27 Sports Monday, October 29, 2018 Milivojevic strikes late as Palace halt Arsenal’s 11-match winning run Emery’s side fall short of the club’s record of 14 victories in a row

LONDON: Arsenal’s 11-match winning run came to a range. Arsenal finally emerged from their slumber when dramatic end as Luka Milivojevic’s late penalty rescued Lacazette pounced on Milivojevic’s careless pass on Crystal Palace in a contentious 2-2 draw yesterday. the edge of the Palace area and fired just wide. But Roy Unai Emery’s side failed to win a 12th successive match Hodgson’s men appealed for a penalty after Jordan in all competitions as they fell short of the club’s record Ayew’s run was halted by Shkodran Mustafi. of 14 victories in a row. Arsenal fell behind to the first of two Milivojevic PANICKED penalties just before half-time at Selhurst Park. Granit On that occasion, Palace’s claims were turned down Xhaka equalised with a sublime free-kick before by referee Martin Atkinson, but on the stroke of half- Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang poked in his ninth goal of time they were given a spot-kick. Leno made a hash of the season in controversial circumstances. punching clear from a corner and a panicked Mustafi Arsenal striker Alexandre Lacazette flicked the ball needlessly lunged into Cheikhou Kouyate. to Aubameyang with his hand, but officials failed to Palace captain Milivojevic missed a penalty in their spot the offence. Angered by that blow, Palace felt jus- defeat at Everton last weekend. Unfazed, Milivojevic tice was done when Wilfried Zaha won a second penal- kept his nerve this time to send Leno the wrong way ty with seven minutes left and Milivojevic slotted home from the spot. Having finally scored their first home again. It was a frustrating afternoon for Emery, whose league goal this season at the fifth attempt-a futile captain Mesut Ozil reacted angrily when he was substi- streak that lasted 417 minutes-Palace needed to keep tuted in the 68th minute, the German throwing his Arsenal at bay after the break. gloves to the floor after stomping past the Arsenal However, it took only six minutes for Xhaka to manager. It was the latest flare-up between the pair equalise as the Gunners yet again turned on the style in after Ozil was reportedly angered by Emery’s demand the second half. The Swiss midfielder smashed a superb that he work harder in matches earlier this season. curling free-kick into the far corner of Wayne Arsenal remain fourth in the , but Hennessey’s net from way out on the right flank. missed the chance to keep pace with leaders Liverpool, Arsenal had seized the momentum and they who are four points clear of the north Londoners. snatched the lead in controversial circumstances in the Emery’s team had made a habit of getting off to slow 56th minute. When Lacazette rose to meet a cross, the starts this season before flourishing in the second half French striker’s raised hand clearly made contact with LONDON: Arsenal’s English striker Danny Welbeck (L), Crystal Palace’s English midfielder Aaron Wan-Bissaka (C) and and another sluggish opening left them creaking under the ball, diverting it to the unmarked Aubameyang. Crystal Palace’s English defender James Tomkins (R) go up for a header during the English Premier League football match intense Palace pressure. Lacazette’s offence was missed by Atkinson and between Crystal Palace and Arsenal at Selhurst Park in south London yesterday. — AFP Zaha was a constant menace and the Palace winger Aubameyang stabbed home at the far post, with almost opened the scoring with a low shot that hit a goalline technology confirming his effort had just post with Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno rooted to the crossed over before Hennessey pushed it out. when they won another penalty in the 83rd minute. players, that it was worthy of a spot-kick. For the sec- spot. Palace should have gone ahead moments later Max Meyer hit the outside of a post as Palace Zaha tricked his way past Xhaka and tumbled to the ond time, Milivojevic was coolness personified as he when Andros Townsend failed to convert from close- pushed for a leveller and the hosts felt justice was done turf, his fall convincing Atkinson, if not the Arsenal drilled past Leno to end Arsenal’s winning run. — AFP

Chelsea hit Matches on TV Burnley for four (Local Timings) ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE BURNLEY: Chelsea proved their Premier League title Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester City 23:00 credentials even without the injured Eden Hazard as beIN SPORTS HD 2 goals from Alvaro Morata, Ross Barkley, Willian and Ruben Loftus-Cheek sealed a comfortable 4-0 victory ITALIAN CALCIO LEAGUE at struggling Burnley to climb into second, two points SS Lazio v Internazionale Milano 22:30 behind leaders Liverpool. beIN SPORTS HD 4 Hazard, who was ruled out by a back problem sus- tained in a 2-2 draw with Manchester United last week- end, has been Chelsea’s main source of goals in an unbeaten start to the season under Maurizio Sarri. However, the visitors were stronger than their rele- Atletico win gation-threatened hosts in every department and per- haps the only disappointment for Sarri was that they failed to underline their dominance with further goals. to top La Liga After a sombre start with a minute’s silence to mark a helicopter crash that is feared to have taken the life of ahead of Clasico City owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha on Saturday, Chelsea soon got to grips with the business at hand. MADRID: Defenders Diego Godin and Filipe Luis scored There should have been more to show for their first- as Atletico Madrid bounced back from their midweek half efforts than just Morata’s 22nd-minute opener, thrashing by Borussia Dortmund with a 2-0 victory over expertly guided past an exposed Joe Hart after the Real Sociedad to move top of La Liga on Saturday ahead BURNLEY: Chelsea’s English midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek (r) shoots past Burnley’s English defender Matthew Lowton Spaniard was put through by a lovely slide-rule pass of the season’s first Clasico. (L) to score their fourth goal during the English Premier League football match between Burnley and Chelsea at Turf Moor from midfielder Barkley in a move instigated by the Despite a stuttering start to the campaign, the poor in Burnley, north west England yesterday. — AFP ever-impressive N’Golo Kante. form of both Barcelona and Real Madrid have allowed After conceding five goals against his former club Diego Simeone’s side to drag themselves to the summit Manchester City last time out, Hart excelled with a fine uncomfortably slender three points above the relega- but the visitors didn’t have long to wait before Barkley after a seven-game unbeaten run in the league. early save from Morata’s deft glancing header, while tion zone. The hosts were largely forced onto the back put the game to bed by surging forward from Kante’s Wednesday’s 4-0 thumping at Signal Iduna Park was also denying the Chelsea forward from close range. foot in their attempts to keep at bay a Chelsea side for pass to find the bottom corner past Hart from 20 yards. the heaviest defeat of Simeone’s seven years in charge, but When Sarri’s side eventually found a way past the who again there was no starting place in the Premier That soon became three when Willian was rewarded for Atletico put in a commanding display at the Wanda Metropolitano. former England goalkeeper, the woodwork came to League for Loftus-Cheek. his efforts by cutting in from the left to find the bottom their rescue as a low curled effort from Willian struck “I was convinced that they would respond in the best Scorer of midweek Europa League hat-trick, Loftus- corner. France international Olivier Giroud remains way,” Simeone told Movistar. “Today was 90 minutes that the upright. Burnley, who are struggling to mount a Cheek was introduced after just half an hour due to an without a goal this season as he blazed a good late showed good togetherness and creates enthusiasm and campaign capable of mirroring last season’s impressive injury to Pedro Rodriguez. Morata wasted a good chance narrowly wide. But Loftus-Cheek showed him calmness.” The 2014 Spanish champions lead second- seventh-place finish, threatened only sporadically, and a chance to double Chelsea’s advantage after the restart the route to goal with a composed finish deep into placed Barcelona by one point, with Real four further second successive defeat left Sean Dyche’s side an when heading over at the near post from Willian’s cross, injury time. — AFP adrift, with the two giants to face off at the Camp Nou on Sunday. After a frustrating first 44 minutes which saw Ruben Pardo twice go close for the visitors, Godin struck on the stroke of half-time, latching onto a loose ball to Srivaddhanaprabha: sweep home his first league goal since March 2017. Atletico dominated after the restart and left-back Luis put the game to bed on the hour mark with a brilliant curl- Author of unlikely ing effort after cutting inside onto his less-favoured right foot. Elsewhere, Valencia were held to their 10th draw of the season and fifth in a row with a goalless stalemate at football fairytale Athletic Bilbao. Marcelino’s men, who finished fourth last term to quali- fy for the Champions League, are now just three points LONDON: Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, the Thai billion- above the relegation zone despite having only lost one of aire owner of Leicester City whose helicopter crashed their 10 top-flight matches so far. Saturday outside the Premier League club’s stadium, is Spain striker Iago Aspas scored a hat-trick as Celta the author of one of football’s greatest fairytales. Vigo thrashed Eibar 4-0 to move into the top half of the Polo-loving Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, 61, endeared table, while Levante clinched a fourth successive league himself forever to Leicester fans by bringing the tiny victory by beating Leganes 2-0. club a league title in 2016, their first since the club was Earlier on Saturday, Real Madrid coach Julen Lopetegui created in 1884. It was a Premier League championship evaded questions regarding his future at the club after the won against all the odds, one that put the central European champions’ woeful recent spell. An unconvincing England city on the global sporting map and brought 2-1 midweek win over Viktoria Plzen in the Champions glory to generations of long-suffering fans. League did little to lift the pressure on his shoulders after Leicester City have been unable to reach quite the a run of five games without a win, and he is widely same meteoric heights since, finishing 12th in the subse- believed to be on borrowed time just four months after taking over from Zinedine Zidane. quent season and ninth in 2017-18. But it developed a “I hope to still be breathing. I don’t think I am going to sense of camaraderie among players and fans alike and die,” the 52-year-old Lopetegui replied at a press confer- a happy family atmosphere. ence on Saturday to a question about what the future Jamie Vardy, the championship season’s talismanic holds for him after Sunday’s match at the Camp Nou. goal scorer, on Saturday tweeted a message that simply “Everyone is 100 percent full of energy and my energies showed eight hands held together in prayer. The are 100 percent focused on helping the team.” It will be bespectacled Thai tycoon is known for his an unerring the first Clasico since 2007 to feature neither Lionel LEICESTER: A man poses for a photograph against a mural showing Leicester City Football Club’s Thai chairman Vichai common touch, dishing out free beer and doughnuts at Messi, who is injured, or Cristiano Ronaldo, with Sergio Leicester’s Stadium, where he often lands Srivaddhanaprabha near De Montfort University in Leicester, eastern England, yesterday after a helicopter belonging to Ramos the only survivor 11 years on in either side from his helicopter in the centre circle. Srivaddhanaprabha crashed outside Leicester City Football Club’s yesterday. —AFP that game. “The Clasico existed before that. The Clasico It was from there that his helicopter took off after has always been the Clasico, and there were even flying Saturday’s 1-1 draw with West Ham before crashing in ily frontman. challenge himself to get something done,” Top, piglets,” said Barca boss Ernesto Valverde, with a refer- the car park directly outside the stadium grounds. He also rubs shoulders with celebrities and his sur- Leicester’s vice-chairman, told AFP in in 2016. ence to a meeting of the sides in 2002, when Barcelona Despite his popularity, Srivaddhanaprabha remains an name, meaning “light of progressive glory,” was “He said, I think two or three years before, that he fans threw a pig’s head at Luis Figo, their former idol who enigmatic figure and rarely gives interviews, preferring bestowed by ’s late king . wants the team to be a success in the Premier League, had crossed the divide to join Real in 2000. “There has to let his son, Aiyawatt, known as “Top”, act as the fam- “He (Vichai) is a successful businessman and he tried to and now we are.”—AFP always been tension.” — AFP