MONDAY, JANUARY 12, 2015 SPORTS Dollar protest fails to spoil America win MEXICO CITY: Coach Gustavo Matosas was Pizzi, pulled level before halftime with an showered with fake dollar bills bearing his own goal by America midfielder Moises picture in the middle by angry fans of for- Velasco and a header from Argentine strik- mer club Leon over his defection to cham- er Mauro Boselli. pions America. Colombian Darwin Quintero, one of Matosas shrugged off the protests at the America’s new signings for the Clausura, Azteca on Saturday as his new side scored scored the winning goal in the 66th two goals in the opening seven minutes minute. Another newcomer to the Liga MX, through Mexico striker Oribe Peralta and Paraguay captain Roque Santa Cruz, went on to win 3-2. enjoyed a winning start for his new club “Everyone knows what Leon means to Cruz Azul, who won 1-0 at Pachuca with a me in my life (but) today I’m at America and goal from Ecuador’s Joao Rojas. Pachuca’s I enjoyed the victory because that’s what Hidalgo pitch looked as if it was covered in coaches live off,” Matosas told reporters snow an hour and a half before kickoff after after the win on the opening weekend of a sudden hailstorm but the match went the Clausura championship. ahead as scheduled after the field was “We all like to win although Leon has a cleared. place in my heart for all the good things we Guadalajara, Mexico’s biggest club and experienced,” added the Uruguayan, who arch-rivals of America, made a disappoint- replaced Antonio Mohamed at America as ing start to their efforts to avoid relegation soon as the Argentine had secured the title with a 2-1 defeat at Chiapas. last month. Matosas steered Leon to pro- The Chivas are one from bottom of the motion in 2012 and both the Apertura and relegation standings which are based on Clausura championships in the 2013/14 teams’ average points over three seasons. season. Leon, now under former San The team in bottom place at the end of the Lorenzo and Valencia coach Juan Antonio Clausura goes down. — Reuters Wawrinka clinches Chennai Open CHENNAI: An aggressive Stanislas going on to seal the first set. Wawrinka won his third Chennai Open In the second set, Wawrinka convert- title on Sunday beating qualifier Aljaz ed a second break point to forge 4-3 Bedene in the final for a perfect buildup ahead and eventually clinched title with- to his Australian Open title defence later out losing a set in the tournament which this month. The world number four, win- bodes well for his Australian Open cam- ner in 2011 and last year, hardly broke paign. “It would be a strange feeling to sweat against his Slovenian opponent for come back as the defending champion in a 6-3 6-4 victory. a grand slam,” he said the of the year’s ITALY: AS Roma forward Francesco Totti vies with Lazio’s defender from Romania Stefan Radu during the Italian Serie A football match. —AFP “It’s just amazing to win it again, to first major starting on Jan. 19. start the year with a trophy,” the 29-year- “First I’m going to enjoy a little bit old Swiss, in his seventh straight year in (winning) this trophy. It’s not every week the south Indian city, said in a courtside that you win a trophy.” Bedene was the Totti saves Roma blushes interview. In a match between oppo- first qualifier in the 20-year history of the nents who had split their previous two tournament to reach the final, winning encounters, Wawrinka drew first blood in seven matches en route to his maiden MILAN: A second-half brace by captain second just after the hour mark. Sport. Sampdoria remained in the hunt for a the sixth game, breaking Bedene before ATP Tour final. — Reuters Francesco Totti saved Roma’s blushes in a 2-2 It was Totti’s 239th goal in Serie A, taking the Champions League place thanks to Eder’s 49th draw with city rivals Lazio that pulled them level 38-year-old to within 35 of Silvio Piola’s all-time minute strike in a 1-0 home win over Empoli. with Juventus at the top of Italy’s Serie A yester- record of 274. Totti, who is in his 22nd season Sinisa Mihajlovic’s men ended a three-game day. Roma started the 141st derby only one point with the club, celebrated by taking a telephone winless run to sit fourth, 10 points behind Juve behind Juventus, who can pull three points clear from one of the Roma coaching staff and taking a and only one behind Lazio in the third and last with a win away to high-flying Napoli in Sunday’s ‘selfie’ picture of himself before returning to the Champions League qualifying spot. late game. pitch. Totti’s 11th goal in the city derby was also a “We’ve got 30 points already and we’re one But it took a second-half double from veteran record, and he told Sky Sport: “I had the idea dur- match away from the halfway stage of the sea- playmaker Totti to secure a share of the spoils ing the week. After scoring my 11th goal it was son, so we have to be satisfied,” Mihajlovic told after Stefano Mauri and Felipe Anderson had giv- an unforgettable moment.” Radio Rai. “We’re fourth in the table but we con- en Lazio a 2-0 first-half lead. Elsewhere, Fiorentina moved into the top six tinue to take it one match at a time.” Cagliari gave “I said it before the game, Totti is a genius. This after dominating Palermo in a seven-goal thriller their bid to beat the drop a boost with a precious was his kind of game,” Roma coach Rudi Garcia in Florence. The hosts were given a 2-0 lead by 2-1 win over basement side Cesena. told Sky Sport. “We came back from two goals Manuel Pasqual and Jose Maria Basanta, only for Atalanta and Chievo played out a dull 1-1 down, and this is never easy to do. It’s like being Palermo to pull level in the space of two second- draw in Bergamo, while Parma’s relegation woes at the circus, you’re playing without the safety half minutes when Robin Quaison hit a brace on were compounded by a 3-1 defeat away to net.” Lazio coach Stefano Pioli was quick to con- the hour. Three minutes later Juan Cuadrado put Verona with veteran striker Luca Toni hitting his gratulate his players, telling Sky: “The lads had a Fiorentina in front and although Joaquin’s 74th sixth goal of the campaign for the hosts. great game. For the past two years Roma have minute strike appeared to put the match beyond Earlier, former Manchester United defender been targeting much bigger goals than we have. reach, Palermo kept the hosts on their toes when Nemanja Vidic’s first goal for Inter Milan secured “The important thing is we went out there to Andrea Belotti reduced arrears from the spot a 3-1 win over Genoa in their Serie A clash on win. We still have to improve on certain aspects. nine minutes from time. Sunday as on-loan Arsenal forward Lukas If you look at both of Roma’s goals, we had “In the dying minutes we were afraid of them Podolski made his first start for the hosts. Inter greater numbers in defence.” pulling level, but the lads held firm and showed are now 15 points behind champions and lead- Totti reduced arrears with a fine angled strike that on the day we were the superior side,” ers Juventus, but just six behind third-placed three minutes after the restart and claimed his Fiorentina coach Vincenzo Montella told Rai Lazio. — AFP Saudi Al-Rajhi claims debut Dakar stage win IQUIQUE: Saudi Arabia’s Dakar Rally rookie up being claimed by one of the Minis. drivers crown. Today is the final rest day for the Yazeed Al-Rajhi claimed a maiden stage win in Sunday’s 808 kilometre run, with 784km car drivers ahead of Saturday’s finish in Buenos the spectacular sand dune finish in Iquique yes- timed, took Al-Rajhi and the rest of the car com- Aires. terday to break Mini’s stranglehold on this year’s petitors from Bolivia’s salt flats in Uyuni to the After Saturday’s day off for motorcyclists the race. As the Toyota driver celebrated his land- vertiginous dunes of the Chilean Pacific coastal 717km (321km timed) seventh stage which took mark day on the world’s toughest rally, his Qatari city of Iquique. the two-wheeled competitors from Iquique to rival Nasser Al-Attiyah did enough in his Mini in He covered the route in three hours, 26 min- Uyuni was won by Honda’s Paulo Goncalves. third to consolidate his position at the top of the utes and 49 seconds, with Saturday’s stage win- The Portuguese rider is placed third in the driver standings. ner Orlando Terranova in second in his Mini, over overall motorbike standings, 11minutes behind The 2011 Dakar winner even gained a few one minute behind. his Spanish teammate Joan Barreda, with this seconds on his closest pursuer, South Africa’s Al-Attiyah, a further two-and-a-half minutes pair separated by KTM’s defending champion Giniel de Villiers (Toyota), who finished fourth. back in third, has an almost eight-and-a-half Marc Coma.