TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2016 SPORTS Fans fulfil mask pledge to ‘monkey chant’ victim Koulibaly

MILAN: Thousands of Napoli fans made Koulibaly was the victim of monkey his abusers by offering his Napoli shirt to Because of this, we want to show our full Nigerian player Schengun Omolade, who good a pledge to racism victim Kalidou chants during a 2-0 win at Lazio. a young Lazio-supporting ball boy. support to Koulibaly. fell victim to his own club’s notoriously Koulibaly on Sunday by filling the San Referee Massimiliano Irrati, in accor- A supporters’ group, ‘Quelli del Sangue “We are all with you, Kalidou. Our invi- racist ‘Blue Army’ supporters’ group. Paolo stadium with masks of the Senegal dance with league regulations, halted the Azzurro’ (The Blue Blooded Ones), later tation to Napoli fans is to print a photo of At their next game, Treviso’s starting defender prior to kick off against Carpi on match for nearly four minutes to demand called on Azzurri fans to show their full the defender and put it on your face team ran out on to the pitch with their Sunday. “It’s great what the fans did a stop to the abuse. support for Koulibaly by holding up when the teams come on the pitch.” faces blackened as Omolade-who had today, it shows their affection for a lad Lazio were later handed a 50,000 masks of his face. In a post on his Instagram account, not been informed of the players’ plans- who has a wonderful character,” Napoli euros fine and will see the Curva Nord And fans replied in their thousands, Koulibaly said: “It was unforgettable. sat on the bench astounded. coach Maurizio Sarri told reporters after a (North End) of the Stadio Olimpico closed filling almost the entire stadium with “Thanks to all the fans who, thanks to this Italy’s problem with racist supporters is 1-0 win kept them top of Serie A with a to fans for their next two home games. masks of the African’s face prior to kick-off memorable initiative, made the San Paolo well documented, with several high pro- two-point lead on champions Juventus. While Irrati’s decision to stop the game against the visiting league strugglers. an even more special place to be.” file players falling victim to abuse over the The latest in a long line of racist inci- was roundly applauded as one of the A statement from the group last week The gesture was reminiscent of the years including Ruud Gullit, Aaron Winter, dents hit Italian football last week when league’s new initiatives to stamp out said: “Everyone in Naples is offended by stance taken by Treviso players in 2001 to , Paul Ince, Mario Balotelli and France-born Senegal international racism, Koulibaly showed his disdain for what happened to our young star. show their support for 18-year-old Kevin-Prince Boateng. — AFP Di Maria fires unbeaten PSG past Marseille : Paris Saint-Germain defeated bit- his return from injury in central midfield. ter rivals Marseille 2-1 on Sunday to PSG were unbeaten in their last 10 extend their record unbeaten run in meetings with Marseille, having won the to 34 matches as the hosts last six in Ligue 1, and the visitors again remained unable to solve their home seized the upper hand before the hosts woes. Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored his had time to settle. Maxwell was sent gal- league-leading 21st of the season to loping down the left wing after after give PSG the lead inside two minutes at being released by Matuidi and the the Stade Velodrome, but Remy Cabella Brazilian picked out Ibrahimovic at the hauled Marseille level midway through back post as the Swede netted for the the first half with a wonderful solo effort. fifth game running. France However, Angel Di Maria struck the Matuidi again dissected the Marseille winning goal on 71 minutes to hand PSG defence a few minutes later, although a 15th straight win in all competitions this time Di Maria dragged his shot ago- and keep Laurent Blanc’s side a huge 24 nisingly wide of the far post. points clear at the top of the table. Barrada should have levelled for the “Marseille gave us a really physical home side when Thiago Motta failed to battle which we expected. We showed clear Brice Dja Djedje’s cross, but the our solidarity to see out the victory, but Morocco midfielder lashed over as the we’ve now got to ready ourselves for the ball dropped invitingly for him. two games before Chelsea (in the However, the hosts did equalise on 25 Champions League). It’s not going to be minutes as Cabella gathered the ball easy,” said Blanc. near the halfway line, skipped past Motta “The players, like you (journalists), are and fired low beyond Kevin Trapp from thinking about the game against Chelsea outside the area, with the German but...it’s not the last game before unable to keep it out despite getting a Chelsea, there’s one in three days and strong hand to the ball. Lucas wasted a another in six.” Marseille have now failed prime chance to restore PSG’s lead when to win any of their last 10 home games in he scuffed wide after a sublime Di Maria the league, while their streak of 11 through ball, while Maxwell was forced games without defeat was also snapped to clear off the line after Batshuayi NEW YORK: New York Islanders right wing Cal Clutterbuck (15) goes flying after tripping over Edmonton Oilers defenseman BrandonDavidson after succumbing to a ninth successive hooked a corner goalwards. (88) in the third period of an NHL hockey game in New York, Sunday. The Islanders defeated the Oilers 8-1. — AP ‘Classique’ loss. But PSG continued their dominance of Despite the defeat Michel’s side are Marseille as Di Maria, set up by still just five points off third-place Nice, Ibrahimovic, swept home his ninth goal Okposo lifts Islanders who they visit next Sunday, in the race of the season 19 minutes from time to for the final Champions League spot. keep the capital club’s winning run Billed as French football’s most explo- intact. Steven Fletcher came on for his sive fixture, Sunday’s encounter on the Marseille debut late on, while Georges- to 8-1 rout of Oilers south coast was no different with five Kevin Nkoudou watched a shot flash people arrested prior to kick-off follow- wide as the hosts hit PSG on the break ing a run-in with police outside the but ultimately were left still searching for NEW YORK: Kyle Okposo scored a hat trick Capitals 3, Flyers 2 Orlov also scored for the Capitals and Braden ground. a first home win since September. after the Islanders opened a commanding ear- Matt Niskanen went coast-to-coast for the Holtby stopped 33 shots. Blanc made six changes to the side Earlier, Saint-Etienne registered a ly lead with three first-period goals as New go-ahead goal, Alex Ovechkin notched his Nick Shultz and Michael Del Zotto scored that beat Lorient on Wednesday to set a thumping 4-1 win at Bordeaux to move York routed the last-place Edmonton Oilers 8-1 30th of the season and Washington defeated for the Flyers and Steve Mason made 27 new record for the longest sequence of level on points with Nice, while Rennes on Sunday. Thomas Greiss made 30 saves for Philadelphia for its third straight win. Dmitry saves. — Reuters games without defeat in the French top salvaged a point late on in a 1-1 draw at the Islanders (27-18-6), who moved within flight, recalling the likes of Di Maria, Lille. On Saturday, Monaco strengthened three points of the Rangers for second-place in and . their hold on second place with a 1-0 win the Metropolitan Division. Johnny Boychuk, NHL results/standings Marseille welcomed back both Michy over Cote d’Azur rivals Nice, while Lyon John Tavares and Nikolay Kulemin scored in Batshuayi and Abdelaziz Barrada from continued their mini-revival with a 3-0 the opening period, chasing former Islanders Montreal 2, Carolina 1 (SO); NY Islanders 8, Edmonton 1; Washington 3, Philadelphia 2. suspension, while Lassana Diarra made victory away to Angers. — AFP netminder Anders Nilsson, who was replaced after Kulemin’s goal by former Ranger Cam Eastern Conference Western Conference Talbot. Boychuk, in his first game back after Atlantic Division Pacific Division missing 11 games with an upper body injury W L OT GF GA PTS Chicago 36 16 4 159 128 76 suffered on Dec. 31 at Buffalo, ripped a slap Florida 31 15 6 148 116 68 Dallas 33 15 5 172 144 71 shot past Nilsson at 2:57 for his fourth goal of Tampa Bay 29 18 4 139 121 62 St. Louis 30 17 8 135 132 68 the season. Tavares made it 2-0 at 9:12 with his Boston 28 18 6 155 138 62 Nashville 25 20 8 138 140 58 19th goal before Kulemin added his sixth at Detroit 26 18 8 131 134 60 Colorado 27 24 4 149 152 58 11:24. Oilers coach Todd McLellan then pulled Montreal 26 24 4 147 144 56 Minnesota 23 20 9 127 128 55 Nilsson, replacing him with Talbot. Nilsson Ottawa 24 23 6 152 169 54 Winnipeg 23 26 3 136 152 49 stopped only seven of the 10 shots he faced. Buffalo 21 26 6 121 143 48 Central Division Toronto 19 23 9 122 145 47 Los Angeles 31 17 3 137 119 65 Metropolitan Division San Jose 27 20 4 149 139 58 Canadiens 2, Hurricanes 1 (SO) Washington 38 9 4 169 115 80 Sven Andrighetto scored the shootout win- NY Rangers 29 18 5 151 136 63 Anaheim 25 18 7 113 117 57 ner to give Montreal a win over Carolina at the NY Islanders 27 18 6 146 130 60 Arizona 24 22 6 139 162 54 Bell Centre. Jeff Skinner scored in regulation Pittsburgh 26 18 7 133 133 59 Vancouver 20 20 12 124 145 52 for the Hurricanes and Max Pacioretty replied New Jersey 26 20 7 121 126 59 Calgary 23 25 3 135 150 49 for the Canadiens. Ben Scrivens, making his Carolina 24 21 9 130 144 57 Edmonton 21 28 5 136 165 47 second start in as many days, stopped 34 Philadelphia 23 19 9 123 138 55 Note: Overtime losses (OT) worth 1 pt and not shots for Montreal. Counterpart Cam Ward Columbus 21 28 5 138 170 47 included in loss column (L). made 33 saves for the Hurricanes. Bayern set to include MARSEILLE: Paris Saint-Germain’s Argentinian forward Angel Di Maria (C) celebrates with Paris Saint-Germain’s Swedish forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic (R) after scoring a Vidal for cup clash goal during the French L1 football match between Marseille and Paris-Saint-Germain on MSunday at the Velodrome stadium in Marseille, southern France. — AFP BERLIN: Minnows VfL Bochum nothing to lose against Guardiola’s hope to pull off a massive upset by team of superstars. “We’re highly knocking Bayern Munich out of the motivated, looking forward to the ‘Crazy’ Chinese spending German Cup quarter-finals tomor- game and want to enjoy it,” said row to wreck Pep Guardiola’s Bochum’s playmaker Marco spree just the start: Cahill dreams of winning the treble. Terrazzino. Second-division Bochum host run- Bayern hope to include Chile mid- MELBOURNE: The spending splurge by doing great things. “They’ve got the power. away Bundesliga leaders Bayern, fielder Arturo Vidal, who came off Chinese clubs to secure top Europe-based “When they want something they get it, who plan to mark coach Pep with a leg knock at Leverkusen on talents is “crazy” and will do little to benefit and when they don’t want something they Guardiola’s departure in May to Saturday after a foul from Stefan the players or the game in China, according get rid of it.” Teixeira’s signing came only Manchester City with the trio of Kiessling. New signing Serdar Tasci to Australia’s Shanghai-based striker Tim days after Guangzhou Evergrande secured German league, cup and Champions should also be fit having suffered a Cahill. His nation’s most prolific goal-scorer, Colombian striker Jackson Martinez from League titles. It will hardly come as concussion last Wednesday in his first 36-year-old Cahill is set for a second season Atletico Madrid for 42 million euros. a surprise, but the stats are stacked training session since joining Bayern with Chinese Super League (CSL) club AS Roma striker Gervinho completed a against Bochum, who have won on loan until the end of the season. Shanghai Shenhua, having moved across move to Hebei China Fortune FC last only nine of their 73 games against But Bochum will be in for a rude from New York Red Bulls last year on a month, with leading Premier League names Bayern, losing 48 times. surprise if they expect Bayern to be lucrative one-year deal. Demba Ba and former Sunderland striker It was back in 2004 that the distracted for the cup quarter-final. Since Cahill re-signed for Shenhua last Asamoah Gyan also moving to China last October, CSL clubs have spent over 130 year. “Choices now players are making, it’s Bavarians last lost in Bochum, while “From now on, we’re just focused on million euros ($145 million) in transfer fees not about football like it was in my day, it’s few fans from either club need this game. The cup is very important on just four players, with Jiangsu Suning purely about personal gains,” Cahill said. reminding of when Bayern fought to us as well,” said Bayern’s hot-shot shelling a Chinese record 50 million euros “Is (going to China) going to help play- back from 4-0 down to win 6-5 at striker Robert Lewandowski, who to secure Brazilian midfielder Alex Teixeira ers? No. “Is it going to be big for the coun- Bochum in 1976/77. Bochum have has scored 27 goals in all competi- in a move completed last week. try? Yes.” China’s soccer has never matched not conceded a goal in any of their tions this season. The spending spree has raised fears in its vast population or its economic clout, last four second-tier matches, but Bochum are not the only second Europe of a talent drain, with the top and the national men’s team currently have their work cut out subduing division team bidding to reach the leagues unable to compete with CSL clubs ranks 93rd in the world and 11th in Asia. Bayern’s star-studded attack, even cup semi-finals with Heidenheim backed by the financial might of local But the country’s President Xi Jinping is a though it misfired in Saturday’s hosting Hertha Berlin on Tuesday. In tycoons. Cahill said it was only a matter of known soccer fan and has demanded soc- goalless draw at Leverkusen in the other ties, Bayer Leverkusen host time before a Chinese club spent $100 mil- cer officials lift the standard rapidly. Cahill Germany’s top flight. Werder Bremen today, the same day lion to secure a player. was not convinced the foreign signings The Bavarians last failed to reach resurgent VfB Stuttgart, who have “It’s crazy to see but this is only going to would help. “This sort of investment in the German Cup semi-finals in 1988. won all of their last four league DOHA: This file photo taken on January 06, 2016 shows Bayern get worse,” the former English Premier players is a catch 22,” he said. “Does it help “Bayern win 99 of 100 games, but games, are at home to Borussia Munich’s French midfielder Franck Ribery taking part in a training League player told Australian broadcaster the Chinese? To a certain extent no. perhaps tomorrow is the one,” said Dortmund for a place in the semi- session at the team’s winter training camp in the Qatari capital Doha. Fox Sports. “This is going to be massive. “When you sign players like this, every- Bochum captain Patrick Fabian. finals on April 19-20. The final will be Franck Ribery resumed training with his teammates from Bayern “I don’t know whether it’s going to help thing in the final third is up to us, if we don’t The Ruhr Valley club, who are held at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium on Munich, after about two months of absence due to a hamstring the league, but they’re investing. They’re deliver, it doesn’t happen.” — Reuters fifth in Germany’s second tier, have May 21. — AFP injury, according to sports agency SID, a subsidiary of AFP. — AFP