Friday 45 Sports Friday, December 15, 2017 Paris Saint-Germain cruise into League Cup quarters PSG brush off the absence of Neymar PARIS: Paris Saint-Germain brushed off the ab- Grimm, who has been with the club throughout sence of Neymar to ease into the French League their rise from the third tier, slotted into the cor- Cup quarter-finals with a 4-2 victory at Stras- ner. The hosts battled hard in the second period bourg on Wednesday. The Ligue 1 leaders but their resistance was finally ended when gained a measure of revenge for their shock 2-1 Thomas Meunier crossed for fellow full-back league defeat by Strasbourg less than a fortnight Dani Alves to tap in from close range. German ago as they started their bid for a fifth straight international Julian Draxler impressed in a three- League Cup title. PSG will take on Amiens in the man attacking midfield alongside Di Maria and last eight, after the newly-promoted top-flight Javier Pastore, and drilled in to end a nine-game club edged out second-tier Tours 2-1. “We goal drought for club and country. Jeremy needed to improve from the league game and Blayac came off the bench to score a late con- the team was more focused from the start,” said solation for Strasbourg, but PSG had long since PSG coach Unai Emery. secured their place in the quarters. “Maybe we could have scored more goals Elsewhere, a much-changed Lyon were and played better after it went to 4-2, but we are stunned 4-1 at Montpellier despite taking a still happy.” With Neymar having only just re- 10th-minute lead through teenager Myziane turned from a visit to his native Brazil, Emery Maolida, as Souleymane Camara scored twice opted to play Edinson Cavani up front on his for the hosts. Nice goalkeeper Yoan Cardinale own with Kylian Mbappe on the bench. Home was the hero as Lucien Favre’s men edged past hopes of a repeat performance for Strasbourg managerless Lille on penalties after Mario were dashed in only the 12th minute, as Yoann Balotelli had rescued the a 1-1 draw for the vis- Salmier sliced Angel Di Maria’s cross into his itors. Monaco will be Nice’s last-eight oppo- own net. Argentina international Di Maria made nents, after the principality outfit saw off Caen it two midway through the first half, capitalizing on Tuesday. Rennes beat Marseille in a penalty STRASBOURG: Paris Saint-Germain’s Brazilian forward Lucas (2nd-right) falls down in front of Paris Saint- on a goalkeeping error by Alexandre Oukidja to shootout after an entertaining 2-2 draw at Germain’s Argentinean midfielder Javier Pastore (right), Strasbourg’s French midfielder Jeremy Grimm slot in his fourth goal of the season. Roazhon Park, where Kostas Mitroglou and (2nd-left) and Strasbourg’s French defender Ernest Seka during the French League Cup round of 16 football But Strasbourg pulled one back before half- Valere Germain scored for the visitors, but to match between Strasbourg (RCSA) and Paris-Saint-Germain (PSG) on December 13, 2017. — AFP time against the run of play as midfielder Jeremy no avail. — AFP despairing Gary Woods. Ntcham seemed to be A clinical shooting every time he had sight of the Hamilton goal and only a fine diving save from Woods kept another effort on the half-volley from sneaking in. try to their only World Cup appearance in first-half display It looked like it was just a matter of time before China clubs 2002, before an Arie Haan-coached team Celtic had a second, but Hamilton grabbed an reached the final of the Asian Cup on home equalizer out of the blue. soil two years later. lifts Celtic urged to Since then, China have struggled, with Missed chances the number of youngsters in the country playing the game diminishing as a number GLASGOW: A clinical first-half display helped Darian MacKinnon’s pass from the left found develop youth of factors, including match fixing scandals, Celtic to a 3-1 win over Hamilton on Wednesday as Redmond at the edge of the box and he spun to blighted the sport’s progress. Soccer-loving the Scottish champions extended their unbeaten send a superb looping effort over Craig Gordon and Xi Jinping’s rise to become the Chinese domestic run to 69 matches. Olivier Ntcham fired into the top corner. The goal handed Hamilton hope, or lose licenses president in 2012 has helped reinvigorate Celtic in front with a superb volley in the 12th but Celtic quickly reasserted control. A clever pass the sport’s popularity, with state and private minute before Daniel Redmond leveled for Hamilton from Stuart Armstrong played in Forrest, who beat entities throwing huge sums into the devel- against the run of play. However, two goals in a the offside trap to round Woods and slot home. The TOKYO: Chinese soccer authorities are set opment and promotion of the game. High- minute from James Forrest and Scott Sinclair winger turned provider for Sinclair, who took a to impose strict new regulations on the profile imports such as Carlos Tevez, Luiz handed Celtic a two-goal cushion at the break and couple of touches just inside the box before ex- country’s clubs, using the threat of losing Felipe Scolari, Andre Villas-Boas and Oscar they saw out the win to move onto 41 points at the pertly curling the ball into the far corner. Celtic their professional licenses as a spur to es- are among those who have worked in the top of the Scottish Premiership. looked to pick up where they had left off after the tablish a more comprehensive youth devel- Chinese Super League in the last 12 months, “We made some changes and tried something break, with Odsonne Edouard’s effort blocked by opment program. According to Titan Sports, while the clubs have become more promi- slightly different tonight, but I thought the players the legs of Woods before Armstrong sent a shot the Chinese Football Association (CFA) will nent on the continental scene. worked it really well,” Celtic manager Brendan narrowly wide. Hamilton should have pulled another introduce rules in 2019 that force clubs in The national team continues to struggle, Rodgers said. “It was a good win for us because goal back in the 69th minute when Greg Docherty’s the top two tiers of the domestic league to however, with coach Marcello Lippi calling Hamilton have had some really good victories this cross found Rakish Bingham unmarked in the box, create youth teams ranging from the under- for patience as the nation seeks to make an season.” Rivals Rangers remain five points behind but the striker sliced his effort wide of the target. 13 bracket up to the under-19 level. impact on the global stage. “When you talk in second place as they came from behind to claim Docherty’s pace then caused panic in the Celtic The teams would play in competitions about China, you have to think about the a 2-1 win over Hibernian at Easter Road, while Ab- defense as he burst into the box before Bingham hit organized by the CFA and, claim Titan culture and the time China has spent with erdeen stay third on goal difference following their the post with a low angled strike as Hamilton ex- Sports, a failure to comply would see clubs football,” he said after Tuesday’s loss to 3-0 win at St Johnstone. The supporters who erted more pressure without any reward. Hamilton forfeit their registration to play profession- Japan in the East Asian Championship. “It’s packed into a bitterly cold Celtic Park were warmed manager Martin Canning bemoaned his side’s ally. The CFA have yet to respond to a very different to Europe. I’m having to grow up by four superb first-half strikes. missed chances. “We created three or four real Reuters request for a comment on the mat- a team almost from scratch.” Under the Ital- Moments after coming close with a curling ef- good opportunities in the second half that we prob- ter. The move marks the latest CFA direc- ian, China recorded their best performance fort, French midfielder Ntcham’s stunning strike ably should have done better with,” he said. “Ulti- tive to enhance the future prospects of the in World Cup qualifying since 2002, but the handed Celtic the lead. Sinclair burst to the byline mately the two goals just before half-time killed the national team, who have struggled to make country still missed out on a place at next and floated a cut-back to the far post, where game for us, but I was pleased with the effort, com- an international impact in the last decade- year’s finals in Russia. — Reuters Ntcham was on hand to smash a volley beyond the mitment and quality from the boys.”— AFP and-a-half. Bora Milutinovic led the coun-.