MONDAY, APRIL 27, 2015 SPORTS

Italian League results/standings

Atalanta 2 (Gomez 43, Denis 90+3) Empoli 2 (Saponara 41, Maccarone 60); Genoa 3 (Bertolacci 38, Perotti 45+3-pen, Pavoletti 53) Cesena 1 (Carbonero 69); Lazio 1 (Klose 45+1) Chievo 1 (Paloschi 76); Torino 2 (Darmian 45, Quagliarella 57) Juventus 1 (Pirlo 35); Parma 1 (Nocerino 22-pen) Palermo 0; Verona 3 (Juanito Gomez 30, Toni 63, 71) Sassuolo 2 (Moras 35-og, Floro Flores 89); Fiorentina 1 (Gilardino 74) Cagliari 3 (Cop 7, 59, Farias 90+2).

Playing later Napoli v Sampdoria

Played Saturday Udinese 2 (Pinzi 58, Agyemang Badu 74) AC Milan 1 (Pazzini 88); Inter 2 Hernanes 15, Icardi 88) Roma 1 (Nainggolan 63).

Italian Serie A table after yesterday’s matches (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points):

Juventus 32 22 7 3 60 17 73 Sassuolo 32 8 12 12 39 49 36 Lazio 32 18 5 9 59 31 59 Empoli 32 6 17 9 34 40 35 Roma 32 15 13 4 43 25 58 Atalanta 32 6 13 13 29 44 31 Napoli 31 15 8 8 53 37 53 Cagliari 32 5 9 18 38 62 24 Sampdoria 31 12 14 5 38 31 50 Cesena 32 4 11 17 29 56 23 Fiorentina 32 13 10 9 44 38 49 Parma 32 6 5 21 27 58 16 Genoa 32 12 11 9 46 37 47 Note: Parma deducted three points and four Torino 32 12 11 9 38 34 47 Inter Milan 32 11 12 9 48 38 45 points for financial irregularities and non-payment AC Milan 32 10 13 9 45 39 43 of salaries. Palermo 32 10 11 11 44 46 41 NB. Top two qualify automatically for the Hellas Verona 32 10 9 13 40 56 39 Champions League, third goes into the play-offs. Udinese 32 9 11 12 36 43 38 Fourth and fifth carry Europa League places. The Chievo 32 9 10 13 24 33 37 bottom three sides are relegated. Juve suffer rare derby defeat

MILAN: Juventus will have to wait at least a Alberto Paloschi to volley the visitors level few more days before they can celebrate with quarter of an hour remaining in the winning a fourth consecutive Serie A title capital. Lazio are 14 points behind Juventus as Massimiliano Allegri’s side lost 2-1 to city in second place, and a win at home to bot- rivals Torino yesterday. tom club Parma on Wednesday will force Fresh from winning through to their first the leaders to wait even longer before Champions League semi-final in 12 years wrapping up the scudetto. after beating Monaco in midweek, Juve However, if they slip up at all, Juventus GERMANY: Moenchengladbachís Oscar Wendt from Sweden jumps for the ball during the German First Division Bundesliga soccer match took their eye off the ball domestically and will secure the title with a win at home to against Wolfsburg. —AP suffered a second defeat in three Serie A Fiorentina. Lazio are a point clear of rivals matches. Andrea Pirlo put the visitors in Roma in the chase for Champions League front at the Stadio Olimpico with a trade- qualification after Rudi Garcia’s men contin- mark free-kick that went in off the bar 10 ued their poor second half to the season by Bayern crowned champions minutes before half-time, but Torino pro- losing 2-1 to Inter at the San Siro on duced a tremendous fightback to claim a Tuesday. BERLIN: Bayern Munich were confirmed as League semi-final, first-leg at his ex-club hopes of avoiding a first relegation from first win in the city derby since 1995. Europa League semi-finalists Napoli can German champions for the 25th time yesterday Barcelona on May 6, with the return leg six days Germany’s top-flight with a dramatic 3-2 win Fabio Quagliarella was the hero for the close the gap on Roma in third to just two as Wolfsburg’s 1-0 defeat at Borussia later. “At some point we’ll gather on the town over Augsburg, to climb off the bottom and up Granata against the club he left last sum- points with a win at home to Sampdoria, Moenchengladbach meant Pep Guardiola’s hall balcony and then really party hard with our to 16th. mer as he set up Matteo Darmian to who are fifth, late yesterday. Bavarians can no longer be caught. Gladbach’s fans,” promised Bayern captain Philipp Lahm. Schalke’s 2-0 defeat to Mainz on Friday and equalise just before half-time and then net- Elsewhere, Parma earned themselves a Germany striker Max Kruse sent the title to While the celebrations kicked off in Munich, Augsburg’s loss in Hamburg left both ted what proved to be the winner from reprieve from relegation for now after Munich as his 90th-minute winning goal at Gladbach also had reason to cheer as Kruse’s Hoffenheim and Borussia Dortmund within strik- close range 12 minutes into the second Antonio Nocerino’s first-half penalty Borussia Park saw Bayern finish the weekend last-gasp goal put them third and a step closer ing distance of the Europa League places. half. secured a 1-0 win at home to Palermo. with an unassailable 15 point-lead with four to an automatic Champions League place. Dortmund eased to a 2-0 win at home to In any case, even a win for Juve would Genoa remain in the running for a games left. Bayern had picked up their 24th vic- Earlier yesterday, Paderborn blew a two-goal Eintracht Frankfurt thanks to goals by Pierre- not have been enough to clinch the title Europa League place after defeating rele- tory in 30 league games on Saturday when lead to stay in the relegation places after their 2- Emerick Aubameyang and Japan’s Shinji Kagawa with six games to spare as second-placed gation-threatened Cesena 3-1 while Luca Bastian Schweinsteiger’s late goal sealed a 1-0 2 draw with Werder Bremen and had midfielder while Hoffenheim won 2-1 at Hanover. Lazio drew 1-1 with Chievo at the Stadio Toni scored twice in Verona’s 3-2 win at home win over Hertha Berlin at the Allianz Michael Heinloth was sent off. Bayer Leverkusen drop to fourth after their 1- Olimpico in Rome. home to Sassuolo and German Denis net- Arena. “It’s already something just to have Paderborn remain 17th with VfB Stuttgart 1 draw with Cologne as Julian Brandt’s first-half The veteran Miroslav Klose put Lazio ted in stoppage time to secure a 2-2 draw defended the title,” Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz bottom despite their 2-2 draw at home to goal was cancelled out by Bard Finne’s late ahead on the stroke of half-time only for for Atalanta at home to Empoli. —AFP Rummenigge, who promised a “big celebration” Freiburg. On Saturday, Hamburg boosted their equaliser in the Rhine derby. —AFP when the season is over, told FCBayern.de. “But I have to compliment the coach and the team, they did a great job in the season after a German League results/standings World Cup, in which many of our players were involved.” Paderborn 2 (Vrancic 26, Stoppelkamp 27) Werder Bremen 2 (Selke 45, Hajrovic 76); Borussia Moenchengladbach 1 The Bavarian giants have now won three con- (Kruse 90) VfL Wolfsburg 0. secutive German league titles with Guardiola winning the Bundesliga title in each of his two German Bundesliga table after yesterday evening’s match (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, seasons in charge. points): The Spaniard has won a total of 19 titles as a coach, after lifting 14 trophies during four years Bayern Munich 30 24 4 2 77 13 76 Hertha Berlin 30 9 7 14 34 46 34 - champions Freiburg 30 6 12 12 31 41 30 as Barcelona boss, and has already claimed five VfL Wolfsburg 30 18 7 5 63 32 61 Hanover 96 30 7 8 15 33 51 29 more since joining Bayern in July 2013. M’hengladbach 30 16 9 5 45 22 57 Hamburg 30 7 7 16 19 46 28 There is no time for Bayern to rest on their Leverkusen 30 15 10 5 57 32 55 Paderborn 30 6 10 14 27 58 28 laurels, however, as they face a busy few weeks Schalke 04 30 11 9 10 38 34 42 VfB Stuttgart 30 6 9 15 34 55 27 and are still in the running to repeat their 2013 Augsburg 30 13 3 14 38 40 42 treble of European, league and cup titles. Hoffenheim 30 11 7 12 45 48 40 Note: Top three qualify automatically for the Champions They host arch-rivals Borussia Dortmund on Borussia 30 11 6 13 40 37 39 League, fourth goes into the play-offs. Fifth and sixth Tuesday in the German Cup last four clash for a Werder Bremen 30 10 9 11 46 59 39 carry Europa League places. place in the final at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium on Mainz 05 30 8 13 9 42 41 37 The bottom two sides are automatically relegated, while Eintracht 30 9 9 12 51 59 36 the side finishing 16th faces a two-legged play off May 30. With the league secure, Guardiola’s Cologne 30 8 11 11 30 36 35 against the third-placed side in the second division. Bayern face a mouth-watering Champions Monaco blank Lens

PARIS: Monaco moved a step closer to a return to the Champions League yesterday with a comfortable 3-0 win away to a Lens side who are now all but relegated. Yannick Ferreira Carrasco, Anthony Martial and Bernardo Silva got the goals for the Principality club at a rain-soaked Stade de la Licorne in TURIN: Juventus’ Angelo Ogbonna is challenged by Torino’s Marco Benassi during a Amiens as Monaco reclaimed the third place that had briefly been tak- Serie A soccer match at the Olympic stadium yesterday. —AP en from them earlier in the day by Saint-Etienne. Leonardo Jardim’s side, who were eliminated from the Champions League at the quarter-final stage by Juventus on Wednesday, have been outstanding in Ligue 1 since December, losing just once and conceding Celtic within sight of title a miserly five goals. This result leaves them two points clear of fourth-placed Saint- DUNDEE: second hat-trick in Commons and Johansen returning to the Etienne and five ahead of Marseille in fifth in the race to secure third 11 days spurred Celtic to a 3-0 win away at starting line-up while Mackay-Steven had spot, which carries with it a place in the third qualifying round of next Dundee United yesterday and ever closer to settle for a place on the bench. season’s Champions League. to the title. Muirhead, in his first start since signing But it also keeps alive their chances of finishing in the top two and Robbie Muirhead came close to opening for United from Kilmarnock in January, qualifying directly for the group stage of Europe’s elite club competi- the scoring for United in a goalless first-half came close to opening the scoring in the tion, with the gap to second-placed Lyon three points before OL visit before Griffiths fired home the opener just 21st minute with a first-time left-foot shot Reims on Sunday evening. over 90 seconds after the restart. from 20 yards that did well to “Our objective for the season is the podium,” said Jardim. “This victo- United ‘keeper Radoslaw Cierzniak tip over. Cierzniak had to be alert in the ry was important for us to maintain our position.” “I think we didn’t play made superb saves to deny United goal to turn a deflected Commons very well in the first 20 minutes but after that we controlled the match. and Stefan Johansen before he was beaten shot round the post before blocking a The players are in good condition despite having played 50 matches for a second time with a close range finish snatched shot from . this season.” from Griffiths. It took Celtic just 90 seconds of the sec- A Carrasco free-kick, intended as a cross, hit the woodwork before Former United player Gary Mackay- ond half to open the scoring. A good pass- the Belgian opened the scoring nine minutes before the break after tak- Steven hit the crossbar before earning ing move ended with Johansen laying the ing advantage of a lucky ricochet off Lens defender Abdoul Ba. France Celtic an 84th minute penalty that Griffiths ball off for Griffiths, who took a touch under-21 striker Martial then increased the lead a minute before the expertly despatched to complete his hat- before rifling an angled shot into the bot- interval, running through to score after the Lens defence was undone trick - coming hot on the heels of the treble tom left-hand corner. by a long ball forward by Carrasco. he scored in the 4-1 win over Kilmarnock. Cierzniak stopped Celtic from immedi- It was Martial’s eighth league goal of the season, and his seventh in Celtic are now eight points clear of ately doubling their lead when Commons his last eight games. The visitors then made sure of the points with 18 Aberdeen, who won 2-1 away to Inverness connected with Johansen’s cross to power minutes left when Portuguese dynamo Silva converted a Geoffrey on Saturday, with just four matches remain- a header towards goal, but the ‘keeper Kondogbia cutback from close range for his fourth goal in three games. ing. Celtic manager was made a tremendous save from point-blank Lens, who have won just once in 2015, remain rooted to the foot of unhappy with his side’s first half perform- range. the table and are now 12 points adrift of safety with only 12 points left ance. “It was one of our poorest this sea- The Polish keeper then made another to play for. son,” the Celtic boss said. fabulous stop to keep out a stinging strike Earlier, Saint-Etienne moved above Marseille into the top four as “The second half was good and we got from Johansen from 20 yards. However, he they extended their unbeaten run to nine league games with a 1-0 the tempo up, started to play forward and could do nothing to prevent Griffiths grab- defeat of Montpellier at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard. started to get some runs and aggression bing his second of the game in the 65th The in-form Max-Alain Gradel scored the only goal of the game in into our team.” His Dundee United counter- minute. Van Dijk headed Mackay-Steven’s the first half for his eighth in eight league appearances since helping part Jackie McNamara was disappointed at corner against the post but the Scotland the Ivory Coast win the Africa Cup of Nations in February. the speed his side conceded in the second striker was in the right place to knock the Lyon travel to Champagne country later to face struggling Reims half. ball over the line from a couple of yards out. knowing a win will move them back to the top of the table on goal dif- “I was pleased with a lot of things in the Mackay-Steven came within inches of scor- ference from Paris Saint-Germain, albeit having played a game more. first half and I thought we were causing ing when his powerful strike from the edge PSG bounced back from their Champions League exit to Barcelona them problems,” McNamara said. “I was dis- of the box smacked off the crossbar before by beating 10-man Lille 6-1 at the Parc des Princes on Saturday with appointed obviously to lose the first goal he earned Celtic an 83rd minute penalty Ezequiel Lavezzi scoring a hat-trick and Edinson Cavani netting twice so soon in the first half and from that point when John Rankin hauled him down as he after Maxwell had got the opener with just 25 seconds on the clock. Marseille’s hopes of qualifying for Europe suffered a blow as they col- on they got their tails up.” burst into the box at pace. Griffiths then FRANCE: Lens’ French defender Patrick Fradj (left) vies with Monaco’s lapsed to a 5-3 defeat at home to Lorient on Friday, the loss their fourth The Hoops made three changes for the sent Ciernziak the wrong way from the Belgian midfielder Yannick Ferreira Carrasco during the French League in succession. There were also wins for Rennes, Guingamp and Evian on trip to Tannadice with Adam Matthews, penalty spot to seal his hat-trick. —AFP football match. —AFP Saturday. —AFP