MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2014 SPORTS Frankfurt pile on misery for Hamburg

BERLIN: Lucas Piazon’s spectacular 90th- minute free-kick gave Eintracht Frankfurt a 2-1 victory at Hamburg yesterday as the former European champions remain rooted to the foot of the Bundesliga. Haris Seferovic gave Frankfurt the lead in the 44th minute, striking home Timothy Chandler’s pass. Hamburg final- ly found the back of the net for the first time this season in the 58th minute as Lewis Holtby crossed to Nicolai Mueller, who got his shot through the legs of Frankfurt keeper Felix Wiedwald. Hamburg’s first goal came 508 minutes into the season, comfortably snapping VfL Bochum’s previous Bundesliga record of 475 minutes without a goal to start the 1979-89 season. Hamburg looked like they would grab a point but 20-year-old Piazon unleashed a per- SPAIN: Valencia’s Gaya (right) vies with Real Sociedad’s midfielder Markel Bergara fectly-placed free kick into the upper right cor- (left) during the Spanish League football match. —AFP ner to secure the victory. “He can do that,” said Frankfurt coach Thomas Schaaf. Frankfurt jumped to seventh Valencia in second spot place on nine points, five off leaders Bayern Munich, while Hamburg, who were European after draw with Sociedad champions way back in 1983, have just with two points from six games. Augsburg are MADRID: Valencia moved back into second The home side weren’t discouraged, eighth with nine points following a 1-0 home place in La Liga as they extended their though, and their dominance was eventu- win over Hertha Berlin earlier yesterday. unbeaten start to the season with a 1-1 ally rewarded with an equaliser nine min- Augsburg captain Paul Verhaegh hammered draw away at Real Sociedad yesterday. utes before half-time. home a penalty in the 27th-minute after Carles Gil’s early volley had Los Che on Inigo Martinez thought his header had Hertha keeper Thomas Kraft had brought target to join Barcelona at the top of the crossed the line when Jose Gaya cleared down Raul Bobadilla in the box. table, but la Real were deservedly level from underneath his own crossbar, but the “The victory was enormously important before half-time when Sergio Canales’s hosts weren’t to be denied seconds later as because we have two away matches coming cross found the far corner. former Valencia playmaker Canales’s cross up,” said Augsburg coach Markus Weinzierl. Still without star summer signing Alvaro avoided everyone on its way into the far “We knew that Hertha would defend and Negredo due to a foot injury, Valencia corner. not give us a lot of chances, so it was impor- lacked the firepower to find a way through La Real continued to enjoy the majority tant that we got the win.” Reigning champions after the break. However, a point was still of possession after half-time, but were Bayern Munich remained top on Saturday with enough to edge them ahead of Atletico thankful to goalkeeper Enaut Zubikarai for a 2-0 win at FC Cologne. Bayern kept a clean Madrid on goal difference ahead of their keeping them level two minutes from time sheet for their fourth straight Bundesliga meeting with the champions at the as he flew to his right to make a fine save match to move to 14 points, two points clear of Mestalla next weekend. Valencia had won from Nicolas Otamendi. Borussia Moenchengladbach. four consecutive games since an opening The home side still went close to win- Pep Guardiola’s Munich opened the scoring day draw at Sevilla to move top of the table ning the game twice in stoppage time as on 19 minutes as Mario Goetze struck his third before Barcelona’s 6-0 thrashing of Granada Shkodran Mustafi headed Canales’s goal- goal in the last two matches. Lucas Piazon celebrates in this file photo. on Saturday. bound effort over his own bar before The visitors doubled the lead midway However, the visitors were reliant on Esteban Granero nodded the resultant cor- secure VfL Wolfsburg a 2-1 victory at home Hanover 96 went down 1-0 at struggling VfB through the second half as Daniel Halfar put goalkeeper Diego Alves early on as the ner inches wide. against Werder Bremen. After Ricardo Stuttgart, Daniel Schwaab scoring his team’s through his own net. Gladbach won 2-1 at Brazilian produced two stunning saves to Earlier, Deportivo la Coruna failed to Rodriguez pushed Wolfsburg ahead in the 15th first goal at home this season in the 69th Paderborn thanks to early goals from Patrick deny Carlos Vela and Imanol Agirretxe. move out of the relegation zone as they minute, Marnon Busch equalised for Bremen minute, while Mainz and Hoffenheim played Herrmann and Raffael, with Jens Wimmer get- Yet, it was Valencia who went in front were beaten at home 1-0 by Almeria thanks after 37 minutes. out a scoreless draw on Friday.—AFP ting one back for the promoted club, who had against the run of play with a fine team to Edgar Mendez’s stoppage time strike. been top before losing at Bayern in midweek. goal on 15 minutes as Paco Alcacer headed However, Getafe did move out of the bot- Gladbach’s win took them above Leverkusen, Rodrigo’s cross back into the heart of the tom three as they were also 1-0 victors over German League results/standings who had to play more than an hour with 10 area for Gil to volley home. Malaga.—AFP men but held on for a 0-0 draw away at SC Freiburg. FC Augsburg 1 (Verhaegh 27-pen) Hertha Berlin 0; Hamburg 1 (Mueller 58) Eintracht Frankfurt 2 (Seferovic 44, Piazon 90). Spanish league results/standings Leverkusen defender Emir Spahic was sent off in the first half, although Freiburg also fin- Played Saturday ished the game a man down after Pavel Krmas Schalke 04 2 (Matip 10, Choupo-Moting 23), Borussia Dortmund 1 (Aubameyang 26); SC Freiburg 0, Bayer Getafe 1 (Herrero 25) Malaga 0; Deportivo la Coruna 0, Almeria 1 (Mendez 90+2); was dismissed. Leverkusen 0; VfB Stuttgart 1 (Schwaab 69) Hanover 96 0; FC Cologne 0, Bayern Munich 2 (Goetze 19, Halfar 66-og); Real Sociedad 1 (Canales 36) Valencia 1 (Gil 15). The visitors might have won it but Karim SC Paderborn 1 (Wemmer 70), Borussia Moenchengladbach 2 (Herrmann 8, Raffael 14); VfL Wolfsburg 2 (Rodriguez 15, Olic 57), Werder Bremen 1 (Busch 37). Played Saturday Bellarabi and Son Heung-Min both hit the Villarreal 0, Real Madrid 2 (Modric 32, Ronaldo 40); Barcelona 6 (Neymar 26, 45, 65, Rakitic 42, Messi 61, crossbar in the final 17 minutes. In 81) Granada 0; Atletico Madrid 4 (Koke 19, Saul 42, Raul Garcia 83-pen, Raul Jimenez 89) Sevilla 0; Gelsenkirchen, Schalke 04 picked up their sec- Played Friday Athletic Bilbao 0, Eibar 0; Levante 0, Rayo Vallecano 2 (Baptistao 12, 32). ond straight victory with a 2-1 win at home Mainz 05 0, Hoffenheim 0. over bitter rivals Borussia Dortmund. Played Friday German Bundesliga table after yesterday’s matches (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): Elche 0, Celta Vigo 1 (Nolito 90). Dortmund’s recent defensive struggles con- tinued as goals from Joel Matip and Eric Maxim Bayern Munich 6 4 2 0 11 2 14 Schalke 04 6 2 2 2 10 10 8 Spanish league table before yesterday’s late match (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, Choupo-Moting left them trailing 2-0 by the M’gladbach 6 3 3 0 8 3 12 SC Paderborn 6 2 2 2 8 8 8 points): midway point in the first half. Bayer Leverkusen 6 3 2 1 11 9 11 Dortmund 6 2 1 3 9 11 7 Jurgen Klopp’s side did reduce the deficit Hoffenheim 6 2 4 0 9 5 10 FC Cologne 6 1 3 2 2 3 6 Barcelona 6 5 1 0 17 0 16 Granada 6 2 2 2 4 9 8 Mainz 05 6 2 4 0 9 5 10 Hertha Berlin 6 1 2 3 8 12 5 Valencia 6 4 2 0 14 3 14 Malaga 6 1 3 2 3 6 6 shortly afterwards courtesy of a Pierre-Emerick Hanover 6 3 1 2 5 4 10 VfB Stuttgart 6 1 2 3 4 9 5 Atletico Madrid 6 4 2 0 11 4 14 Getafe 6 2 0 4 3 10 6 Aubameyang strike but they could not find an Eintracht Frankfurt 6 2 3 1 9 8 9 SC Freiburg 6 0 4 2 6 9 4 Sevilla 6 4 1 1 9 7 13 Real Sociedad 6 1 2 3 8 9 5 equaliser and have collected only seven points FC Augsburg 6 3 0 3 8 8 9 Werder Bremen 6 0 3 3 9 15 3 Real Madrid 6 4 0 2 20 9 12 Espanyol 5 1 2 2 7 8 5 from six games this season, one fewer than VfL Wolfsburg 6 2 2 2 10 8 8 Hamburg 6 0 2 4 1 8 2 Celta Vigo 6 3 3 0 11 7 12 Athletic Bilbao 6 1 1 4 4 6 4 Schalke. Villarreal 6 2 2 2 7 6 8 Deportivo 6 1 1 4 7 15 4 Eibar 6 2 2 2 5 4 8 Elche 6 1 1 4 5 14 4 Ivica Olic scored in the 57th minute to Rayo Vallecano 6 2 2 2 10 10 8 Levante 6 1 1 4 1 12 4 Almeria 6 2 2 2 5 5 8 Cordoba 5 0 2 3 3 10 2 Mourinho concerned over Costa fitness

LONDON: Jose Mourinho admits Diego Costa runs the risk of breaking down if the injury- Bordeaux keep pressure plagued Chelsea striker is pushed too hard. Costa took his season’s tally to eight goals as on Marseille Chelsea remained top of the Premier League with a 3-0 win over Aston Villa at Stamford PARIS: Bordeaux went provisionally back their temporary home in Amiens. On Bridge on Saturday. to the top of the Ligue 1 table yesterday, Saturday, Paris Saint-Germain were held But the fitness of former Atletico Madrid star striking late to beat Rennes 2-1 and to a 1-1 draw at Toulouse, their fourth Costa, who has been struggling with a ham- leapfrog leaders Marseille. draw in their last five matches meaning string problem for several weeks, remains a con- Willy Sagnol’s side have surprised that they will not go into Tuesday’s cern for Mourinho. many with their excellent start to the Champions League showdown with The Chelsea manager believes Costa needs a campaign, although it looked like they Barcelona in the best shape. rest to protect his hamstring and revealed how would have to settle for a point when France’s other Champions League he is not taking full part in training as he nurses Wahbi Khazri’s opener for the hosts was group stage representative Monaco suf- him through the season. cancelled out by a Habib Habibou fered a fourth loss in just eight league In the circumstances, Mourinho insists his Spain forward can only play one game a week, equaliser with just 10 minutes remaining. games this season, falling 1-0 at home to but he could yet utilise him for Tuesday’s However, youngster Thomas Toure, Nice in the Cote d’Azur derby, while there Champions League game at Sporting Lisbon-a who until three days ago had not started were wins for Lille, Metz, Montpellier and fixture Chelsea can ill-afford to lose after draw- a Ligue 1 game, scored his first goal at Evian.—AFP ing their group opener against Schalke. the highest level in style in the third “Diego’s doing almost nothing. He’s just rest- minute of added time to give Bordeaux ing and recovering from the tight muscle he has the points. every time he accumulates fatigue,” Mourinho The six-time champions move a point said. clear of Marseille, although Marcelo “I think if he doesn’t go to the national team, Bielsa’s side will have the chance to and stays here for 15 days of treatment, recover- regain first place when they host Saint- ing, and making muscle and the other areas Etienne later yesterday. around muscle stronger. I think he has perfect “The players never gave up. They were chance to be top for Chelsea and the national cooked at the end, but they kept looking team. for the winner into the final minutes,” “If he doesn’t have this period, he will be said a delighted Sagnol. “They can be always play one game and the other game he is proud but they also know that there is in trouble. The muscle is in danger of rupturing.” work to be done in terms of the perform- Even on one leg, Costa proved too strong for ance.” Villa. Chelsea led via Oscar’s early goal but Villa Elsewhere, Lyon made it four games handed the hosts numerous scares before sec- ond-half goals from Costa and Willian sealed the unbeaten but threw away the lead in a 1- Chelsea’s Spanish forward Diego Costa win. 1 draw away to Nantes at the Stade de la Southampton, which give us a guarantee that been kind on boss Paul Lambert and it won’t get Beaujoire. Good feeling next weekend we will still be top of the league. any easier with a game against Manchester City, Burkina Faso defender Bakary Kone Mourinho insists being top of the table This is very, very important. the Premier League champions, next up. headed in Alexandre Lacazette’s free-kick counts for nothing at this stage. But leading “It’s not crucial because it’s too early. But it’s a However, the imminent return to fitness of to put OL ahead six minutes into the sec- from the front is a position that sat comfortably little bit of space. And it gives you a good feeling Belgium striker Christian Benteke after a six- ond half, but he then shoved Georges- with him during his first trophy-gathering spell that you are top of the league. month absence with an Achilles injury will pro- Kevin Nkoudou to the ground inside the in charge at Stamford Bridge. “Not to lose many “I think everybody knows that everybody is vide a welcome boost. “We are playing without a box, allowing Jordan Veretout to level points at home during the season always going to lose points. Nobody is convinced recognised striker at the moment. That does not from the penalty spot in the 72nd becomes important factor,” Mourinho added. Chelsea is going to keep this run for 10 or 15 make it easy,” Lambert said. minute. FRANCE: Bordeaux’s Nicolas Andre “We are playing well, scoring goals and we matches, getting positive results. “We are also in a run of games that is really Yesterday’s other game saw Lens draw Biyogo Poko (right) vies with Renne’s are happy. But we go match after match. The “We know this Premier League. Everyone tough. You are playing against top sides. You 0-0 with fellow promoted club Caen at player Ola Toivonen during the French next one for us in the Premier League is Arsenal. knows it’s possible for top teams to lose points.” know it’s tough and we are up against L1 footbal match. —AFP “We have a lead of three points over Aston Villa’s early-season fixture list has not Manchester City next.” —AFP