Champs Fiji Giroud atones romp to to move Dubai Arsenal up 17Sevens title 19to second SUNDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2015 Bayern slump to first Bundesliga defeat Page 18 MANCHESTER: Manchester United’s Bastian Schweinsteiger, centre, loses out to West Ham United’s Cheikhou Kouyate, right, during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester United and West Ham United at Old Trafford Stadium, Manchester, England, yesterday. — AP United draw blank in Hammers stalemate missing injured captain and top scorer Wayne Rooney gave a different dimension to United’s with a shot on the turn from eight yards out dence while United’s appeared to wane, again Rooney with an ankle injury, created several attack and the Belgium international was heavily which Reid bravely kept out as he threw himself should have gone front. Man Utd 0 chances, but lacked a cutting edge in a dour involved as van Gaal’s side looked for the early in front of the ball. Mauro Zarate was the culprit this time as encounter that will heap further pressure on van goal which would have eased the pressure. The visitors were lively on the break and Andy Carroll’s perfect lay-off left the Argentinian Gaal, who has been widely criticised for his con- Fellaini had already dragged a shot wide fol- should have led through an 11th-minute oppor- with just the goalkeeper to beat, but from six servative tactics. lowing a run from half-way when he went close tunity for Victor Moses. yards he screwed his effort horribly wide. West Ham 0 A repeat of this spluttering effort at Wolfsburg in the eighth minute with a header from Paddy Daley Blind’s attempted pass found Hammers United almost made the most of that let-off on Tuesday could prove disastrous in a game McNair’s cross which might have found the top captain Mark Noble, who released Moses for a as Fellaini was denied at the other end by a they need to win to be sure of progressing in the corner but for a deflection off Winston Reid. clear run of goal. However, the winger was superb save from Adrian. With 20 minutes to go, MANCHESTER: Manchester United failed to Champions League. United at least head to That intervention was nothing, though, com- unable to beat David de Gea who saved with his Juan Mata shot wide and Bastian Schweinsteiger score at Old Trafford for the second successive Germany with their unbeaten home record in pared with the block Reid made in denying left leg and then moments later saw a Reid head- lashed a first-time effort over the bar as the game as a 0-0 draw against West Ham United the Premier League intact, although West Ham what looked like a certain goal after a quarter er from a corner hit a post as his record of con- home side upped the tempo in search of a late dropped them to fourth place in the Premier will also point to missed chances that cost them of an hour. ceding only one Premier League goal at Old winner. League yesterday. the chance to win for the first time in five games Trafford this season was preserved. But Martial steering an effort just past the Louis van Gaal’s side have now drawn a blank and add United to their list of scalps away from Charmed life United’s home defensive record is their best post from substitute Memphis Depay’s pull-back five times at home in all competitions this sea- home this season which includes Arsenal, Again Fellaini was instrumental with a header at this stage of a season since 1994-95, but their was the nearest they came to a winner as anoth- son, threatening their chances of regaining the Manchester City and Liverpool. from Jesse Lingard’s cross which picked out goal continued to live a charmed life at the start er Old Trafford date ended in frustration for the domestic title and progressing in Europe. United, The inclusion of Marouane Fellaini in place of Anthony Martial, who thought he had scored of the second half as West Ham, growing in confi- home supporters. — AFP Real rally from Cup fiasco to Chelsea stunned thrash Getafe by Bournemouth Mourinho again left Diego Costa on the MADRID: Real Madrid bounced back from their bench, but even when the Spain striker did embarrassing elimination from the Copa del Rey Chelsea 0 come on for the second half, replacing Oscar, for fielding an ineligible player in midweek by the Blues could not find a way through and cruising to a 4-1 victory over Getafe yesterday. failed to score at home in the league for the first Karim Benzema was restored to the starting time since May 2014. — Reuters line-up and scored his first two goals since Bournemouth 1 being caught up in a blackmail scandal involv- ing French international teammate Mathieu Valbuena inside 16 minutes. Gareth Bale and LONDON: Chelsea’s season went from bad to Cristiano Ronaldo then made it 4-0 before half- worse when the reigning Premier League cham- time before Alexis pulled a goal back for Getafe pions lost 1-0 at home to Bournemouth yester- 21 minutes from time. Victory moves Madrid up day to leave them just three points above the to second and cuts the gap on Barcelona at the bottom three. top of the table to three points. Jose Mourinho’s side produced another dis- However, Barca can restore their six-point jointed display and were stunned in the 82nd advantage when they travel to Valencia and minute when substitute Glenn Murray, who had Atletico Madrid can retake second place with only been on the field for two minutes, headed victory at Granada later. Benzema, Bale and home after a goalmouth scramble. Ronaldo started a league game for just the Chelsea’s eighth defeat in 15 Premier League fourth time this season and just as in early sea- MADRID: Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema, left, celebrates with teammates Cristiano Ronaldo, right, matches since the start of the season left them son thrashings of Real Betis and Espanyol, their and Gareth Bale after scoring their side’s third goal against Getafe during the Spanish La Liga soc- in 14th place, 14 points behind fourth-placed presence restored Madrid’s fire-power up front. cer match between Real Madrid and Getafe. — AP Manchester United. Bournemouth moved out of Any sign of the fans’ frustration at the club’s lat- on 16 minutes when he slotted into the bot- for the first time since January. Ronaldo final- the bottom three. “The guys did great before I est gaffe in being eliminated from the Cup due tom corner from Bale’s headed cut-back after ly got in on the act three minutes later at the came on and sort of controlledthe game at times,” Murray told Sky Sports. “When it’s 0-0 to an administrative error was eased when Ronaldo appeared to have been fouled end of a devastating counter-attack as he after 80 minutes they were more nervous than inside the area. latched onto Toni Kroos’s fine through ball to Benzema fired home from Pepe’s fine cross after us because we don’t expect anything out of just five minutes. Benzema has rarely featured The one way traffic continued as Bale register his 17th goal of the season. these games really.” Chelsea had been unbeaten in the last two months due to an ongoing ham- flashed a shot just wide from 25 yards and Understandably, Madrid’s intensity dipped in their past 43 home league games against string injury allied to his off-field problems. then forced Guaita into a more comfortable after the break, but Benzema did have a chance newly-promoted teams, winning 37. However, the Frenchman looked back to his stop from the edge of the area. However, the to seal his first hat-trick in five years when he But Bournemouth, enjoying their first taste LONDON: Chelsea’s Willian, left, competes for best as he was only denied a second with a Welshman wasn’t to be denied 10 minutes curled well over from the edge of the area. of top-flight football after a rapid rise from the ball with Bournemouth’s Charlie Daniels bullet header by a brilliant save from Vicente before half-time when he showed great com- Instead it was Getafe who rounded off the scor- obscurity, were always in with a chance as during the English Premier League soccer Guaita moments later. posure to finish from Ronaldo’s knockdown to ing when Alexis powered home Pedro Leon’s Chelsea pushed hard for a winner. match. — AP Benzema did double Madrid’s advantage score for the second consecutive league game corner to reduce the arrears. — AFP.