Sport SATURDAY 24 APRIL 2021 De Bruyne, Aguero back for City as Guardiola targets fourth League Cup We cannot deny the Champions League is close and the Premier League is not over and they are more important. But we want to win this competition. For Tottenham, it will be their first title in years and their commitment will be incredible and the quality of their players is extraordinary. Manchester City manager Sport | 15 Pep Guardiola IPL: Mumbai Indians: 131/6 (Rohit Sharma 63, M Shami 2/21, R Bishnoi 2/21) vs Punjab Kings: 132/1 in 17.4 overs (KL Rahul 60 not out) Cazorla and Asad on target as Al Sadd beat Al Wehdat to keep ACL hopes alive AFC- RIYADH Drama in Goa A goal in each half was enough for Al Sadd SC to beat Al Wehdat 2-0 and claim full points in their 2021 as Al Wahda AFC Champions League (ACL) Group D tie yesterday. The win took Qatar champions defeat nine-man Al Sadd to seven points from four matches, one behind Saudi Arabia's Al Rayyan Al Nassr who edged Foolad Khouz- estan FC of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Group D's other tie AFC – GOA yesterday. Similar to their Matchday Three Omar Khribin’s second half penalty earned UAE’s clash, Al Sadd dominated the early Al Wahda FSCC a 1-0 win over nine-man Al Rayyan proceedings with their first look at at Goa’s Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium yesterday goal coming in the sixth minute to keep alive their hopes of advancing to the when Baghdad Bounedjah won a knockout rounds of the 2021 AFC Champions League free-kick just outside the box, but from Group E. Al Wehdat goalkeeper Abdallah Khibin converted from the spot 19 minutes from Alfakhori safely parried Santi time to give Henk ten Cate’s side victory and move Cazorla’s strike. the club from Abu Dhabi on to seven points from However, Al Wehdat suffered a their first four games of this year’s campaign. blow six minutes later when The win was Al Wahda’s second in three days defender Yazan Alarab conceded a over the Qatari side and came after Ahmed Abdul penalty for a challenge on Maqsoud and Franck Kom had both been sent off Bounedjah, with Cazorla easily con- for Laurent Blanc’s team before the 2017 AFC Player verting the spot-kick to give the of the Year scored the game’s only goal. Qatar champions the lead. A tame first half was largely devoid of the drama With their AFC Champions that marked the last 30 minutes of the teams’ pre- League hopes on the line, Al Wehdat Al Sadd's Santi Cazorla vies for the ball with two Al Wehdat players during yesterday's match. PIC: Al Sadd vious encounter on Wednesday when Al Wahda had to shed their defensive scored three times to win that match, although eve- approach and the Jordan side came rything changed during first half injury time when close in the 21st minute with Khaled the match in the 81st minute when points, one ahead of Islamic and it will be an open match Maqsoud was sent off. Assam’s right-footed shot striking Abdurisag intercepted a pass with Republic of Iran’s Esteghlal and this because of their desire for the three Tim Matavz had come closest to opening the the upright, before Abdou Ndiay Bounedjah picking up the through sets the stage for another epic points. I hope that we can avoid scoring when the Slovenian striker unleashed a forced a save out of Al Sadd ‘keeper pass but the Algerian striker’s shot encounter at the King Abdullah mistakes and overcome the chal- volley from outside the area in the 24th minute that Meshaal Barsham four minutes deflected off the post. Sports City Stadium. lenges that we have. Fahad Younis was forced to palm over the bar. later. But it was Ali Asad who stole Kenyan forward Michael “I really liked the spirit of the But the game changed as time ticked towards Al Wehdat upped their tempo the show when he slot home from Olunga was Esteghlal’s chief tor- players in the previous match the interval when Abdulla Anwar attempted to skip and continued pressing but couldn’t close range, courtesy of Abdurisag's mentor on Wednesday with a hat- despite the fatigue. We will go with past Maqsoud, only for the defender to lean on the find the equaliser as Al Sadd were pass into the area, to seal a con- trick but Al Duhail head coach Sabri the best possible formation in the forward as he tried to sprint past and, as a result of hardly stretched in the remaining vincing win. Lamouchi will be basking in the match depending on the availability the foul, referee Ahmed Al Ali showed the red card. minutes of the first half. Al Sadd will face Foolad Khouz- knowledge that he has several and readiness of the players.” Al Rayyan survived unscathed until the last 20 In an attempt to bolster his side, estan next on Monday, while Al attacking options at his disposal. Esteghlal would have minutes, but their hopes of holding on for a draw Al Wehdat head coach Abdullah Wehdat play hosts Al Nassr. Lamouchi, however, will also undoubtedly walked away from the ended when Kom was judged to have fouled Jumaa Abu Zema made three substitutions, Elsewhere, in Jeddah, Qatar's Al remind his players that a strong Matchday Three defeat disap- in the area and Al Ali pointed to the spot. sending on Amara Munther Abu, Duhail will be looking to maintain defence will be key against an pointed as Farhad Majidi’s side have After booking the Cameroonian defender for Ahmed Haikal and Ahmad Zreik at top spot in Group C when they seek Esteghlal who will approach the been impressive throughout the his initial foul, the referee pulled out a second yellow the hour mark but it was to no avail points against Esteghlal FC. match with victory as their target. tournament. card for Kom for dissent to send him to the changing as Al Sadd held firm at the back. The two were involved in a “The previous meeting was a Goals have been scored at will, rooms and leave Al Rayyan with nine players on Al Wehdat’s hopes suffered thrilling Matchday Three encounter crazy match that saw a lot of goals,” with Esteghlal the highest scorers the field. another setback when Alarab with Qatar’s Al Duhail claiming a said Lamouchi. “We deserved to with 11 from three matches, but they Khrbin stepped up to confidently strike the received his second yellow card of 4-3 win in one of this season’s best win but today we will be living a will need to be more resilient penalty into the corner of Younis’ goal to give Al the night in the 76th minute for his group stage matches. new story and we hope that we can defensively against an Al Duhail Wahda the win and, in the process, end Al Rayyan’s foul on Yusuf Abdurisag. The result meant Al Duhail win the match. side who hit them four times on hopes of progressing to the next phase of the Al Sadd could have closed off reached the halfway stage on seven “The two teams will go for a win Wednesday. competition. Best thing about Super League is it did not happen: Klopp REUTERSREUTERS – LONDON at UEFA for expanding the Champions said neither he nor his players knew about “As a team we have to be concen- League. the plan in advance, added that the focus trated on the things we do such as football. TheThe most positive thing about The ESL proposal collapsed on must now return to playing football. That’s what we do. thethe attempta by 12 elite clubs to Wednesday amid an outpouring of crit- “I know it’s normal that people will “I know the owners, I’ve known them formform a closed European Super icism from fans, players, soccer governing say ‘how can we carry on?’ but that six years. I know there are some moments LeagueLeag (ESL) is that “it did not bodies and government officials. doesn’t get sorted in a week,” the German when they might not have made the right happen”,happe Liverpool manager Liverpool were one of six Premier told a news conference ahead of Liver- decision, this time for sure, but it doesn’t JuergenJuerge Klopp (pictured) said League clubs to sign up for the new league pool’s home Premier League game change things for me. I prefer to deal with yesterday,yester while also taking aim before withdrawing, and Klopp, who has against Newcastle United to. problems with people I know.” Nadal into Barcelona semis Cherif, Ahmed win in Cancun AP – BARCELONA Rafael Nadal brushed aside Cameron Norrie 6-1, 6-4 to ease into the semifinals of the Barcelona Open on Friday and moved closer to a record-extending 12th title at the event. After Nadal breezed throughhrough the first set, Britain’s Norrie won back a break in the second.second. Nadal, however, took the advantage right back and closed it out whenwhen hehe convertedconverted oonn a second match point by smashingmashing a forehand just inside the line. “I had a good first set, dominatingominating with mmyy drive and movinmovingg the ball around,” Nadal said.id. The top-seeded Nadall needed three sets to getget pastpast Kei Nishikori and Ilya Ivashkaa in the first two rounds in Bar-Bar- celona.