6 September 26, 2020 Iranian Teams Shine in Bayern Win UEFA Super Cup AFC Champions League Vahid Amiri made it a trio of emphatic 3-0 victory over Group A consigned to a narrow group stage headed goals for Persepolis. The leader Al Ahli Saudi FC in Match- exit. Iran international winger found day Six. space at the far post to head in a Head coach Majid Namjoo Mot- Sepahan Defeat Al-Sadd in Pahlevan cross from the left in an lagh’s men went into the game 2020 ACL identical fashion to Khalilzadeh’s with the knowledge that only a opener. two-goal margin win would secure With just seconds to go, Perse- their place in the Round of 16. polis signed off with a fourth goal Al-Ahli advanced to the Round as substitutes Arman Ramzani and of 16 with six points as the first Mehdi Abdi combined with the team and Iraq’s Al-Shorta finished TEHRAN (Dispatches) – Three former setting up a header that in third place. Bayern Munich’s captain and goalkeeper Manuel Neuer lifts the Iranian football team Esteghlal, Abdi converted from inside the box The Iranian dominance produced trophy after the UEFA Super Cup soccer match between Bayern Persepolis and Sepahan cruise past to make it 4-0 at the final whistle. a goal in the 28th minute. Farshid Munich and Sevilla at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary, Sept their rivals in the 2020 AFC Cham- Al-Taawoun’s 1-0 win over Al- Esmaeili received the ball down 24, 2020. Bayern won the match 2-1 after extra time. pions League. Duhail in the other Group C fixture the left and fed Ghaedi on the edge BUDAPEST (Dsipatches) -- Bayern and Leroy Sane both had goals chalked Three first-half headers helped means Persepolis topped the group of the box. The Esteghlal number Iran’s Persepolis football team Munich beat Sevilla 2-1 in an epic battle off. and will face Group D runner-up 10 drilled a powerful drive that And also, Sepahan football team for the UEFA Super Cup that lasted 120 Sevilla did create a great chance to to a 4-0 win over Sharjah of the Al-Sadd in the Round of 16, while nestled into the bottom corner de- of Iran defeated Al-Sadd of Qatar UAE and a place in the 2020 AFC minutes on Thursday. score later, but Bayern goalkeeper Al-Taawoun progress as runner- spite Al Owais’ best efforts to save. 2-1 to end its 2020 AFC Champi- Bayern controled the match from the Manuel Neuer managed to keep the Champions League Round of 16 up and set-up an all-Saudi clash Al-Ahli’s troubles were doubled ons League on a high. from Group C on Thursday. start, while Sevilla were stable in de- scores level to send the match into against Al-Nassr in the next round. seven minutes before the break Sepahan ended their campaign fense and focused on counterattacks. extra-time. Persepolis came racing out of as Ghaedi turned from scorer to in third place with seven points in the blocks and within two min- In the 11th minute, the Spanish team It wasn’t until the 104th minute that Esteghlal Cruises Past Al-Ahli creator, sending a cross from the Group D. were awarded a penalty after David Bayern finally sealed the win, thanks utes they were in front after Ehsan Saudi right flank into the far post for Ali Al-Sadd finished in second place Pahlevan displayed great skill to Alaba felled Ivan Rakitic, allowing to a header from substitute Javi Mar- Karimi who evaded his marker and with nine points and will face the Lucas Ocampos to open the scoring in tinez. get past two players down the left headed home Esteghlal’s second. Group C winner in the Round of and cross for Shojae Khalilzadeh the 13th minute. The UEFA Super Cup is an annual After the restart, Esteghlal was 16. After the goal, the Spanish team match between the reigning champi- who headed home his second goal quick to cement its place in the Reza Mirzaei and Sajad Shahba- of the campaign. gained momentum and put pressure on ons of the two European major football Round of 16 with a third goal. zzadeh scored for Sepahan in the Bayern, but the German side equalized competitions, the UEFA Champions Three minutes before the end of Karimi supplied a chipped cross 14th and 53rd minutes respectively the first half, Persepolis doubled in the 34th minute through Leon Gore- League and the UEFA Europa League. from the edge of the penalty area and Hashim Ali pulled a goal back tzka’s finish. Around 16,000 spectators were al- its advantage. Following an out- for Cheick Diabate and the Malian in the 82nd minute. swinging Bashar Resan corner, Al Bayern then reestablished control of lowed in to watch the game in Buda- forward guided his header past Al Al-Sadd coach Xavi made 10 the game, but Robert Lewandowski pest’s Puskas Arena. Kasir climbed unmarked and pow- Owais to make it 3-0. changes to his starting XI that played ered in a header that clipped Adel The result means Esteghlal fin- out a 1-1 draw against Al-Nassr three Al Hosani’s hand and went into the ishes second behind confirmed days earlier, with only center-back Quartararo Dominant in First back of the net despite the Sharjah On Wednesday, Iran’s Esteghlal Group A winner Al-Ahli, goal Tarek Salman retaining his place in goalkeeper’s best efforts. cruised into the 2020 AFC Cham- difference giving the Iranian the the team, before being swapped for Just as the half headed to a close, pions League Round of 16 with an advantage over Al-Shorta who is Abdelkarim Hassan at half time. Barcelona MotoGP Practice Lakers Beat Nuggets to Take 3-1 Lead in West Finals LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. day after the Lakers played from (AP) -- The Los Angeles Lak- behind much of the last game. ers are a victory away from re- With an array of short jump- turning to the NBA Finals - and ers, Davis made his first six only another comeback from 3-1 shots before anyone else on the down by the Denver Nuggets can Lakers made a basket. Then stop them. Howard scored on consecutive Anthony Davis scored 34 follow shots before James fol- points, LeBron James had 26 lowed with his first two field and the Lakers beat the Nuggets goals. 114-108 on Thursday night in Murray kept the Lakers from Game 4 of the Western Confer- getting too far away with a ence finals. 7-for-8 start. He followed his BARCELONA (dispatches) -The fi- put it under threat, lighting up the Davis got the Lakers off to a acrobatic layup around James nal part of the second triple-header this timing screens across the final three fast start with his scoring and with 2 1/2 minutes remaining season got underway in cool conditions sectors of the Catalunya circuit James helped them finish it with in the half with a pair of free at the Catalunya circuit, with Quar- with three minutes to go to post a his defense, forcing Jamal Mur- ing elimination for the seventh since winning their most recent throws that cut it to four, before tararo setting the early pace on his Ya- 1m40.584s. ray into some late misses after time in the bubble. They were title in 2010. the Lakers took a 60-55 edge to maha at the scene of his debut MotoGP On his final lap, Quartararo found the guard had kept the Nuggets down 3-1 against Utah in the The Lakers started Dwight the locker room. podium in 2019. more time and ended the session with in it with an array of high-diffi- first round and climbed out of Howard at center and he had 12 The Nuggets shot 59% in the The French rider is battling illness a 1m40.431s, heading Ducati’s An- culty baskets. the same hole against the Los points and 11 rebounds, help- first half but the Lakers had this weekend, but leaped to the top drea Dovizioso. James added nine rebounds Angeles Clippers in the West ing put Nikola Jokic into foul an 18-2 advantage in second- of the order at the start of the session The Italian was top Ducati runner and eight assists, and the Lak- semifinals. trouble. chance points. with a 1m41.551s, before bettering in a low-key session for Desmosedici ers had 12 offensive rebounds But they couldn’t come back Murray had 32 points and The Lakers seemed to be tak- that to a 1m41.377s. riders, with Dovizioso jumping up for a whopping 25-6 advantage in this game, getting within one eight assists, but Jokic finished ing control when Rajon Rondo Factory Yamaha counterpart Mav- to second in the latter stages with a in second-chance points. point in the opening minute of with just 16 points and seven and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope erick Vinales edged ahead soon after 1m40.861s after fitting a fresh soft Game 5 is Saturday night, the fourth quarter but constantly rebounds. combined for a flurry that with a 1m41.272s, improving on his rear tyre. when the Lakers can reach the turned back from there by a key Davis scored 27 points in pushed the lead to 11 with un- next effort to a 1m41.105s as he went Suzuki’s Mir crashed at Turn 5 in NBA Finals for the first time in stop or rebound by the Lakers. Game 3 but the 6-foot-10 for- der 4 minutes remaining in the out straight away on a full fuel tank to the opening stages, but was soon back a decade. Davis said he expects The Lakers have 16 cham- ward acknowledged that his third, but Michael Porter Jr. hit start understanding the feeling of his out on track and ended the morning to be fine for it after rolling his pionships, one behind Boston two-rebound performance was two 3-pointers late in the period M1 under race conditions. third fastest with a 1m31.060s. ankle in the fourth quarter. for the most in NBA history, ‘’unacceptable.’’ He came out that cut it to 87-84 going to the Quartararo returned to top spot with Vinales was fourth at the chequered The Nuggets will be fac- but they haven’t played for one much more aggressively Thurs- fourth. a 1m40.872s just over 10 minutes into flag ahead of Aleix Espargaro on the the session, which stood as the bench- Aprilia, with the sister Petronas bike mark right up until the closing stages. of Franco Morbidelli completing the Bottas Fastest in First Practice And it was the Petronas rider who top six. for Russian Grand Prix Nadal Faces Tough Path to French SOCHI, Russia (AP) -- Valtteri Hamilton could only manage Bottas was fastest in the first practice 19th fastest after locking up his Final, Murray to Play Wawrinka session for the Russian Grand Prix tires and leaving them with a flat PARIS (Reuters) - Rafael Nadal, first round and faces a potential on Friday as his Mercedes teammate spot. Ferrari again struggled to find who is seeking a record-extending last-eight clash with US Open Lewis Hamilton was slowed down by pace with Sebastian Vettel ninth 13th French Open title and a re- runner-up Alexander Zverev, who damaged tires. and Charles Leclerc 11th. cord-equalling 20th Grand Slam has never made it past the quar- Bottas set the pace with a time of The session was briefly red- singles crown, was handed a rela- ter-finals at the claycourt Grand 1 minute, 34.923 seconds, beating flagged when Nicholas Latifi tively tough path to this year’s final Slam. Renault driver Daniel Ricciardo crashed his Williams into the wall. at Roland Garros when the draw Nadal then faces a possible by half a second. Max Verstappen Carlos Sainz Jr. spun his McLaren was made on Thursday. semi-final clash against last was third quickest in his Red Bull, backwards into a barrier and broke The Spaniard will take on Bul- year’s runner-up and US Open a further .147 back. off his rear wing. garia’s Egor Gerasimov in the winner Dominic Thiem.