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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19, 2017 SPORTS Promoted Brighton in full Bloom LONDON: Tony Bloom is a feared presence at any poker table but on Monday the biggest wager of this renowned gambler, the £200 million invest- ment in Brighton, paid off with their promotion to the Premier League. The Seagulls have truly taken flight rising to a level that 20 years ago would have been deemed fantastical as they found themselves in dire straits like a character out of Charles Dickens novels, without a home and penniless. They only avoided relegation from the Football League on the last day of the 1996-97 season and were forced to play in Gillingham, 70 miles away from their home town, for the next two years after their old Goldstone Ground was sold to pay off debts. However, having reached their nadir they wal- lowed in lower league mediocrity until Bloom came along in 2009, and with a wave of his cheque book he transformed the then League One club’s fortunes on and off the pitch. Bloom, despite his reputation as a poker player, is also a keen busi- nessman and bears strong ties to the club histori- cally-his family were involved with Brighton dating back to the 1970s when his grandfather Harry was vice-chairman. The property investor nicknamed the “Lizard” by a rival poker player used his money to engineer a state-of-the-art stadium just outside Brighton- roughly a 10-minute rail journey-and whose repu- tation is such that it hosted matches at the 2015 Rugby World Cup, including the epic Japanese win over two-time world champions South Africa. “I’ve been a football fan and a gambler since the age of about seven or eight. My interest in both devel- oped at the same time,” he explained at the time he invested. Monday’s joy was all the more welcome given Bloom had experienced several near misses, none more so than last season when they lost out in heartbreaking fashion on the second and last automatic promotion place on goal difference. ‘YOU HAVE GOT TO BE CLEVER’ For club chief executive Paul Barber promotion BRIGHTON: Brighton and Hove Albion fan celebrate their team’s promotion on the pitch, following the EFL Championship match between Brighton and Wigan Athletics, at the is a deserved reward for Bloom’s massive outlay. AMEX Stadium, in Brighton, England, Monday April 17, 2017. Brighton will return to the topflight of English soccer for the first time in 34 years after securing promotion to the “We are very lucky we have a very wealthy owner Premier League on Monday. — AP who has set aside money to give us an edge,” Barber told a small group of journalists including AFP in February. “He has brought us a new ground Sanchez, Ozil strike to end Arsenal away woes (30,750 capacity Amex Stadium), training facilities and covered the losses. Even back in February, Barber said the club had already budgeted for pro- were unimaginative and with 42 minutes motion-as well as an alternative financial plan if gone, they were behind. A foul by Adam they failed again. “If you start planning in May you Middlesbrough 1 Clayton on the edge of the area was a gift for will be in trouble,” he said. Sanchez, the Chilean star flighted his free- “We are working to get back in the black which kick over the wall and inside the post. It was would be for the first time in our history and give his 19th Premier League goal of the season some money back to the owner.” Barber, who came Arsenal 2 and only three fewer than the entire into football after a career in banking, admitted the Middlesbrough team going into this game, odds of retaining their place will be difficult. “It is so it was a surprise that the home side sud- denly looked capable of producing a really tough to stay up and looking at the numbers MIDDLESBROUGH: Goals from Alexis Sanchez now it will be very tough to stay there,” said Barber. response in the second half. and Mesut Ozil ended Arsenal’s run of four suc- Middlesbrough were immediately on the “It is possible to do both like Bournemouth last cessive away defeats with a scratchy 2-1 victo- year and probably Burnley will this season. “You front foot and leveled inside five minutes ry over struggling Middlesbrough in their after Sanchez lost possession. The hosts have got to be clever and recruit really well whilst Premier League clash on Monday. The maintaining the togetherness and spirit of the pre- broke quickly down the right through Gunners’ performance was far from convincing Stewart Downing, whose cross was missed vious squad.”— AFP but will still bring some relief to their belea- by Laurent Koscielny before Negredo guered manager Arsene Wenger. steered it past Cech. Suddenly, the game There was a period after Alvaro Negredo burst into life, with Downing heavily Inter aim to be scored an equalizer when Middlesbrough, involved. The former England winger wasted who have won only four league games this an excellent opportunity when George one of world’s season, looked capable of going on to claim Friend’s cross was allowed to reach him at their fifth scalp. Arsenal are new seven points MIDDLESBROUGH: Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud (left) and Middlesbrough’s Daniel Ayala bat- the far post, then the pair combined again to ‘top 10 clubs’ behind fourth-placed Manchester City with a tle for the ball during the English Premier League soccer match at the Riverside Stadium, carve out a chance for Ayala. game in hand, while Middlesbrough lie six Middlesbrough on Monday April 17, 2017. — AP Downing’s cross was headed back They reached Middlesbrough’s Riverside although they did enjoy the bulk of the early MILAN: Inter Milan, currently enduring their points from safety and have also played one towards goal by Friend and Ayala looked cer- Stadium with plenty of time to spare, yet possession and Olivier Giroud’s claims for a fifth straight season without Champions game fewer than most of the teams above tain to score before he directed his header there was still a lack of direction on the pitch penalty when he was floored by Daniel Ayala League football, are determined to establish them. “It (the top four) is mathematically still too close to Cech. Arsenal’s response was themselves as one of the world’s top 10 clubs, alive,” Wenger told Sky Sports. “We knew we as they searched for a route to goal in the certainly had some merit.Arsenal’s attacking impressive in the 63rd minute as Sanchez’s vice president Javier Zanetti said in an inter- needed to win. Now we have a little break opening stages. Wenger had made the sort of difficulties were not unexpected because through ball picked out Ozil, but goalkeeper view. Zanetti, a former Inter captain who made with the FA Cup (they play Manchester City selection decisions that he usually reserves Middlesbrough went into the game after con- Brad Guzan sensed the danger and did well a club record 858 appearances over 19 years, on Sunday in the semi-final) and then we for cup ties against teams from lower divi- ceding only 37 goals-two fewer than to save at the feet of the German internation- also said the club were committed to redevel- come back again to the league.” sions. The French manager announced six Wenger’s under-performing side. al. However, the outcome was different in oping the San Siro stadium along with neigh- At least Arsenal’s trip to Teesside began far changes from the team that lost 3-0 at Palace their next confrontation eight minutes later. bours and rivals AC Milan. more smoothly than their previous away seven days earlier and, even more significant- DEADLOCK BROKEN Sanchez was involved again with a cross that The Argentine played for Inter during one of game at Crystal Palace when they were ly, employed wing-backs alongside a defen- Marten de Roon headed past the Arsenal was chested down by Aaron Ramsey, leaving their most successful spells, helping them win caught in London traffic and arrived shortly sive trio for the first time since 1997. His tacti- goalkeeper Petr Cech midway through the Ozil with the chance to drill Arsenal back in four successive Serie A titles and culminating in a before the kick-off. cal alterations did not provide instant results, opening half, but was offside-Middlesbrough front from close range.— AFP league, cup and Champions League treble in 2010 under Jose Mourinho. Since then, Inter have entered a period of instability coinciding with a Five reasons why Dortmund decline in Serie A, which has been unable to keep up financially with the Premier League or La Liga. can win return leg in Monaco The club has changed ownership twice, most recently last June when it was sold to Chinese BERLIN: Borussia Dortmund look to overturn 5 on aggregate. Dortmund’s single goal deficit retail giant Suning Commerce Group, and it has their 3-2 home defeat against Monaco in today’s is dwarfed by the 4-0 first-leg defeat in Paris employed nine coaches since Mourinho’s depar- Champions League quarter-final return leg away which Barca managed to overcome. ture. Currently seventh in Serie A, Inter are set to to the French League leaders. Here are five rea- STRONG SOKRATIS miss out on Champions League action again sons to believe embattled Dortmund can turn Dortmund defender Sokratis Papastatho next term and have slumped to 44th in the UEFA things around at Monaco’s Stade Louis II stadium: club rankings, which are based on performances poulos was a pillar of strength at the back over five seasons.