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Established 1961 15 Sports Monday, December 18, 2017 Torres lifts Atletico in La Liga above beaten Valencia Alaves remain three points off safety in 18th MADRID: Atletico Madrid leapfrogged Valencia into above all Torres in the second half gave us that extra second in La Liga thanks to Fernando Torres’s first goal impetus the game was crying out for,” said Simeone. At at the Wanda Metropolitano to edge out Alaves 1-0 on the other end of the table, Alaves remain three points Saturday. Valencia remain five points off leaders off safety in 18th. Barcelona in third after falling to a second defeat in three matches 2-1 at Eibar. VALENCIA FALTER Barca can regain their six-point lead over Atletico As Atletico’s title charge gains momentum with a and open up an 11-point gap over Real Madrid ahead fourth straight win, Valencia’s unlikely challenge is of next weekend’s El Clasico beginning to falter. Los Che between the two with victo- missed the firepower ry over Deportivo la Coruna offered by suspended top yesterday. scorer Simone Zaza up front Atletico remain unbeaten and even the return of play- in La Liga this season, but maker Goncalo Guedes from had to wait until 16 minutes I just have to keep injury as a second-half sub- from time to breakdown a stitute failed to inspire dogged Alaves, who had fighting and score Marcelino Garcia Toral’s won their first two matches side. Eibar also took advan- since Abelardo Fernandez decisive goals tage of some meek Valencia was named the club’s third defending as a poor clear- coach of the season earlier ance teed up Takashi Inui this month. perfectly on the volley to Torres had only been on the pitch six minutes when smash home the opener at the near post four minutes he stretched to fire home Sime Vrsaljko’s cross for his after the break. first league goal of the season. “I’m very happy to get Valencia reacted well to that blow, though, as a dan- the goal. When you score you always have the feeling gerous low cross from Manchester United loanee that you have done a good job,” Torres told BeIN Andreas Pereira evaded two Eibar defenders and fell Sports Spain. Torres has started just one league game perfectly for Santi Mina to tap home his sixth goal of this season and is hoping his winner might encourage the season. However, Eibar weren’t to be denied as Diego Simeone to give him more opportunities. “I just they moved up to seventh with a fourth win in five have to keep fighting for more minutes and score deci- games when Joan Jordan rose highest to head home sive goals,” he added. Ivan Alejo’s cross. Simeone hailed not only the impact of Torres, but also Eibar are now top dogs in the Basque country as Angel Correa and Yannick Carrasco from the bench as the region’s two traditional powerhouses Athletic MASRID: Alaves’ Spanish midfielder Alvaro Medran (BOTTOM) vies with Atletico Madrid’s Spanish midfielder his side moved within three points of Barca and opened Bilbao and Real Sociedad played out a 0-0 draw at Koke during the Spanish league football match Club Atletico de Madrid against Alaves at the Wanda up a five-point lead over city rivals Real Madrid in San Mames to remain mired in 13th and ninth Metropolitano stadium in Madrid. — AFP fourth. “The introduction of Correa, Carrasco and respectively. —AFP Milan hit new low, Juventus Community service go second is ‘relaxing’, MILAN: AC Milan’s miserable season hit a new low when they slumped to a 3-0 loss at struggling Verona in Serie A says Rooney yesterday, two days after UEFA expressed concern over the club’s financial situation. LONDON: Wayne Rooney admits he made a mis- Juventus had no such problems as they won 3-0 at take over his drink-driving charge, but the Everton Bologna to overhaul Inter Milan and go second, one point star says his community service in a garden centre behind leaders Napoli who won 3-1 at Torino on is “relaxing”. Rooney was ordered to complete 120 Saturday. hours unpaid work after admitting being nearly Antonio Caracciolo, Moise Kean and Daniel Bessa three times the legal limit while at the wheel of a scored for Verona who are 17th in the table and had pre- woman’s car. viously won only two league games this season. Milan’s The former England and Manchester United bad day was completed when Suso was sent off in the last minute. Milan, who beat Verona by the same score in a captain was also banned from driving for two years. Coppa Italia match four days ago, have managed one win, Rooney regrets a mistake he said hurt his children, one draw and one defeat in their three games league since but he has found redemption in his community former midfielder Gennaro Gattuso was appointed as service. coach. Seven-times European champions Milan, under “I knew straight away I had made a stupid mis- Chinese ownership since April, spent over 200 million take and I have to move on,” Rooney told euros in the last transfer window in an attempt to re- TalkSport. “It is not nice, obviously. I’ve got chil- establish themselves as a force in Serie A. BOLOGNA: Juventus’s forward from Brazil Douglas Costa (L) fights for the ball with Bologna’s defender Erick dren and it’s not nice for them to see that and I try The defeat came two days after UEFA had rejected Pulgar from Chile during the Italian Serie A football match Bologna vs Juventus yesterday at Renato Dall’Ara and move on and learn from it which I feel I am Milan’s request for a voluntary agreement that would have stadium in Bologna. — AFP doing.” Rooney said he is about halfway through temporarily exempted the club from European football’s his community service, adding: “I’ve really enjoyed breakeven rule known as Financial Fair Play. UEFA said doing it. It’s been working with adults with learning there were “still uncertainties in relation to the financing pass after the Brazilian burst down the right unchallenged. Juventus have 41 points, one more than Inter who lost difficulties in a garden centre. “Especially around of the loans to be paid back in October 2018 and the Suso was sent off for kicking Daniele Verde, who was their unbeaten record in a 3-1 home defeat by Udinese on this period, this Christmas period, going in and financial guarantees provided by the main shareholder”. on the ground, in a decision made with the help of the Saturday. Fiorentina missed a chance to go above Milan helping them with different things they’re making Caracciolo was given far too much freedom by the video replay. Miralem Pjanic put Juventus ahead against when they were held 0-0 at home by Genoa. over Christmas. Milan defence as he headed in from Romulo’s corner in Bologna in the 27th minute when he curled a free kick An early goal by Arlind Ajeti gave Crotone a 1-0 win “I think it’s a place now where I’ll certainly keep the 24th minute, the ball hitting the bar and going in off over the wall and into the top corner at the near post. over Chievo, their first under Walter Zenga, to end a run of in touch with when obviously my hours are over. goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. The Bosnian also set up Mario Mandzukic for the sec- four successive league defeats. Sassuolo snatched a last- “Seeing what they do, obviously they need support Kean scored the second after Bessa pulled the ball ond nine minutes later and Blaise Matuidi completed the minute win at Sampdoria through Alessandro Matri, seven in what they do, there are a lot of adults with learn- back 10 minutes after halftime and Bessa added the third scoring with a half-volley from the edge of the area in the minutes after team mate Matteo Politano had a penalty ing difficulties who just need a little bit of help and in the 77th minute, stroking the ball home from Romulo’s second half, the Frenchman’s first goal for the club. saved by Samp goalkeeper Emiliano Viviano. — Reuters a bit of guidance and someone there to help them. Asked if he gets any “stick”, Rooney said: “No, not at all. We actually don’t even talk about football in there. “It’s a refreshing place to go and it’s relax- Gulf Cup technical ing, you’re working with people, doing different things which I wouldn’t have done if I didn’t go committee there, so it’s been great going there.” The 32-year-old pleaded guilty to drink driving at Stockport Magistrates’ Court following an inci- releases games dent in the early hours of September 1. Rooney, a married father of three children, had reportedly left a cocktail bar in Cheshire in a taxi with 29-year-old schedule Laura Simpson and later went on to take the wheel of her vehicle. KUWAIT: The Technical Committee of the Gulf Police on mobile patrol stopped Rooney after football Cup released yesterday the schedule of they noticed a rear tail-light out. After failing a the matches of the tournament, to be held between roadside breath test Rooney was taken to a local December 22 and January 5. The committee said police station where he produced a reading of 104 the eight teams taking part in the Gulf Cup would microgrammes per 100 millilitres of breath, the be divided into two groups: the first consisted of legal limit in England and Wales being 35 micro- Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman and the United Arab grammes.