SUNDAY, MAY 7, 2017 SPORTS Lanzini leaves Spurs’ title bid in tatters off to an embarrassing start when Andre Ayew’s pass found Lanzini in space negli- West Ham 1 gently left vacant by the Tottenham defend- er. Fortunately for Walker, Lanzini dragged his shot harmlessly wide from a tight angle when a pass to Jonathan Calleri might have Tottenham 0 been the wiser option. After a tepid start, Tottenham should have taken the lead mid- way through the first half when Harry LONDON: Manuel Lanzini left Tottenham’s Kane’s 20-yard strike was pushed out by Premier League title challenge in tatters as Adrian. Dele Alli’s follow-up was blocked the West Ham forward sealed a 1-0 win that back to Kane on the edge of the area and put Chelsea within touching distance of the Tottenham striker looked certain to being crowned champions. Mauricio score, yet once again he was denied as Pochettino’s side paid the price for a lethar- Adrian’s out-stretched leg deflected it over. gic display at the London Stadium and Lanzini’s second half strike may well have ANXIETY ended their hopes of winning the title for Eric Dier’s header from the resulting cor- the first time since 1961. ner forced Adrian to make another alert Second placed Tottenham remain four stop, but moments later Tottenham were points behind leaders Chelsea, who can lucky not to fall behind. Noble’s pass sent extend that advantage to seven if they beat Lanzini clean through and when Hugo struggling Middlesbrough at Stamford Lloris raced off his line to block, West Ham Bridge tomorrow. Tottenham don’t play saw their appeal for a foul turned down again until they host Manchester United on while Cheikhou Kouyate’s weak follow-up May 14 and by then Chelsea, who travel to was scrambled away. West Bromwich Albion two days earlier, So stylish in Sunday’s win over north may already be champions. London rivals Arsenal, there was far less Chelsea need six points from their last swagger about Pochettino’s side as they four games to secure the English title in struggled to turn their territorial domi- boss Antonio Conte’s first season in charge. nance into a priceless goal. There was no Conte hadn’t planned to watch Tottenham’s improvement in the second half and Ayew, fate, preferring to go out for dinner with his left unmarked 18 yards out, should have wife and daughter, but if he was checking made them pay as he blasted over. for updates from Stratford his dessert Christian Eriksen, usually so composed, would have tasted even sweeter. betrayed the anxiety creeping into “The performance was not the best. We Tottenham’s play when he let Son Heung- MUNICH: Bayern Munich’s defender Jerome Boateng (L) and Darmstadt’s striker Felix Platte (R) vie for the ball during the German First division were a little bit sloppy when we conceded Min’s pass deflect harmlessly towards Bundesliga football match between FC Bayern Munich and SV Darmstadt 98. — AFP the goal,” Pochettino said after Tottenham’s Adrian when a sight of goal came his way first defeat in 10 league games. “It’s disap- inside the West Ham area. Son threatened pointing. It’s not over, but now we have to with a thunderous effort, but Adrian tipped Bayern relegate Darmstadt wait. It’s true it will be difficult to catch it away and Tottenham’s nightmare sce- Chelsea.” After a troubled first year at their nario became a brutal reality in the 65th new stadium, this was a sweet moment for minute. Unhinged by Aaron Cresswell’s BERLIN: Spain defender Juan Bernat netted Darmstadt are now an insurmountable nine when he headed home after Raphael West Ham, who guaranteed their top-flight cross, the Tottenham defense parted too the only goal of the game as champions points from safety with just two games left. Guerreiro hit the post on 82 minutes, but status for another year while delivering a easily and when Ayew couldn’t control, the Bayern Munich beat Darmstadt 1-0 yesterday, Hoffenheim pulled a goal back when ex- potentially fatal blow to their hated rivals. ball ran to the unmarked Lanzini, who a result that confirmed their opponents’ rele- DORTMUND CLOSES ON UCL Leicester City striker Andrej Kramaric slotted After a week of reports claiming Kyle drilled home from close-range. Shock gation. Bayern, Bundesliga champions for the Elsewhere, Borussia Dortmund took a big in a late penalty. Dortmund’s World Cup win- Walker could leave Tottenham following a etched on their faces, Tottenham were fifth year in a row, were made to work for vic- step towards a direct Champions League place ner Matthias Ginter wrestled Sandro Wagner clash with Pochettino over his recent demo- unable to muster a response. It took a fine tory at the Allianz Arena and Torsten Frings’ next season by climbing into third with a 2-1 to the floor after a cross and Kramaric banged tion to the bench, the England right-back save from Lloris to deny Calleri and the Darmstadt might have snatched a point, but win at home to Hoffenheim, who slip to home his 13th league goal of the season. was restored to the starting line-up in place sight of Eriksen shooting high into the Hamit Altintop’s late penalty was saved. fourth. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s second- Hoffenheim are now two points behind of Kieran Trippier. But, foreshadowing the stands was a fitting coda on a dispiriting Darmstadt had put their relegation on hold half header which proved the winner saw him Dortmund with two games remaining. anguish ahead, Walker’s return almost got night for Spurs. — AFP by recording three straight wins and they join Bayern’s Robert Lewandowski on 28 goals Ingolstadt, 17th in the table, still have a refused to lie down in Bavaria. Carlo in the race to be the Bundesliga’s top scorer. chance of staying up after their 1-1 draw with Ancelotti’s Bayern broke the deadlock when Marco Reus gave Dortmund a controversial Bayer Leverkusen. Sonny Kittel’s second-half Franck Ribery’s mazy run on the left flank lead after just four minutes, replays showing goal for the hosts was cancelled out by Saul fires Atletico played Bernat into the area. The left-back beat he was a metre offside when Gonzalo Castro’s Leverkusen’s 17-year-old midfielder Kai two defenders, then coolly chipped Darmstadt final pass put him behind the defence to tuck Havertz, leaving Ingolstadt three points from goalkeeper Michael Esser for the 18th-minute away his shot. Hoffenheim were then left fum- safety. Winger Andre Hahn scored a 94th- to top-four finish goal that proved to be the winner. ing when Germany winger Reus controlled the minute equalizer in mid-table Borussia However, the Spaniard conceded a penalty ball with his arm-which the referee missed- Moenchengladbach’s 1-1 draw with Augsburg, MADRID: Atletico Madrid secured with five minutes left by fouling Darmstadt before firing in a cross which made contact whose Iceland striker Alfred Finnbogason net- Champions League football for a fifth substitute Sven Schipplock. Altintop, playing with defender Pavel Kaderabek’s hand. ted their goal. Wolfsburg, the 2009 German straight season as Saul Niguez’s solitary against his former club, had his spot-kick Referee Felix Brych, an international official, champions, are now three points clear of the strike earned a 1-0 home win over Eibar Matches on TV saved by Tom Starke in the Bayern goal. pointed to the spot, but justice was seen to be bottom three after their 2-0 win at Eintracht yesterday. Diego Simeone’s men still harbor (Local Timings) Bayern are 13 points ahead of second-placed done when Aubameyang fired wide on 14 Frankfurt thanks to goals by Daniel Didavi and outside hopes of returning to the RB Leipzig, who are at Hertha Berlin later. minutes. The Gabon hot-shot made amends Germany striker Mario Gomez. — AFP Champions League final for the third time English Premier League in four years as they host local rivals Real Liverpool v Southampton 15:30 Madrid for the second leg of their semi-final beIN SPORTS HD 2 on Wednesday trailing 3-0 from the first leg. Arsenal v Manchester United 18:00 Controversial goal However, they are at least now guaranteed beIN SPORTS HD 2 another shot at the competition next season helps PSG keep and, just as importantly, the finances that Spanish League Primera come with it, especially as they move into a Deportivo Alaves v Bilbao 13:00 pressure on Monaco new 67,000 capacity stadium. Victory moved beIN SPORTS HD 3 Atletico 11 points clear of fifth-placed Valencia v Osasuna 17:15 PARIS: A hotly contested goal by Marco Verratti Villarreal, who have just three games remain- beIN SPORTS HD 3 helped Paris Saint-Germain to a comfortable 5-0 ing. Atletico also just need one more point to Deportivo La Coruna v Espanyol 19:30 win over bottom club Bastia yesterday as the reign- beIN SPORTS HD 3 qualify directly for the Champions League Malaga v Celta de Vigo 21:45 ing champions kept the pressure on Ligue 1 leaders group stages by finishing third as they lead beIN SPORTS HD 3 Monaco. Edinson Cavani scored twice and also had Sevilla in fourth by five points. a late penalty saved, with Lucas Moura and Simeone named a strong side with just Italian League Marquinhos getting the other goals for the hosts at two changes from the semi-final, first leg in Udinese v Atalanta 13:30 the Parc des Princes.