SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2014 SPORTS Leverkusen end Preview losing streak

BERLIN: Second-placed Bayer Leverkusen Hanover 96’s revival under new coach Tayfun Ghana midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng firing broke their three-match losing streak with a 2-1 Korkut continued as they earned a 3-1 win over home the winner nine minutes from time. win at home to VfB Stuttgart in the Bundesliga Borussia Moenchengladbach. Korkut’s team had The Royal Blues, who have lost just once in yesterday. picked up only their first away win of the season nine games, had taken an early lead after a Swiss striker Eren Derdiyok headed home last weekend by the same margin at Wolfsburg. scrappy goal was credited to Brazilian centre- Leverkusen’s winner six minutes from time. Striker Artjoms Rudnevs headed home his back Felipe Santana as both he and Boateng Stuttgart’s Moritz Leitner had given the visitors second goal in as many games for Hanover after lunged for the ball. an early lead before Bayer striker Stefan Kiessling the break, then Senegal striker Mame Diouf then Wolfsburg drew level despite being down to equalised in the first half. The result sees rose highest at the backpost to head home the 10 men, after Daniel Caligiuri was sent off for Leverkusen close the gap behind league leaders first of his two goals on 81 minutes. insulting the referee five minutes into the sec- ond-half, when teenager Maximilian Arnold fired home on 65 minutes. But Boateng then fired home the winner for his sixth goal of the season to give Schalke their LONDON: Arsenal’s Spanish defender Nacho Monreal. —AFP second straight win. Schalke face a tough run of matches with Hanover, Leverkusen and Mainz coming up before they host Real Madrid in the Wenger eyes Arsenal’s last 16 of the Champions League. There was a strong South Korean influence in Mainz’s 2-0 win at home to Freiburg as Park Joo- return to EPL summit Ho gave them a first-half lead. Compatriot Koo Ja- Cheol added the second as the three points lifted LONDON: Arsenal manager Arsene up to six weeks with a recurrence of a Mainz to seventh. Werder Bremen’s poor form con- Wenger wants his side to apply pressure thigh problem. tinues as they suffered a 3-1 defeat at Augsburg on their Premier League title rivals by The Wales midfielder has been one of with the visitors finishing up with ten men. reclaiming top spot with victory over the stand-out performers for the An own goal gifted Bremen an early lead Crystal Palace today. Gunners this season, scoring 13 goals for they could not maintain. Midfielder Tobias The Gunners lost their place at the the north Londoners in all competitions. Werner equalised for Augsburg, then Bremen summit of the table to Manchester City He will miss crunch league fixtures in had defender Santiago Garcia sent off for a sec- following their mid-week 2-2 draw at February against Liverpool and ond yellow card just before the break. Southampton. Manchester United, the FA Cup fifth- Goals by Augsburg’s Turkey striker Halil While Arsenal dropped points at St round clash with Brendan Rodgers’s Altintop and midfielder Andre Hahn in the first Mary’s last Tuesday, City were rampant in men, and the mouth-watering ten minutes after the break sealed their win. The result left Bremen 12th in the league a 5-1 mauling of Tottenham Hotspur 24 Champions League last 16 first-leg tie while Augsburg stay ninth. Hamburg’s slump hours later. against Bayern Munich. continues as they were drubbed 3-0 at But Wenger hopes his men can get “He finished training normally, came Hoffenheim, leaving Bert van Marwijk’s side back to winning ways immediately at in and had pain. We checked in on the third from bottom as they suffered their fifth the Emirates Stadium against Tony Pulis’s scan and is was a recurrence of his mus- GERMANY: Leverkusen’s Roberto Hilbert (top) challenges for the ball with Stuttgart’s straight defeat. resurgent outfit. That will restore a two- cle problem,” Wenger said. Moritz Leitner during the German Bundesliga soccer match. —AP “Our biggest problem is that we concede point advantage for the Gunners over “Why did it happen? Have we not goals too easily,” mused Hamburg coach Bert nearest rivals City, who host third-place been cautious enough? We have Bayern Munich to ten points with the European There were three goals in the last 10 minutes van Marwijk. “The 2-0 was the turning point, we Chelsea tomorrow. respected the procedures. Maybe we champions hosting Eintracht Frankfurt today. as Borussia striker Peniel Mlapa grabbed a con- behaved like amateurs. “That’s our target,” Wenger said. “Can should have been a bit more cautious, “We didn’t start very well by conceding an solation goal on 84 minutes, while Diouf could “We have to be able to get through a game you win the next game if you give but it was not obvious.” early goal,” said Bayer coach Sami Hyypia, whose have finished with a hat-trick. without conceding a goal and shooting our- side had lost successively to strugglers Frankfurt, He had a great chance saved late on, then selves in the foot.” On Friday, Borussia absolutely everything? Yes, so let’s do it. Wenger reacted to Ramsey’s injury by Bremen and Freiburg. slammed home his second and Hanover’s third Dortmund picked up their first win in five “It is a great opportunity for us to win bringing in Sweden international mid- “The difference compared to the matches on 90 minutes to the delight of the home league games with a 2-1 victory at bottom side our game and respond to our draw at fielder Kim Kallstrom from Spartak against Freiburg and Bremen, which the team crowd. Eintracht Braunschweig with Gabon winger Southampton. Moscow on a short-term loan deal. had really wanted to win, was that we had more Schalke 04 moved up to fourth with a 2-1 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scoring both “At the moment they (City) are on fire. Improving Palace have lost only twice structure in our game.” victory at home to ten-man VfL Wolfsburg with goals. —AFP But I believe we have just to focus on in their last six matches under new man- our own run because if you look at the ager Pulis, who has seen his side climb schedule, if we are consistent we have a to 14th place in the table. The south good chance to do it. London club brought a raft of new play- Aberdeen thrash St Johnstone “You cannot speculate on any weak- ers to the club before the January trans- ness in Man City in the coming months. fer window closed on Friday. GLASGOW: Aberdeen took a step closer to claim- the second minute. box before slipping the ball under the keeper for a So let’s focus on us, and our strengths, in Goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey, cen- ing their first trophy in 19 years following an However, the Dons and Rooney weren’t to be cool finish. the coming months. tre-back Scott Dann and midfielders Joe emphatic 4-0 win over St Johnstone in their denied a minute later when the January signing In the second half Gary McDonald saw his “It is the way we can do, if we keep Ledley and Tom Ince all arrived at League Cup semi-final clash at Tynecastle. from Oldham rolled the ball across goal for Jonny header come back off the post for St Johnstone the consistency and manage to win the Selhurst Park, while Jason Puncheon’s Jonny Hayes grabbed the first and final goals Hayes to turn home the opener. before the Dons added their third. Pawlett sent big games-one of them will be Man City loan move from Southampton was with Peter Pawlett and Adam Rooney adding the Saints responded well and Lee Croft looked set Rooney clear and the striker held his nerve to curl at home (on March 29). turned into a permanent transfer. others in between as Aberdeen reached their first to level matters when he got in behind the the ball beyond the advancing Banks. “Of course that will be very impor- “Obviously it was good business done major final since 2000. Aberdeen defence but he was foiled by a tremen- Andrew Considine sent his header off the cross It was sixth time lucky for the Dons, who had dous save from Jamie Langfield. bar for the Dons before Hayes grabbed his second tant. Of course they had an impressive by the football club and we just hope it failed at the semi-final stage in their five previous Aberdeen doubled their advantage - against of the match in the 79th minute. The forward jinxed win, and a great quality game as well at gels as quick as necessary to get us the attempts, who will now meet the winners of the run of play - in the 32nd minute when Pawlett in from the left before sending an angled shot Tottenham. points to keep us in the Premiership today’s match between Hearts and Inverness picked up a loose clearance and drove into the beyond Banks to seal the win. —AFP “But if you analyse it well, this game (Premier League),” Pulis told Sky Sports. Caledonian Thistle. Aberdeen manager Derek could have turned as well. All the turn- “The important thing was getting McInnes said his side deserved the win. Cagliari halt Fiorentina’s march ing points went in their favour. If they competition, and also getting cover. “We got off to a great start but I thought we had not gone ahead, you are not sure There’s almost a third of the season to were poor for a spell after that and we allowed MILAN: Fiorentina’s promising run towards Serie semi-final clash with Fiorentina. they would have won the game.” go, and we needed that.”What we’ve got them too many opportunities to get the ball into A’s coveted Champions League places was tem- Veteran striker Antonio Di Natale’s penalty put Arsenal have suffered a major injury to do now is get them into the groove as our box,” McInnes said. “But all-in-all it was great porarily halted by a first defeat of the year in a 1-0 the northerners within sight of their first victory blow, with Aaron Ramsey ruled out for quickly as we can.” —AFP and we were clinical today. The players were terrif- reverse away to Cagliari yesterday. since a 2-1 away win at Livorno prior to Christmas. ic and they have a great work ethic and together- Vincenzo Montella’s side had taken 14 points Nico Lopez then settled last-minute nerves ness about them. I can’t complain as it is 4-0 from a possible 18 in their last six games following with an injury-time strike. Fiorentina remain in Preview against a good St Johntsone team.” a 2-1 reverse to Roma at the Olympic Stadium in fourth although Napoli could extend their lead St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright said his early December. over the Florence side to six points with victory side weren’t clinical enough. “We know we’ve con- But La Viola’s run, which had put them within away to Atalanta today. Rodgers takes stock of tributed to three of the goals and that’s the disap- three points of third-placed Napoli in the first Cagliari and Udinese moved up one place to pointing thing but we will take a lot of positives Champions League spot, was ended when 13th and 14th respectively ahead of the remain- Liverpool’s progress from it as I thought we played extremely well and Mauricio Pinilla slotted home from the penalty der of the weekend fixtures while Bologna could controlled large parts of the game,” the St spot for the Sardinians just before half-time. drop into the relegation zone depending on BIRMINGHAM: Brendan Rodgers performance and got a draw,” he said. “I Johnstone manager said. “I think in the end they In yesterday’s other early game struggling Sassuolo and Livorno’s respective results. believes Liverpool’s trip to West think it will be like that throughout the deserved it because they were more clinical than Udinese ended a run of four straight defeats with Milan will be looking for their third consecu- Bromwich Albion today is a significant remaining games. us but I think we put a lot into the game.” a 2-0 away win at relegation-threatened Bologna tive league win under coach Clarence Seedorf at landmark in the club’s development “My focus is only on us and respecting Aberdeen had handed on-loan Shaleum Logan to claim their first league win of the year. home to Torino in late yesterday’s late game. since he took over at Anfield. every opponent that we play. “West his debut while Saints had stand-in keeper Steve Udinese, who had finished an impressive fifth Juventus, who sit top with a six-point lead on Rodgers’ side were beaten 3-0 at the Brom, with a new manager, will be very Banks in goal for the suspended Alan Mannus. place last season, belied their poor league form in Roma, host Inter Milan in today’s eagerly-await- Banks was called into action straight away as Hawthorns on the opening day of last keen to get a win, so we know it will be a this campaign to oust AC Milan from the last 16 of ed late game with Roma hosting Parma at the season in the Liverpool manager’s first very difficult match for us. Aberdeen raced out of the blocks and the ‘keeper the Italian Cup last week and set up a two-leg Olympic Stadium earlier in the day. —AFP did well to turn away Rooney’s shot on the turn in league match in charge. “We’ll be ready and prepared. We’re Seven of the 18-man squad that day coming off the back of an outstanding are no longer at the club. While Liverpool performance and we’ll look to carry that took until September 29 to register their on into the weekend.” Nolan double lifts Hammers first league win last season, they are Mel has held a summit with his side to much improved now and sit firmly in the resolve their defensive woes as they pre- Mohamed Diame. thick of the race for a Champions League pare to face a Liverpool attack whose They created the first chance place. return of 57 top-flight goals has only West Ham 2 when Jarvis curled a cross towards Rodgers accepts that there is still been bettered by leaders Manchester Carroll, who directed his header plenty more progress to make but has City. over the crossbar. Allardyce’s defen- sive tactics in West Ham’s midweek been pleased with the changes he has The Baggies blew a two-goal lead to implemented since August 2012. lose 4-3 at Aston Villa in Mel’s second Swansea 0 goalless draw at Chelsea had infuri- ated Blues boss Jose Mourinho, “We’ve grown. If I look back at my game in charge - leaving them with one who accused the Hammers of play- time here over the last 18 months, I look win from their last 13 Premier League ing “football from the 19th century”. back at the first game we played against matches. That battling point against one of West Brom,” Rodgers said. “I had a very good meeting with all of LONDON: Kevin Nolan lifted West the league’s top sides had clearly “It’s ironic that we play them this the players and they were able to speak Ham United out of the Premier done wonders for West Ham’s self- weekend. Where we were at then, we their opinion,” he said. “In my opinion, League relegation zone as the mid- esteem after a difficult period and had some talented players but we were West Bromwich Albion have to play fielder’s double strike clinched a 2-0 they kept Swansea on the back foot very much an individual group. together, in attack and defence. win over Swansea City yesterday. before taking the lead in the 26th “Over the course of 18 months, we’ve “My players will work hard to win the Sam Allardyce’s team secured minute. implemented a method to our play. We next game. It’s impossible to score three only their fifth league victory this It was a simple but effective have become a team. “We’re understand- goals away and not win. It was down to season thanks to two first-half move that bore all the hallmarks of ing the game much better in terms of mistakes. goals from Nolan at Upton Park. Allardyce’s preferred approach. A how we want to work and how we want “In the first 20-25 minutes we played The Hammers couldn’t relax well-directed cross found Carroll LONDON: West Ham United’s Antonio Nocerino (center) com- until the final whistle however as to play. “The important trait in any suc- well and looked on our way to winning and the former Liverpool striker petes with Swansea City’s Dwight Tiendalli during their cessful team is character, and we have the match. “Villa’s first goal was an indi- they had to survive the final 30 rose highest to cushion a header minutes without England striker English Premier League soccer match at Upton Park. —AP got that in bucketloads. It’s something vidual mistake, which is normal in foot- into the path of Nolan, who had that makes me very happy, but we’ve still ball, so there are no problems. Andy Carroll, who was sent off for timed his run perfectly to drive a the hosts doubled their lead in first- in the 59th minute after jumping got a way to go.” “But the team was nervous and I don’t violent conduct following a clash low shot past Swansea goalkeeper half stoppage time. Once again with Flores in an aerial challenge. with Swansea’s Chico Flores. Gerhard Tremmel. Allardyce’s team Swansea were undone by a text- As the pair untangled following Liverpool are firm favourites to take know why.” Former Liverpool striker The east London club climb one survived a scare when referee book example of Allardyce’s direct their collision, Carroll caught the three points at the Hawthorns follow- Nicolas Anelka will be unavailable after place to 17th in the table after their Howard Webb waved away philosophy. Flores with a flailing arm and, ing their 4-0 Merseyside derby win over he had seven stitches in his knee. first home win since November and Swansea’s penalty appeals after A Stewart Downing corner to with the Swansea defender falling Everton in midweek. The Frenchman, who is fighting an they are now just two points Wilfried Bony broke through on the far post picked out Carroll, who theatrically to the turf, referee But Rodgers maintains there is no Football Association disciplinary charge behind 11th-placed Swansea. goal and tumbled under a chal- peeled away from his marker and Webb showed him the red card. prospect of taking Pepe Mel’s side lightly. for his controversial ‘quenelle’ goal cele- West Ham made two enforced lenge from James Tomkins that headed back across goal to Nolan, That gave lacklustre Swansea “People probably expected Chelsea to bration against West Ham in December, changes as defender George made just the slightest contact who glanced his header past hope of a late fightback, but they win at home against West Ham, but they is likely to be back for the crunch clash McCartney and Matt Jarvis came in with the ball. Tremmel from close range. rarely tested Hammers goalkeep- went there and put on a great defensive with Crystal Palace next weekend. —AFP for injured duo Joey O’Brien and That proved a crucial moment as Carroll got his marching orders er Adrian. —AFP