Established 1961 15 Sports Tuesday, August 10, 2021 Bottles thrown, match held-up as fight back in PARIS: Marseille came back from two goals down a hard earned away point. to win 3-2 at Montpellier in their French Ligue 1 It was a cautionary tale for Metz who foolishly opener on Sunday but the game was held up when gave the ball away with a shot on goal deep into fans pelted the pitch with bottles. The clash at the injury time. Yilmaz then rampaged the full length of Stade Mosson was halted in the 89th minute after the pitch with the seconds running down to dribble Marseille substitute had been hit into the area from the left wing and squeeze a shot on the head with a bottle. home from a tight angle. “That is a true leader,” Lille Montpellier’s Florent Mollet was also targeted as coach Jocelyn Gourvennec said of Yilmaz. “He’s a he readied to take a corner. Referee Jeremie real professional, a real athlete and works so hard Pignard led both teams off the pitch while appeals when the chips are down.” were made for calm. The game was eventually Lille captain Jose Fonte was furious after giving restarted after a delay of 10 minutes. “It’s always up three goals. “It’s not right and I’m not happy. But unfortunate because it penalizes everyone. The ref- after that we showed why we are champions,” said eree did what he had to do. It’s always a little sad to the Portuguese international. led see this kind of thing,” said Montpellier coach Lille to the title last season but quit and joined Olivier Dall’Oglio. ambitious south-coast outfit Nice. However, there The derby was played in front of 13,500 fans as was to be no champagne reception in his first game the first weekend of the new season witnessed the as the Ineos-bankrolled side were held 0-0 at home return of spectators after seven months of matches by Reims. played behind closed doors due to the pandemic. In Brittany 18,000 fans were on hand to see An own-goal by Luan Perez and a strike by Gaetan Rennes draw 1-1 with promoted Lens, where Laborde had given Montpellier a 2-0 lead at half- teenage winger Kamaldeen Sulemana from Ghana time. But Cengiz Under pulled one back for opened the scores with a snap-shot before Lens Marseille in the 67th minute before two goals in five drew level late on after a goalmouth mix-up. minutes by Dimitri Payet completed the recovery. Promoted Clermont got off to a flyer beating Earlier, Turkish striker Burak Yilmaz was hailed “a Bordeaux 2-0 away thanks to late goals from top true leader” after forcing home a last-gasp goal as scorer in last season Mohamed Bayo, and MONTPELLIER: Marseille’s players react after scoring a goal during the French L1 football match between Lille fought back to a 3-3 draw at Metz ase the Jodel Dossou with the last kick of the game. Montpellier and Marseille at the Mosson stadium in Montpellier, southern France on Sunday. — AFP French champions opened their title defense. The Strasbourg also suffered a 2-0 home defeat as surprise champions, who also beat Paris Saint- Ismael Traore and Stephane Bahoken bagged sec- Germain in the French Super Cup last week, were ond half goals for visitors Angers. from the spot with a Wahbi Khazri penalty. Paris winner on Saturday as Mauro Icardi’s goal secured trailing 3-1 before late goals from Nanitamo Ikone Lorient took the lead with a Vincent Le Goff Saint-Germain might be closing in on signing Lionel a 2-1 victory against newly-promoted Troyes. Lyon and Turkish national team captain Yilmaz gave them strike in a tight game at Saint-Etienne, who levelled Messi but another Argentinian was their match- were held to a 1-1 draw by Brest. — AFP

after Austrian international Martin Frankfurt upset Hinteregger received a second yellow No Messi, no card after 62 minutes. as Three Bundesliga teams were tak- en to extra time by fourth-tier oppo- problem as Barca nents and two needed penalties to teams struggle advance. Champions League bound defeat Juventus Wolfsburg escaped embarrassment at in German Cup Pruesen Muenster when Croatian BARCELONA: Barcelona started life without international Josip Brekalo volleyed a on Sunday with a 3-0 win over PARIS: Eintracht Frankfurt were 90th minute equalizer. Juventus in the pre-season Gamper Trophy. knocked out of the German Cup 2-0 Beanpole Dutch striker Wout Messi had earlier Sunday said his farewells to by third division Waldhof Mannheim Weghorst then nodded in from close the club he had served for 20 years at a tearful on Sunday as Bundesliga clubs strug- range in the 103rd minute and Ridle news conference. Memphis Depay opened the gled at lower-division opponents. Baku struck in the last minute of extra WIESBADEN: Dortmund’s teammates celebrate Dortmund’s Norwegian forward scoring for Barcelona after just three minutes With top-flight teams kept apart and time to secure a 3-1 victory. At Erling Braut Haaland (second left) for scoring the 0-1 during the German Cup with Martin Braithwaite adding a second goal assigned away games in their first Elversberg, Jonathan Burkardt saved (DFB Pokal) 1st round football match SV Wehen Wiesbaden v Borussia just before the hour mark from a corner. Young competitive matches of the season, Mainz with equalizers at the end of Dortmund in Wiesbaden, south-western Germany, on Saturday. — AFP hope Riqui Puig scored a third in stoppage time several stumbled six days before the normal time and extra time, after Luca with a fine left foot drive. In Sunday’s other Bundesliga kicks off. Schnellbacher had twice given the Jena and then won the shootout 4-2. twice. On Saturday, Erling Braut high-profile friendly, Real Madrid and AC Milan In Mannheim, the home team hosts the lead. Hertha Berlin left it late at third- Haaland hit a hat-trick as holders fought to a 0-0 stalemate. Spain’s La Liga sea- struck twice early in the second half. The visitors then won an epic division Meppen as Davie Selke Borussia Dortmund eased past Wehen son gets underway on Friday while the Italian Captain Marcel Seegert headed the shootout 8-7 when Elversberg’s headed the only goal in the 90th Wiesbaden 3-0. Bayern Munich’s Serie A starts on August 22. — AFP first after 48 minutes. Four minutes Laurin von Piechowski, with the 16th minute. Relegated Schalke made an first-round tie on Friday was post- later Joseph Boyamba lobbed former penalty, became the first player to encouraging start to their season with poned until August 25 after fifth-tier Paris Saint-Germain keeper Kevin miss. Cologne finished 1-1 after nor- a 4-1 win at Villingen with summer opponents Bremer were quarantined Trapp. Eintracht finished with 10 men mal time and extra time at Carl Zeiss acquisition Marius Buelter scoring with cases of the coronavirus. — AFP

cutor from the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) Ex-FIFA boss Blatter of Switzerland was postponed to August due to the retired Swiss football administrator’s health. meets Swiss prosecutor He spent two months in hospital in December and January after undergoing heart surgery, and in March was convalescing in a clinic. Due to Blatter’s in payment probe condition, he was only meant to spend around 90 minutes with the prosecutor yesterday. But he spent ZURICH: Former world football chief Sepp Blatter more than two and a half hours inside and said he yesterday met with a Swiss prosecutor investigating would return today. Joseph “Sepp” Blatter joined suspected fraud surrounding a FIFA payment to FIFA in 1975, became its general secretary in 1981 Michel Platini, as the long-running probe inches and the president of world football’s governing body towards a conclusion. in 1998. He was forced to stand down in 2015 and Former FIFA president Blatter, 85, is being inves- ZURICH: Former president of World football’s gov- erning body FIFA, Sepp Blatter, waves as he was originally banned by FIFA for eight years, later tigated over a two million Swiss franc ($2.2 million, reduced to six, over ethics breaches when he autho- 1.85 million euro) payment in 2011 to Platini, who leaves the building of the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland to attend a hearing in rised what prosecutors termed a “disloyal payment” was then in charge of European football’s governing SANT JOAN DESPI, Spain: Juventus’ Colombian Zurich yesterday. —AFP to Platini — in other words, one made in his own body UEFA. interests rather than FIFA’s. Blatter and Platini, 66, Juan Cuadrado (center) challenges After the interview at the federal prosecutor’s found themselves at the center of a Swiss federal Barcelona’s Dutch forward Memphis Depay and office in Zurich, the city where FIFA has its head- side. “It was in a good spirit.” investigation. “Specifically, the criminal proceedings Uruguayan defender Ronald Araujo during a quarters, Blatter said he would return on Tuesday to Blatter, who was accompanied by his lawyer against Joseph Blatter are now being conducted on friendly football match at the Johan Cruyff resume the final hearing in the investigation. “It is a Lorenzo Erni, said he would spend the rest of the suspicion of fraud, breach of trust and unfaithful Stadium in Sant Joan Despi near Barcelona on normal audience. It’s the first part. The second part day resting and working. He smiled and waved as he business management,” the OAG said in a statement Sunday. — AFP will be tomorrow,” he told journalists waiting out- was driven away. The hearing with a federal prose- ahead of yesterday’s hearing. — AFP