GGOLFOLF | Page 4 Tiger ousts McIlroy to reach WGC Match Play quarter-fi nals Sunday, March 31, 2019 FOOTBALL Rajab 24, 1440 AH Manchester City GULF TIMES regain top spot; Huddersfi eld down SPORT Page 3 QNB STARS LEAGUE Title race on as Duhail, Sadd play out electrifying draw El Arabi’s brace puts Duhail ahead after Bounedjah’s opener but an own goal in 95th minute salvages 2-2 draw for Sadd By Sports Reporter Doha eigning champions Al Duhail and table top- pers Al Sadd locked in an electrifying 2-2 Rdraw in their QNB Stars League Week 20 heavyweight clash yesterday. Moroccan striker Yousef El Arabi, the top-scorer in Qatar for the last two seasons, struck both the goals for Al Duhail in the 75th and 85th minutes. The second goal came off a penalty kick, awarded by referee Abdulrahman al-Jassim after Hamed Ismail fouled substitute Ali Afi f. Ace Algerian striker and tour- nament top scorer Baghdad Bounedjah had put Al Sadd ahead by scoring in the 26th minute. The Wolves were helped by an own goal by substitute Murad Naji at the stroke of fi nal whistle (90+5). Al Sadd and Al Duhail now have 51 and 47 points respec- tively. Al Sadd would have been crowned as champions had they won the match. On the other Al Duhail’s Yousef El Arabi (left) celebrates his goal with teammates during their QNB Stars League match at Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium yesterday. PICTURES: Shemeer Rasheed, Anas Khalid hand, Al Duhail needed only a draw to stay in the title race. Al Sadd called the shots early goal in the 61st minute. RAYYAN BLOW LEAD IN enth victory, whereas Al Rayyan Al Sadd, captained by Xavi on, but Al Duhail grew into the The match was dubbed Hilal GHARAFA LOSS crashed to their fi fth defeat. Al Hernandez, could have been in game as it wore on. Derby because both clubs are lo- At the Duhail stadium, Al Ghara- Rayyan dominated the proceed- the lead in the 14th minute had If Al Sadd beat Al Ahli in Week cated in the area. fa defeated Al Rayyan 4-2. ings early, but Al Gharafa settled Akram Afi f not been thwarted 21 on April 4, they will become Al Ahli went into the match Vladimir Weiss (22nd and into their stride slowly. from the spot by Al Duhail goal- the 2018-19 QNB Stars League on the back of a goalless draw 78th-min penalty), Mehdi Tare- Al Gharafa earned a penalty keeper Amine Lecomte. champions irrespective of Al Du- with Al Shahania, while Al Ara- mi (28th), Lucas Mendes (56th) in the seventh minute, but they The penalty came as a result hail’s result. bi had lost 1-2 to Al Gharafa in scored the goals for Al Gharafa, missed it. Abdelaziz Hatem of a foul by Mohamed Moosa on Week 19. while Rodrigo Tabata (15th-min touched the ball from the spot for Bounedjah. AHLI BEAT ARABI 2-1 It was a consolation for Al Ahli, penalty) and Gelmin Rivas (38th) Taremi to slot home the penalty, The Red Knights could have Al Ahli themselves registered a who had been going through a found the mark for Al Rayyan. but the Iranian striker fumbled equalised in the 45th minute had 2-1 win over Al Arabi at home lean patch of late under Spanish Al Rayyan had themselves to with it. Al Rayyan and Al Gharafa Japanese midfi elder Shoya Na- yesterday. coach Ruben de la Barrera, who blame as they conceded the lead had played out a 1-1 draw in the kajima’s chip shot after evading Al Ahli, with their 10th victo- replaced Czech Milan Macala and initiative. It was a blow to fi rst leg. three defenders not hit against ry, raised their points tally to 33, during the winter break. The Lions’ bid to stay in the third the crossbar. whereas Al Arabi remained on 27. Al Arabi, coached by Heimir position. Al Gharafa’s Vladimir Weiss The match, played at the Al Meshaal Abdullah (24th Hallgrimsson from Iceland, thus Al Rayyan stayed on 33 points, (left) in action against Al Rayyan Duhail Stadium in front of 6,337 minute) and Mohamed al-Bayati suff ered their 11th defeat. Al Ahli while Al Gharafa moved to 25 during their QNB Stars League spectators, had all the ingredi- (86th) scored for Al Ahli. For Al had defeated Al Arabi 3-0 in the points. match at Abdullah Bin Khalifa ents of a thriller. Arabi, Victor Vazquez netted a fi rst leg. It was The Cheetahs sev- Stadium yesterday. Qatar’s Khalid al-Kuwari, Abdulla al-Hijji in padel quarters Qatar register big win in West Asia rugby Qatar’s Khalid Saadon al-Kuwari in ac- tion during the 1st Nexus Cup FIP 125 Championship quarter-finals against Australia’s Matthew Barrelle and Taylor Smith in Chiba City, Japan, yesterday. Al-Kuwari and his partner Abdulla al-Hijji won the match 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 to set up a semi-final match against another second seed Australian duo of Justin Thomas and Marious Zelba. In another match yesterday, the campaign of Qatar’s Ab- dulaziz Saadon al-Kuwari and Mohamed Saadon al-Kuwari came to an end with a 4-6, 4-6 loss against Japanese-Spanish duo of Daisuke Shoyama and Gago Martinez Asier. The FIP 125 tournament is running alongside the 3rd Asian Padel Championship, which began yesterday. The six-member Qatar team fought hard in their tie against Australia but will now have to play India in the third-fourth playoff , after Australia won 2-1. Australia got off to a big start with a 6-0, 6-1 win before the Qataris fought hard in a three-setter to level the tie with a 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory. Qataris even got off the mark big time in the third rubber taking the first set 3-6, but the Australians came back taking the next two sets 7-6, 7-6 to Action from the match between Qatar (in maroon) and Jordan (in white) in Asia Rugby Championship West Asia seal their place in the final against Ja- Division 3 at Aspire Zone yesterday. Qatar opened their tournament campaign with a blockbuster 77-0 win. The pan, who beat India 3-0. (Facebook/3rd next match in the tournament is on Tuesday between Lebanon and Jordan, while Qatar’s second match is on Asian Padel Tournament) Friday, April 5, against Lebanon. PICTURE: Othman Khalid Gulf Times 2 Sunday, March 31, 2019 FOOTBALL SERIE A Teenager Kean gives Juve narrow win over Empoli Reuters in and saving the north-eastern outfi t Turin, Italy from relegation with two wins in the last four games of the 2017-2018 sea- son. eenager Moise Kean scored Davide Nicola was sacked a week ago three minutes after coming on after just four months with the club as a substitute to give Juventus losing their last two games to Serie A a 1-0 win over lowly Empoli leaders Juventus (4-1) and second- Tafter the runaway Serie A leaders had placed Napoli (4-2). Tudor’s return been jeered off at halftime yesterday. had an immediate impact with Stefano Juventus, missing Cristiano Ronaldo Okaka opening the scoring after just after he suff ered a thigh injury in Por- four minutes in Udine, fi nishing off a tugal’s 1-1 draw with Serbia on Monday Seko Fofana cross. and Paulo Dybala after he pulled up Rolando Mandragora sealed a valu- during the warm-up, struggled to break able three points with a volley just af- down the visitors until Kean struck in ter the hour mark as Udinese gain some the 72nd minute. breathing space by moving four points Giorgio Chiellini played a long ball above the relegation zone with just out of his own half and Mario Mandzu- their third win of 2019. kic headed it into the path of Kean, 19, AC Milan, meanwhile, were travel- who fi red past Bartlomiej Dragowski. ling to Sampdoria later last night tar- Empoli had enjoyed the better of the geting third place ahead of arch rivals fi rst half, angering the home crowd, Inter who moved ahead after winning and Rade Krunic was twice close to giv- their derby clash before the interna- ing them a shock lead. tional break. Juventus have 78 points, 18 clear of second-placed Napoli who visit AS ITALIAN SERIE A RESULTS Roma today. Empoli are 17th with 25 Udinese 2 (Okaka 4, Mandragora 61) points, one point and one place above Juventus’ Italian forward Moise Kean Genoa 0; Juventus 1 (Kean 72) Empoli 0 the relegation zone. scores during the Serie A match Earlier, Igor Tudor got off to a win- Today: Parma v Atalanta (0930), Fioren- against Empoli yesterday. (AFP) ning start on his return as Udinese tina v Torino, Frosinone v SPAL, AS Roma coach yesterday with a 2-0 win over v Napoli (1200), Bologna v Sassuolo Genoa who had infl icted the fi rst Serie (1500), Inter Milan v Lazio (1730) A defeat of the season on Juventus last Played Friday: Chievo 0 Cagliari 3 time out. Former Croatian internation- al Tudor took over a year after coming (Pisacane 16, João Pedro 33, Ionita 43) BUNDELIGA SCOTTISH PREMIERSHIP Gerrard hopes to avoid another ‘slap Alcacer’s double in the face’ at Celtic The Guardian Glasgow teven Gerrard expects fi res Dortmund top his Rangers players to have more self-belief at Celtic Park today than Swhen they lost there in Septem- ber.