15 Sports Wednesday, December 23, 2020 Abraham hits double as Chelsea sink West Ham Burnley find cutting edge to beat Wolves and escape bottom three

LONDON: West Ham United’s Spanish midfielder Pablo Fornals (right) vies with Chelsea’s Italian midfielder Jorginho dur- BURNLEY: Burnley’s New Zealand striker Chris Wood (center) scores their second goal during the English Premier League ing the English Premier League football match between Chelsea and West Ham United on December 21, 2020. —AFP football match between Burnley and Wolverhampton Wanderers at Turf Moor in Burnley on December 21, 2020. —AFP

LONDON: Tammy Abraham hit a quickfire late minute after a cleverly worked free kick but Declan his scuffed shot tapped in by the England interna- threat from the home side grew as the half wore on. double on Monday as Chelsea beat West Ham 3-0 Rice was denied by the off-side flag after an tional, who was played onside by Aaron Cresswell. Barnes put Burnley ahead in the 35th minute to reignite their Premier League challenge after a impressive finish from a tight angle. Three minutes Two minutes later Chelsea were 3-0 up when after a quick counter attack, heading home at the consecutive defeats. The Hammers proved tricky later Chelsea were in front when Silva powered Abraham fired home from a tight angle after far post after a cross from Charlie Taylor. It was his opponents at an empty Stamford Bridge but lacked home a header from Mason Mount’s corner. The Fabianski had done well to keep out Christian first goal in the Premier League since November the firepower to hurt Frank Lampard’s men, who Brazilian found the net from close range after a Pulisic’s header. That made it the eighth time 2019, ending a run of 970 minutes played in the led early through Thiago Silva’s bullet header. well-timed run, leaving West Ham goalkeeper Chelsea have scored at least three goals in a competition without finding the net. Burnley contin- Chelsea enjoyed a strong start to the season Lukasz Fabianski rooted to the spot. Chelsea Premier League match this season-and they nearly ued to threaten and Josh Brownhill hit the crossbar before losses to Everton and Wolves checked their enjoyed the lion’s share of possession after their had a fourth when Werner struck the crossbar with with with a right-footed shot from outside the box progress but the victory at the London Stadium goal without creating much of note but West Ham two minutes left. The win lifts Chelsea to 25 points- shortly after the restart. But they doubled their lead lifts them into fifth spot. worked their way into the game as the half wore on. one behind fourth-placed Everton-while West Ham in the 51st minute after Wolves failed to deal with Champions Liverpool have opened up a five- stay in 10th place. Ashley Westwood’s free-kick. point gap at the top of the table but behind them, Werner goal drought Ben Mee headed the ball back into the danger just seven points separate second-placed Leicester Timo Werner, who has not scored for Chelsea Burnley beat Wolves zone where it came off Rayan Ait-Nouri before from 11th-placed Wolves. “It was nice to see that at since early November, had a golden chance to dou- Earlier, Burnley rediscovered their sharpness in Wood blasted it into the roof of the net from point- the end because we had a period at 1-0 where it ble their lead in the closing minutes of the first peri- front of goal to beat Wolves 2-1 on Monday and blank range. Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo was tough, we dealt with that well,” Lampard told od but got the ball caught under his feet and climb out of the Premier League’s relegation zone. threw on Adama Traore and Fabio Silva as he the BBC. “We dropped off slightly and it was impor- Fabianski saved comfortably. David Moyes’s team Scoring has been a headache for Sean Dyche’s men, sought a way back into the game. The away side tant tonight we came back,” he added. “There were made life uncomfortable for the home side after the who had netted just six goals in 12 top-flight games dominated possession but could not find a way loads of things for the team to show their character- break but did not make the most of their regular before the match. But goals from Ashley Barnes and through the disciplined Burnley rearguard. Wolves we want more. forays forward despite the introduction of forward Chris Wood extended their unbeaten league run to earned themselves a lifeline when teenager Silva “Christmas has been changed for everybody this Said Benrahma. They were made to pay when four matches, lifting them to 16th in the table. scored from the penalty spot in the 89th minute year. For the lads we just have to prepare for Abraham, back in the starting XI, doubled Chelsea’s Wolves started brightly at Turf Moor, with Pedro after he was brought down by Josh Benson. But Arsenal, it’s a busy time of year for us.” lead with 12 minutes to go, settling their nerves and Neto testing Burnley goalkeeper Nick Pope after a despite late pressure from Wolves, Burnley held on West Ham had the ball in the net in the seventh ending his own drought. Werner cut inside and saw driving run midway through the first period, but the to secure all three points. — Agencies

in 2010, with Milan taking the honors Milan clubs jostle the following year. Since then Matches on TV Juventus have dominated. Andrea to end the year Pirlo’s champions are third, four points (Local Timings) behind AC Milan, and have a chance to pile the pressure on their northern top of Serie A rivals at home against struggling Fiorentina. Cristiano Ronaldo has been ENGLISH LEAGUE CUP MILAN: AC Milan and Inter Milan will clinical as always, leading all Serie A Stoke City FC v Tottenham Hotspur 20:30 be vying to end the year top of the scorers with 12 goals. beIN Sports Serie A table today as the city rivals Juventus can also take advantage of Everton v Manchester United 23:00 push to deny Juventus a 10th consecu- injury worries among their rivals. beIN Sports HD 2 tive ‘Scudetto’ this season. Leaders AC Zlatan Ibrahimovic remains out for a Milan’s unbeaten league run, which sixth consecutive league match for SPANISH LEAGUE stretches back to March, faces a stiff Milan with a leg muscle injury, even if Real Valladolid v FC Barcelona 00:00 test against Lazio in the San Siro. “We Pioli’s side have shown they can win beIN Sports HD 3 have one game left against Lazio and even without the towering presence of Villarreal CF v Athletic de Bilbao 00:00 we might be able to achieve our first the 39-year-old Swede. But Pioli also SASSUOLO: AC Milan’s Portuguese forward Rafael Leao (left) and Sassuolo’s beIN Sports HD 5 objective (staying top of Serie A) on has a crisis in midfield with IsmaÎl Brazilian defender Marlon go for the ball as AC Milan’s Italian coach Stefano Getafe CF v Celta de Vigo 19:30 December 23,” said Milan coach Bennacer out, Franck Kessie suspend- Pioli (Rear right) looks on during the Italian Serie A football match Sassuolo vs beIN Sports HD 1 Stefano Pioli. “It would add to our suc- ed, and Sandro Tonali, Ante Rebic and AC Milan at the Mapei stadium in Sassuolo. —AFP cess in the Europa League this season, Simon Kjaer in doubt. “I’d like to have Real Madrid CF v Granada CF 21:45 so we’d end a very positive year.” more options to choose from but we’ll beIN Sports HD 1 But Antonio Conte’s Inter Milan are make the best of the situation as show something different and better. ty and character. “We’ll try and do it Deportivo Alaves v SD Eibar 00:00 just one point behind in second before always,” said Pioli. “But we still have a very difficult match today against a difficult opponent. We beIN Sports HD 3 their trip to ninth-placed Hellas “The squad has always done well in to play, probably with few players have to grit out teeth and dig deep and Real Betis v Cadiz CF 00:00 Verona. Inter last won the Serie A title turning difficulties into a chance to available but we have the right mentali- then enjoy Christmas.” — AFP beIN Sports HD 5

ITALIAN CALCIO LEAGUE Hellas Verona FC v Inter Milano 20:30 11th minute when Abdelaziz Wadi scored. Just 5 Tokyo Olympics Kuwait’s Football minutes later, Ahmad Al-Dhafiri doubled the score, beIN Sports HD 4 while Bader Al-Mutawaa scored a third goal in the unveil a budget Bologna FC v Atalanta 22:45 81st minute from the penalty spot. Bandar Bouresli beIN Sports League roundup scored Kazma’s only goal in the 88th minute. AC Milan v SS Lazio 22:45 Qadisiya now have 31 points while Kazma have 25 of $15.9 billion beIN Sports HD 4 By Abdellatif Sharaa (in third place). SSC Napoli v Torino FC 22:45 TOKYO: The coronavirus-delayed Tokyo beIN Sports HD 5 The second match was between Yarmouk and Olympics will cost at least 1.64 trillion yen ($15.9 KUWAIT: The 14th round of Kuwait Football AS Roma v Cagliari Calcio 22:45 Sulaibkhat, who are guaranteed to drop to the billion), organizers said yesterday, unveiling a final League (ranking phase) kicked off with an exciting beIN Sports HD 8 lower league. The match ended with Yarmouk budget swollen by the unprecedented postpone- match between two teams jockeying for a better UC Sampdoria v US Sassuolo Calcio 22:45 defeating Sulaibkhat. Sunami Doof scored two ment and a raft of pandemic measures. The extra place on the ranking table. The match ended with goals and Athby Shihab scored one to raise their costs - up 294 billion yen ($2.8 billion) from figures beIN Sports Qadisiya topping the table with a win against team’s point total to 8, while Sulaibkhat released a year ago - come as officials work to Spezia Calcio v Genoa CFC 22:45 Kazma 3-1. Qadisiya’s first goal came early in the remained stuck at 5. build enthusiasm for the first Games postponed in beIN Sports peacetime. A poll last week showed that a majority Udinese Calcio v Benevento 22:45 of Japanese oppose holding the Tokyo Games next beIN Sports year, favoring a further delay or outright cancella- tion of the massive event, and the latest budget FRENCH LEAGUE could make the Tokyo Games the most expensive Stade Rennais v FC Metz 21:00 Summer Olympics in history. beIN Sports HD 10 Organizers, who have ruled out another delay and Bordeaux v Stade Reims 21:00 insist the Games can be held next year, defended the beIN Sports HD 6 increased costs. “Whether you see this budget as Racing Club v Stade brestois 21:00 expensive or not depends on how you look at it,” beIN Sports HD 3 said Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto. “You can look OGC Nice v Lorient 21:00 at it from a cost perspective or an investment per- beIN Sports HD 7 spective. If you look at it purely in terms of cost, it Nimes Olympique v FCO Dijon 21:00 doesn’t make sense. But if you look at it as a positive beIN Sports HD 9 investment, I think there are areas where it can be AS Monaco FC v Saint Etienne 23:00 identified as such.” beIN Sports HD 9 Organizers have tried to scale back elements of Angers v Olympique Marseille 23:00 the Games in a bid to save money, scrapping athlete beIN Sports HD 7 welcome ceremonies and scrimping on the all-impor- Paris Saint-Germain v RC Strasbourg 23:00 tant “look” of the event. But these savings - along beIN Sports HD 6 with an expected 76 billion yen ($735 million) in Olympique Lyonnais v FC Nantes 23:00 extra revenue from sponsors and insurance payments beIN Sports HD 10 - have been outweighed by a plethora of extra costs, HSC Montpellier v LOSC Lille 23:00 from rebooking venues and transport to retaining the huge organizing committee staff. — AFP beIN Sports HD 3