Established 1961 Sport SUNDAY, JANUARY 21, 2018 FedExpress steams on as North to send 22 athletes Hazard nets double as Chelsea 13Sharapova grinds to halt 14 to Olympics in South Korea 15 ease to victory at Brighton Manchester City’s Argentinian striker Sergio Aguero heads the opening goal of the English Premier League football match between Manchester City and Newcastle United at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north west England, on January 20, 2018. Aguero treble reboots City’s title charge Manchester City are again 12 points clear MANCHESTER: It was back to thrilling business as usu- itors, especially as the gifted David Silva returned for City al for Manchester City yesterday as Sergio Aguero’s hat- after overcoming a stomach complaint. Yet Newcastle still tee, announced Friday, follows the lifting of trick helped the Premier League leaders to a 3-1 victory looked sharper at the start as Christian Atsu snatched at a Kuwait football Kuwait’s suspension for political meddling in the over abject Newcastle United at the Etihad Stadium. great chance just 90 seconds in,failing to connect properly sport on December 5. The committee mandate, Pep Guardiola demanded a response from his table- when well positioned on the penalty spot. City then began chief welcomes according to a FIFA statement, is “to run the KFA’s toppers following the 4-3 loss to Liverpool last Sunday to dictate the match and John Stones went close for the daily affairs; to review the KFA statutes and that ended their unbeaten start to the league season. The hosts, poking just wide after an intelligent ball from Silva ensure their compliance... [and] to organise and City manager got just that as the hosts dominated, despite inside the area. City remained on top, with Silva, FIFA re-entry conduct elections of a new KFA board of directors Newcastle making it interesting for a while in the second Oleksandr Zinchenko and Kevin De Bruyne posing prob- on the basis of the new, revised KFA statutes, half thanks to Jacob Murphy’s fine finish. lems for Newcastle. KUWAIT CITY: The newly-elected head of the which should take place no later than 20 May City are again 12 points clear of second-placed After 16 minutes, Leroy Sane had a glorious chance to Kuwait Football Association has welcomed the 2018”. Manchester United thanks to a ruthless performance open the scoring as he squirmed through the area before appointment of a FIFA “normalisation” comittee to World sports bodies led by FIFA and the capped by the brilliant Aguero, their all-time leading scor- Javier Manquillo’s last-ditch tackle. A minute later, City oversee the county’s re-entry into the global International Olympic Committee suspended er, whose 11th hat-trick for the club took his tally for the were denied what seemed a good goal as Raheem Sterling body-after a 2015 suspension. Kuwait in October 2015 for the second time season to 22 goals. swept home following a ball from Silva at the back post. “Kuwaitis were very happy when the ban was since 2010 over alleged government meddling in Newcastle’s supporters must look at City and wonder But Sterling was adjudged to be offside, although replays lifted,” said KFA chief Ahmad Al-Yousuf Al-Sabah sport. The suspensions meant Kuwait missed out how close they are to getting their own rich new owners suggested he was not. yesterday. “The general asssembly (of local clubs) on the qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup and the after a week in which a potential takeover of the club by The speed with which City, and Silva, had broken was chose us ... but as I’ve previously mentioned, we 2019 Asian Cup, and before that the Rio 2016 British businesswoman Amanda Staveley was branded ominous for Newcastle. To their credit, Newcastle kept the are willing to sacrifice ourselves for the ban not to Olympic Games. In early December, the Kuwaiti “frustrating and a complete waste of time” by owner Mike game scoreless until they succumbed 11 minutes before the be imposed again,” Sabah said - appearing to parliament passed a new law in line with FIFA’s Ashley. break. As City continued to pour forward, De Bruyne raise the possibility of his own resignation if requirements. Analysts say the crisis in Kuwaiti With Newcastle suffering from a lack of investment and delivered a fine cross from the left and Aguero got the required by the oversight committee. sports was the result of a power struggle within hovering at the wrong end of the table, this contest was faintest of touches to a header that slid past Karl Darlow The appointment of the normalisation commit- the ruling elite. —AFP never going to be a comfortable one for Rafa Benitez’s vis- into the far corner. — AFP United took the lead after 54 minutes with a Mourinho’s sense of urgency was justified Martial strikes as goal that owed everything to Romelu Lukaku’s with a dangerous set-piece header from Ben strength and persistence as he won an apparent- Mee being tipped over by David De Gea. Defour ly lost cause in midfield. Lukaku shrugged aside also set up an opening for Barnes which the for- United await Phil Bardsley in a challenge and won the chase to ward headed wide while United’s wastefulness the loose ball before delivering a magnificent 30- continued when Lingard dithered and saw an Sanchez arrival yard pass for Martial, unmarked in the area, who effort blocked by Mee after a swift counter and finished clinically with an unstoppable, 15-yard Martial was denied in the closing minutes by right-foot strike. home goalkeeper Nick Pope. BURNLEY: Anthony Martial proved the match- It was the start of a far more entertaining sec- In a first half lacking any real clear-cut winner for Manchester United as Jose Mourinho ond half than the first had been and the hosts chances, the first, and best, had fallen to Burnley took time off from his high-profile pursuit of might actually have equalised within two min- with just five minutes gone but James Tarkowski Alexis Sanchez to mastermind a 1-0 victory at utes, following a foul on the edge of the United headed down and wide from a free-kick. Burnley in the Premier League yesterday. area by Juan Mata on Ashley Barnes. It took until the 41st minute for United to seri- The Frenchman scored in his third consecu- Johann Berg Gudmundsson delivered a skilful ously threaten when Ashley Young, recalled in tive Premier League game for United-the first free-kick which clipped the United crossbar on place of Luke Shaw, beat Bardsley and advanced time he has accomplished that feat-on a day its way over. Gudmundsson was also in the thick into the home area before curling a shot just when the pending arrival of Sanchez from of the action moments later when he met Charlie beyond the far post. Young’s chip into the area Arsenal was still very much the centre of con- Taylor’s cross with a header which struck found Pogba who lobbed the ball, first-time, over versation. defender Chris Smalling and led to unsuccessful the goal and Pogba sent Martial away for a shot The Chilean forward is expected to complete appeals for a penalty. which was well blocked from a promising posi- that move, with Henrikh Mkhitaryan moving in There were half chances for Paul Pogba and tion. the opposite direction, this week and he will join Lukaku and the unusual sight of Mourinho liter- On the stroke of half-time, Pogba again set up BURNLEY: Manchester United’s French striker Anthony Martial has an a United team still entertaining hopes of catching ally picking up Jesse Lingard and encouraging an opening for Martial with the winger this time unsuccessful shot during the English Premier League football match Manchester City at the top of the league table him to play on after being fouled by Steven placing a shot wide of Pope’s left-hand post from between Burnley and Manchester United at Turf Moor in Burnley, north after this victory. Defour in front of the United bench. just inside the area. — AFP west England yesterday. — AFP.