposals were to be discussed at a three-day conference from yesterday.
SEESAW CONTEST: The Pistons remain top of the Eastern Conference after battling to a win over the Hawks in a game that saw the lead change 27 times The Phoenix Suns on Monday shrugged off an injury to Devin Booker to end the Los Angeles Lakers’ seven-game winning streak with an emphatic 125-108 victory on the road. Booker exited in the first quarter, but the loss of the star point guard did little to halt the flow of Phoenix points over the remainder of the game. Dillon Brooks led the Phoenix scoring with 33 points, while Collin Gillespie added 28 — including eight three-pointers — as the Suns romped to victory. The Lakers were left ruing a colossal 22 turnovers — at a cost of 32 Suns points — on a
New Zealand yesterday reached 231-9 at stumps on a first day of the first Test against the West Indies shortened by rain after Justin Greaves triggered a middle-order collapse with the wicket of Kane Williamson. New Zealand tumbled from 94-1 to 148-6 on a bowler-friendly wicket after Williamson was dismissed for 52, his 38th Test half-century. Michael Bracewell and Nathan Smith arrested the slide with a 52-run stand for the seventh wicket. Smith eventually fell for 23 and Bracewell for 47. After Matt Henry went for 8, Zak Foulkes and Jacob Duffy were both on 4 when bad light stopped play after 70
Robin Smith, the batter who shone for England in a period when it was beaten regularly in Test cricket, has died. He was 62. Smith’s family said in a statement from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) that he died unexpectedly at his home in Perth, Australia, on Monday. No cause was given. He played 62 Tests for England from 1988 to 1996, scoring 4,236 runs at an average of 43.67 with nine centuries. His signature shot was the square cut. Smith also played in 71 one-day internationals and was part of England’s squad who reached the 1992 ICC World Cup final. His unbeaten
SSC Napoli on Sunday joined AC Milan at the top of Serie A after winning 1-0 at title rivals AS Roma, as Inter kept pace with the leading pair by beating Pisa SC 2-0. David Neres stroked home the only goal of a feisty game in the 36th minute at the Stadio Olimpico, ending a blistering counterattack with a calm finish which put Napoli on 28 points. Napoli are behind Milan on goal-difference, and just one point ahead of both Roma and Inter in a tight scudetto battle in which Antonio Conte’s team are to host Juventus at the weekend. “To come to
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