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MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2016 SPORTS Schalke routs ’Gladbach 4-0 to get off mark in Bundesliga BERLIN: Schalke finally got off the mark Schalke ‘keeper Ralph Faehrmann. goal seven minutes from time. Wolfsburg, Coke from Sevilla, Abdul the stronger start, controlling posses- in the Bundesliga yesterday with three From then on it was all Schalke. Eric Schalke’s poor start was baffling with Rahman Baba from Chelsea, and sion, winning the lion’s share of chal- goals in six minutes as it thrashed visit- Maxim Choupo-Moting fell in a chal- much expected of the side after its sum- Embolo, who finally confirmed his arrival lenges and forcing Mainz to defend in ing Borussia Moenchengladbach 4-0. lenge from Ibrahima Traore to earn a mer overhaul. Christian Heidel, highly in the league against ‘Gladbach. numbers. Julian Draxler had the ball in Schalke lost its first five league games debatable penalty, dusted himself off regarded for his work at former side the net early on but he was clearly off- under new coach Markus Weinzierl, but and duly converted from the spot to Mainz, had taken over as sporting direc- WOLFSBURG 0, MAINZ 0 side. Jakub Blaszczykowski and Draxler had shown some promise with wins in open the scoring in the 52nd. tor and Markus Weinzierl was employed Wolfsburg’s lackluster start to the sea- had chances before the break, Gomez the German Cup and Europa League. Sead Kolasinac crossed for club- as coach. Weinzierl highlighted his son continued earlier yesterday. The went close again after it, before Levin ‘Gladbach lost 2-1 midweek at home record signing Breel Embolo to score his coaching capabilities in four successful Volkswagen-backed club remains in Oztunali set up Yunus Malli to shoot to Barcelona in the Champions League first Bundesliga goal four minutes later seasons at modest Augsburg. 13th place with just six points from six just wide at the other end. Mainz and missed the chance to go second on and Leon Goretzka scored two minutes Together they oversaw a raft of games and was whistled by its own sup- defender Giulio Donati rescued his side goal difference from Hertha Berlin, after that, converting the rebound after arrivals: Ukraine winger Yevhen porters after its fourth straight game after Draxler rounded the goalkeeper which is three points behind leader Yann Sommer saved Choupo-Moting’s Konoplyanka from Sevilla, Algeria mid- without a win. Germany striker Mario and shot toward the unguarded net. Bayern Munich. The game sparked to life initial effort. Embolo, a $25 million sum- fielder Nabil Bentaleb from Tottenham, Gomez again failed to score in his fifth Donati slid in to clear in front of the line after the interval when Andre Hahn saw mer signing from Swiss side Basel, French midfielder Benjamin Stambouli full game for the side since his summer - as close as Dieter Hecking’s side was his effort pushed onto the post by wrapped up the rout with his second from Paris Saint-Germain, Naldo from switch from Fiorentina. Wolfsburg made to get. —AP Koscielny’s disputed late winner downs Burnley Cech had also been forced to save well from a Johann Berg Gudmundsson header Burnley 0 early in the second-half as the Clarets aimed for a repeat of their victory over Liverpool here earlier in the season. Ian Wright scored twice as Wenger’s cel- Arsenal 1 ebrated reign, which boasts three Premier League titles and six FA Cups, started with a 2-0 win at nearby northwest side Blackburn BURNLEY: Laurent Koscielny’s controver- Rovers back in 1996. sial goal in the third minute of stoppage time enabled Arsene Wenger to celebrate VOKES CHANCE his 20th anniversary as Arsenal manager This victory was rather less clearcut, with a 1-0 win away to Burnley in the although Arsenal rarely looked in danger at Premier League yesterday. the outset of their latest visit to Lancashire. Burnley looked to have deservedly Sam Vokes, the Wales international, had earned a point until, at a short-corner rou- proved a threat throughout with his physi- tine, substitute Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain cal presence and restless work-rate. sent Theo Walcott’s flick towards goal at the However, Burnley’s lone forward should far post. The close-range effort looked to have done much better when he headed find the net off the hand of team-mate wide from near the penalty spot after Koscielny who was stationed virtually on meeting Matt Lowton’s cross from the right the goal-line. unmarked after being played onside by Along with the suggestion of handball, Hector Bellerin. both Arsenal players appeared offside, but It was an opening against the general referee Craig Pawson was unmoved by the run of play, as Arsenal enjoyed two-thirds ensuing Burnley protests at Turf Moor. of possession and greater territory without A fifth consecutive league win lifted making their dominance pay. Wenger’s side up to third, two points They were rationed to half-chances by a behind leaders Manchester City and a point Burnley back-four in which Chelsea target drift of north London rivals Tottenham Keane again excelled. MADRID: Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo, left, goes airborne after being tackled by Eibar’s Florian Lejeune during the Spanish La Liga soccer Hotspur in what looks increasingly like Alexis Sanchez, aiming to find the net match between Real Madrid and Eibar at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, yesterday. —AP being an open title race this season. for the fourth time in four appearances It was a contest neither side deserved to against the Clarets, saw his angled drive lose, although Arsenal almost found the deflected inches wide by defender Ben net before the disputed winner, when Mee in an early foray, before Walcott fired Real Madrid jeered at home Walcott’s curling 20-yard effort drifted inch- across the face of goal at the culmination of es wide of Tom Heaton’s left-hand post. a neat three-man move. Defeat was extremely harsh on Burnley, It was early in the second half when Tom after fourth straight draw who remain 14th on the back of another Heaton was called on to make his first hard-working performance full of charac- notable save, the Burnley goalkeeper div- ter, as they continue to impress on their ing smartly to his left to hold a close-range MADRID: Real Madrid was held by Eibar at return to the top flight following promo- effort from Sanchez, after some intricate home yesterday, drawing for the fourth straight tion in May. build up play from Walcott and the other- time and dropping out of the Spanish league They nearly broke the deadlock when, wise largely anonymous Mesut Ozil. lead. Fans jeered Madrid after the 1-1 tie at the Balotelli beauty with 15 minutes left, recalled keeper Petr Sanchez went even closer inside the Santiago Bernabeu, which allowed Atletico Cech touched defender Michael Keane final 20 minutes, grazing the post with a Madrid to provisionally take over first place fol- header against the Arsenal bar as the visi- close-range volley, before Arsenal’s late lowing its 2-0 win at Valencia. Atletico and tors posted a fourth consecutive clean pressure eventually told in a heart-breaking Zinedine Zidane’s Madrid, which had led since leaves Nice top sheet, a run spanning more than six hours. finale for Sean Dyche’s side.— AFP the first round, each have 15 points from seven matches but Atletico has a better goal differ- PARIS: A superb Mario Balotelli strike four But the Brittany side had beaten Lyon in ence. Barcelona plays at Celta Vigo later and can minutes from time gave Nice a 2-1 win over their last outing and they caused problems go first on points with a win. Midfielder Fran Rico Lorient yesterday that left them top of the for a Nice side showing only two changes put Eibar ahead with a header in the sixth Ligue 1 table going into the international from the starting line-up that took to the minute and Gareth Bale equalized from close break. field in Russia barely 72 hours previously. range in the 17th, but Madrid was not able to Ricardo Pereira put Nice in front on the Jimmy Cabot came close on a couple of capitalize on its scoring chances until the end, prompting some booing from fans. Cote d’Azur but Benjamin Moukandjo occasions in the first half and Arnold “That is normal when the results are not equalised in the second half and it looked Mvuemba had a free-kick deflected just good,” Madrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas said of as if Lucien Favre’s side would have to settle wide two minutes into the second half. the crowd’s reaction. “The fans come here look- for a draw until Balotelli bent in a brilliant The equaliser duly arrived shortly after ing for the victory. They are upset, just like we late winner. the hour mark when Cameroon interna- are.” Alvaro Morata, who replaced Karim Beaten 5-2 in Russia by Krasnodar in the tional Moukandjo finished nicely from a Benzema at halftime, had a goal disallowed for Europa League on Thursday, this result got Mohamed Mara pass. offside in the 54th, after Cristiano Ronaldo just Nice back on track and maintained their Malang Sarr then deflected a Mara shot missed with a close-range header. Bale struck impressive unbeaten record domestically onto his own bar as Nice found themselves the post with a header in the 60th. so far. hanging on, but then a moment of magic Madrid was coming off league draws against After eight games, they sit a point clear from their Italian striker decided the game Villarreal, also at home, and at Las Palmas.

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