SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2016 SPORTS Niguez stunner hands Atletico much-needed win MADRID: A stunning 25-yard strike volleyed off the inside of the post on 15 ing but the closest they came to break- season. Moya was called into action ond La Liga goal of the season 16 min- from Saul Niguez snapped Atletico minutes. Atletico’s struggles have coin- ing the deadlock before half-time was again three minutes from time to parry utes from time before Carlos Carmona Madrid’s three-game winless streak with cided with Antoine Griezmann’s loss of an outrageous hit from fully 40 yards by Marko Livaja, but Atletico held out for a registered a late consolation for a nervy 1-0 win over Las Palmas yester- form as the Frenchman, who finished centre-back Mauricio Lemos that came crucial three points. Sporting. Defeat for Sporting also day to move up to fifth in La Liga. third in the running for the Ballon d’Or back off the crossbar. Fresh from a 2-0 win over Atletico on ensures that Valencia will end the year Atletico started the day 12 points this week, was held scoreless for a ninth The game swung in two moments at Monday, Villarreal remain a point ahead outside the relegation zone on goal dif- adrift of leaders Real Madrid after a run consecutive league game. either end just two minutes apart at the of last season’s Champions League final- ference. Sevilla can leapfrog Barcelona of four defeats in seven league games. Griezmann’s strike partner Kevin start of the second-half. Firstly, Atletico ists thanks to a 3-1 win at Sporting into second place with victory at home However, Niguez’s brilliant hit just Gameiro didn’t fare much better as he ‘keeper Miguel Angel Moya made a vital Gijon. A dominant start from the visitors to Malaga later. before the hour mark brought some passed up a huge chance when trying to save from Roque Mesa on his first La was rewarded with a two-goal lead Barca aren’t in action until Sunday blessed relief to the Vicente Calderon as square for Griezmann moments later Liga start of the season in the absence inside 20 minutes through goals from when they host Espanyol in the Catalan Atletico ensured they will end the year and then fired wide from point-blank of the injured Jan Oblak. Jonathan dos Santos and Nicola derby. Real Madrid are not in league just a point off the top four. range at the near post. Niguez then pounced on a loose ball Sansone. Former AC Milan and Chelsea action this weekend as they face Niguez also had the best effort of a Las Palmas dominated possession at the edge of the Las Palmas area to striker Alexandre Pato then rounded off Kashima Antlers in the Club World Cup bright start from the hosts as he throughout with their neat short-pass- curl home his first league goal of the a fine individual display with just his sec- final in Yokohama, Japan, today. — AFP Leipzig down Hertha to knock Bayern from top LEIPZIG: RB Leipzig knocked Bayern booed by Ingolstadt fans every time he Munich, who they meet in five days’ time, got the ball. That had been the 20-year- off the top of the Bundesliga yesterday old’s first appearance since winning a with a 2-0 win at home to Hertha Berlin. penalty in the 2-1 win over Schalke a fort- With Bayern at bottom side Darmstadt night ago with what the club later admit- today, Leipzig took their chance to reclaim ted was a dive. Werner was shown a yel- top spot with a convincing win at their low against Hertha for play-acting when sold-out Red Bull Arena. Leipzig, who had he went to the turf after being blocked by led for three weeks before last Saturday, Berlin’s centre-back Jens Hegeler on 59 are now three points clear. minutes. Leipzig sealed the win on 62 However, Carlo Ancelotti’s Munich can minutes when Orban got on the end of regain top spot due to their superior goal Emil Forsberg’s corner kick and powered difference by beating Darmstadt, ahead of his header home, giving Hertha goalkeep- Wednesday’s mouth-watering clash er Rune Jarstein little chance. against Leipzig at the Allianz Arena. Orban looked to have claimed his sec- Goals either side of the break by striker ond on 78 minutes, but the linesman Timo Werner and burly centre-back and flagged with three Leipzig players offside. captain Willi Orban sealed Leipzig’s win. Elsewhere, Mainz midfielder Danny It put RB back on track after last Latza hit a hat-trick in his team’s 3-1 home Saturday’s shock 1-0 defeat at Ingolstadt win over strugglers Hamburg. Augsburg’s which ended their 13-match unbeaten caretaker-coach Manuel Baum got off to run-a record for a team at the start of their winning start as Martin Hinteregger first Bundesliga season. scored from a corner in their 1-0 home “I said after the (Ingolstadt) defeat that home over Borussia Moenchengladbach. I wanted to see a reaction and my team Ex-Arsenal winger Serge Gnabry res- didn’t disappoint. We showed what we cued a point for Werder Bremen with his wanted from the first second,” said Leipzig sixth league goal this season in their 1-1 coach Ralph Hasenhuettl. draw with Cologne to cancel out Artjoms Leipzig used their 64 percent posses- Rudnevs’ goal. sion to create 16 shots to Hertha’s three Ukrainian winger Yevhen Konoplyanka and made nearly twice as many passes. netted for Schalke in their 1-1 draw with Pal Dardai’s Berlin drop to fourth after Freiburg. On Friday, 10-man Borussia STOKE: Leicester City’s Riyad Mahrez, right, makes an attempt on goal past Stoke City’s Erik Pieters during their English Premier League soccer the defeat. “Leipzig were a bit too quick Dortmund earned a 2-2 draw at match at the Bet365 Stadium, Stoke, England, yesterday. — AP for us,” admitted the Berlin coach. RB went Hoffenheim as the league’s top scorer, ahead when Guinea midfielder Naby Keita, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, netted their who later went off with a leg injury and is second-half equaliser for his 16th goal of set to miss the Bayern game, played the season. Vardy off but Leicester Werner into the box to dart between two Hoffenheim remain the only unbeaten defenders and slot home on 41 minutes. It team in Germany’s top flight this season was the ninth goal in 15 games for RB’s while Dortmund had Germany winger top scorer. Werner has been working with Marco Reus sent off for a second booking the club’s psychologist having been in the first half. —AFP rally to hold Stoke shot. King’s cross was then met by Robert Huth, beyond their reach just before the hour when Patrick Aanholt lifts whose powerful header was tipped over the Diouf’s deep cross found Walters, whose goal- Leicester 2 crossbar by Grant. bound header was well saved by Schmeichel. Slimani beat Ryan Shawcross to King’s long Leicester, to their credit, halted their decline Sunderland off bottom pass on 23 minutes, taking the ball in his stride and ill-discipline as they sought a way back into and forcing Grant into another solid piece of the contest. Stoke 2 goalkeeping. A mistake by Erik Pieters gifted In the 74th minute, substitutes Demarai Gray Leicester the ball in his own half and allowed and Leonardo Ulloa combined to give Ranieri Sunderland 1 Matches on TV Mahrez another shot at Grant. Huth was cau- hope when their respective first touches led to a STOKE-ON-TRENT: Claudio Ranieri lost Jamie tioned, along with Stoke’s Glen Johnson, early in goal. Gray crossed from the left and Ulloa rose (Local Timings) Vardy and his own composure, but saw 10-man the second half, becoming the visitors’ sixth impressively to head goalwards. Shawcross Leicester City display the spirit of champions in a booking in nine minutes either side of the inter- cleared, but the goal-line technology confirming Watford 0 FIFA Club World 2-2 draw at Stoke City yesterday. Daniel val. The game might have been put completely the ball had crossed the line. — AFP Championship 2016 Amartey completed the comeback in the 88th minute as he rose between two defenders to SUNDERLAND: Patrick van Aanholt’s goal Club America v Nacional 10:00 head home a Christian Fuchs cross and earn earned Sunderland a potentially priceless beIN SPORTS 1 HD Leicester a crucial point after they had played for Negredo lifts goal-shy 1-0 win over Watford yesterday as they Real Madrid v Kashima Antlers 13:30 62 minutes without Vardy. Referee Craig climbed off the foot of the Premier League beIN SPORTS 1 HD Pawson, widely criticised for his failure to send table. off Manchester United’s Marcos Rojo at Crystal Middlesbrough past Swans The Dutch left-back struck for the third English Premier League Palace in mid-week, dismissed Vardy for a similar time this season in the 49th minute at the two-footed challenge. second-bottom. The defeat piles more pressure He also showed Leicester five yellow cards in on the Welsh outfit who headed north without Stadium of Light as David Moyes’s men Bournemouth v Southampton 16:30 the final seven minutes of the first half, leading Middlesbrough 3 Federico Fernandez and Ki Sung-yueng, who returned to winning ways after back-to- beIN SPORTS 2 HD to tempestuous scenes at the interval.