27 Sports Monday, February 4, 2019 matches Ronaldo double as Parma frustrate Juventus Napoli are back strong: Ancelotti

MILAN: scored twice but champi- a lifeline on 74 minutes and grabbed a point at the ons Juventus had to settle for a point as a late death for Parma who remain 12th in the table, 31 points Gervinho double snatched a 3-3 draw after promoted behind Juventus. “At least we satisfied those who Parma staged an impressive comeback in on complained we weren’t entertaining,” said Allegri. Saturday. Juventus’ dropped points allowed Napoli to “But the beautiful football doesn’t pay off, at the end cut the gap on the leaders to nine points after a confi- of the day you have got to just kick it away from your dent 3-0 win over Sampdoria. goal.” The seven-time reigning champions neverthe- Massimiliano Allegri’s side had already had their less remain unbeaten this season having dropped confidence shaken after a 3-0 defeat to Atalanta shat- points just twice before against Genoa and Atalanta. tered their hopes of winning a fifth straight Coppa Earlier Arkadiusz Milik and scored Italia. Saturday’s draw was not the response Allegri quick-fire goals and Simone Verdi added a third from had called for ahead of their Champions League last the spot as Napoli got back on track. AC Milan had 16 first leg tie against Atletico Madrid on February 20. dented ’s side’s title hopes with a goal- “I’m happy for the goals but not the result,” said less draw in the last weekend before dumping Ronaldo. “Parma didn’t do anything special, they the southerners out of the midweek. waited for us to make a mistake. “But we’re not wor- “Napoli are back strong,” said Ancelotti. “Today we ried, we know it will be a great season for Juventus.” found the depth and the ability to quickly overturn the Juve, hit by injuries to defenders , game. “The two tests against Milan were not our usu- and , have now con- al selves, we’re back to our normal standard.” ceded six goals in their last two matches. But they still Sampdoria striker was thwarted have a comfortable nine-point lead over Napoli with in his bid to set a new record of scoring in 12 consec- 20 points behind in third. utive Serie A games as the side from Genoa also “It doesn’t change anything, but we must not take missed the chance to move up into fourth and the anything for granted,” said Allegri. “We were too light Champions League places. in defence. It was the first time this back four had But Quagliarella-who is from and had played together.” Juventus lined up with an inexperi- scored in Sampdoria’s 3-0 win over Napoli earlier in enced back line of alongside the campaign-was denied his best chance to make Uruguay defender Martin Caceres who got his first history by a sliding tackle. start since moving from Lazio. Napoli skipper Marek Hamsik-reportedly set for a Sami Khedira rattled the post twice, before move to China-returned from injury and orchestrated : Juventus’ Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo goes for a header during the Italian Serie A football match Ronaldo opened the scoring after 36 minutes with the opener after 25 minutes in the San Paolo Stadium. Juventus vs Parma on Saturday at the in Turin. — AFP again scoring for the hosts on 62 min- The Slovak international’s cross found Jose Callejon utes. An Antonino Barilla header clawed one back for who burst through to provide the assist which Milik league goal in three months. Napoli were awarded a his towering performance, it was Verdi who stepped Parma two minutes later before Ronaldo completed finished off for his 12th league goal this season. penalty for a Joachim Andersen handball but up to convert in the final minute. Sampdoria remain his brace to return to the top of the Serie A goalscor- Less than a minute later Insigne connected despite the calls of “Kalidou, Kalidou” from the sixth, two points off AC Milan in the final ers’ chart with 17. But Ivorian Gervinho threw his side sweetly with another Callejon assist for his first crowd for the Senegalese defender to take it after Champions League berth. — AFP

Messi double Matches on TV earns Barca a (Local Timings) ENGLISH point in thriller West Ham United v Liverpool 23:00 beIN SPORTS HD 2 with Valencia SPANISH LEAGUE Rayo Vallecano v CD Leganes 23:00 BARCELONA: scored in a ninth consecutive beIN SPORTS HD 3 match but his latest double on Saturday was only enough to earn Barcelona a 2-2 draw against Valencia. Messi ITALIAN CALCIO LEAGUE instigated another Barca comeback at the Camp Nou Frosinone Calcio v SS Lazio 21:00 before placing an injury doubt over his availability for beIN SPORTS HD 4 Wednesday’s Copa del Rey Clasico against Real Madrid. v Atalanta 23:00 Ernesto Valverde confirmed after the game his captain beIN SPORTS HD 4 had felt a “small problem” but insisted it was nothing seri- ous. Valverde is still unlikely to take any risks given BARCELONA: Barcelona’s Uruguayan forward Luis Suarez (R) vies for the ball with Valencia’s Danish Daniel Barcelona’s testing month ahead, even if Messi’s absence, Wass during the Spanish league football match FC Barcelona against Valencia CF at the Camp Nou stadium in however brief, would be a blow, particularly while he is in Barcelona on Saturday. — AFP such irresistible form. and Dani Parejo’s penalty gave Valencia The latter two will be back-to-back, within four days. er-attack. Neuer injury adds a surprise two-goal lead but Messi pulled one back with But Messi fit and in this sort of form means any confi- Rodrigo carried the ball 40 yards before slipping a cute his own spot-kick before curling in a brilliant equaliser dence Real feel comes with an asterisk. His 12 goals in his reverse pass behind Vermaelen and Gameiro banged in the to Bayern’s woes with 26 minutes left. last nine games is the same number the whole Valencia finish. Valencia’s penalty was clear after Sergi shoved After their stunning turn-around against Sevilla in mid- squad managed in their first 15 league matches. Valencia in the back, with Parejo whipping the ball into week, Barca looked destined again to finish the job, but at were 15th in December, with only three wins, and their the corner to make it two. as title-race slip the end of a breathless contest, Valencia had held on for a coach Marcelino was under pressure, just six months after Barca looked shell-shocked but the third goal in 15 min- point. “When you don’t win, you always feel you have propelling them back into the Champions League. utes was theirs. Semedo beat Toni Lato to Arturo Vidal’s missed something,” Valverde said. “But the league is long The club kept faith and results have improved. They pass and tumbled after a clip on his shin. Messi slammed BERLIN: Bayern Munich are unsure whether Germany and there are matches where you come up against a good have now lost only one of their last seven matches and are the loose ball into the top corner but the whistle had goalkeeper Manuel Neuer can play in next week’s team. This was one of those.” within sight of the top four. Valencia deserved their first- blown. He rolled in the penalty instead. crunch German Cup tie at Hertha Berlin after losing Messi’s 20th and 21st league goals of the season leave half lead and could have scored sooner, Parejo drawing a Sergi’s shot crashed against the post and Barca were more ground in the Bundesliga title race on Saturday. his team six points clear of Atletico Madrid, who could cut smart save from Marc-Andre ter Stegen before Denis dominant after half-time. At the other end, on a rare The defending German champions were humbled 3-1 the gap to three by beating Real Betis on Sunday, with Cheryshev lashed the rebound off the far post. Valencia break, Rodrigo should have made it three but, on at Bayer Leverkusen to leave them seven points behind Real Madrid, 11 points back, at home to Alaves. The visitors rode their luck as two decisions went their the stretch, put it over from six yards. leaders in the title race. To make After eight consecutive Barcelona wins in , this way in a matter of minutes. First, Barca could have had a That was in the 63rd minute, and in the 64th, Barcelona matters worse, Bayern later dropped to third in the result perhaps offered the chasing pack a little encourage- penalty when blocked Nelson Semedo’s were level. Vidal teed up Messi, who teed up his own left table after Borussia Moenchengladbach’s 2-0 win at ment at least. Real could inflict further disruption them- shot with his hand. Then the home team should have had a foot and curled the ball inside the post. The teams, and the 10-man Schalke meant they drew level on 42 points and free-kick as Messi was bundled over by Parejo. The latter crowd, seemed to take a breath, in anticipation of a late selves. The first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-finals on leap-frogged into second on goal difference. Wednesday will be the first of three Clasicos in a month. proved key, with Valencia sprawling forward on the count- push, but it never came. The draw was a fair result. — AFP “The only positive thing is that Dortmund didn’t get three points,” said Bayern’s head coach Niko Kovac after Dortmund drew 1-1 at Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday. “Now we are seven points behind and that’s no small amount. City have leaders “We have to use the remaining games, which won’t be easy, but we won’t give up, we still believe and will keep on working.” After Leon Goretzka gave Bayern a to catch Liverpool, 1-0 first-half lead and Robert Lewandowski had a goal ruled offside, Kovac’s side had few answers as Leon says Guardiola Bailey curled in a free-kick, then Leverkusen attacked on the counter with goals by Kevin Volland and Lucas Alario. “We should have led by more after the first-half, MANCHESTER: Pep Guardiola is convinced that then what happened is exactly what I didn’t want,” said Manchester City have enough leaders to chase down Kovac as Bayern’s seven-match winning streak in the a significant points deficit in the league, something he league ended abruptly. “We got into an exchange of has never previously achieved as a manager. blows with Leverkusen and they killed us. Guardiola’s side go into Sunday’s Premier League “The goals we conceded shouldn’t have happened home match against Arsenal in third place, five points the way they did, so we have to be annoyed with our- behind leaders Liverpool with 14 games to play. City selves. “The result doesn’t reflect the game and we suffered their fourth defeat in nine league matches as shouldn’t have lost it. “Leverkusen had four shots on they were beaten 2-1 at Newcastle on Tuesday in a lethargic display. goal and created three goals.” They were without the leadership skills of club The last half an hour was a horror show for Kovac captain Vincent Kompany, who has made only six bin Al-Aas (Hawally) qualified during the qualifiers and Bayern supporters as Leverkusen shredded the league starts this season because of injuries. Kuwait Martyrs held in December so the total number of teams is 8 so Bavarians defence with both Volland and Alario tapping Guardiola, though, has rejected the idea that he does far. Coordinator General of the tournament Hassan Al- home after the hosts countered at will. not have the players willing to take responsibility in Khawajah said the tournament is being held under the To compound matters, Munich club captain and the absence of the Belgian. Mini Goal patronage of Al-Shaheed office of the Amiri Diwan in Germany shot-stopper Neuer missed the defeat in “Of course, there are guys with a huge personality coordination with the education ministry, and is being Leverkusen after injuring his thumb in training last to talk, to communicate, but that is only worth so Football tourney held under the knock out system. He said 8 teams week. It is unclear whether Neuer can play in much,” he said. “I am not going to call out a guy who qualified representing Hawally, Ahmadi, Jahra and Wednesday’s German Cup, last 16 clash at Hertha is shy, who expresses himself with a lot of character Farwaniya, while the qualifying rounds of the capital Berlin, where Bayern have already suffered one of their on the pitch, but off the pitch is more quiet and does- By Abdellatif Al-Sharaa and Mubarak Al-Kabeer governorates in addition to four league defeats this season last September, going n’t talk too much with his mates.” private education. down 2-0 at the . The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss KUWAIT: Schools of Sheikh Ahmad Al-Farisi and Ibn Al-Khawajah said the previous rounds witnessed Kovac refused to say if Neuer could be fit in time, added: “I met incredible players who didn’t speak Asaker (Ahmadi), Ibn Tufail and Zaid bin Ali (Jahra), strong competition between teams with 24 teams in but Bayern’s stand-in goalkeeper Sven Ulreich, playing one word. And I saw a lot of players who speak a lot Ammar bin Yasser and Saud Al-Abdelrazzaq Ahmadi, 12 teams in Jahra and 18 teams in Farwaniya his first game for the Bavarians this season, was more in the locker room, ‘I want to do that’, and afterwards, (Farwaniya) qualified for the finals of the third Kuwait participating. Hassan Al-Khawajah said the finals are candid. “The thumb (Neuer’s) is really fat, but in one or when they go out on the pitch and they are under Martyrs Mini Goal Football tournament during qualify- being held at Martyr Fahad Al-Ahmad Center in Daeya two days things should look different and he could be pressure, say ‘I don’t want the ball and I don’t want to ing matches held earlier. area during the period 10-12/12 to coincide with able to play,” said Ulreich, after his first game for seven defend’. There are so many of these kinds. —AFP The teams of Mulla Hassan Al-Kandari and Saeed Kuwait celebrations of national days. months.—AFP