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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2014 SPORTS Cagliari hold Napoli in thriller MILAN: Cool-headed Cagliari fought back he ran unhindered to the back post to from a two-goal deficit to claim a precious meet Luca Rossettini’s header. 3-3 draw away to Napoli yesterday, which Smiles were back on Napoli’s faces just left Rafael Benitez’s men six points behind after the hour when Jonathan De Guzman second-placed Roma. sent a fine angled header past the out- Juventus had restored their three-point stretched Cragno, but Farias levelled again lead at the top of Serie A with a 3-0 rout of six minutes later when he was picked out Lazio at the Olympic Stadium on Saturday, by Ibarbo’s pass at the back post. after Roma had momentarily drawn level Elsewhere, Fiorentina grabbed a pre- thanks to a 2-1 win away to Atalanta. cious 2-1 win away to Verona thanks to Napoli were hoping to make it three wins Juan Cuadrado’s 62nd minute winner after on the trot to maintain their title push but Nico Lopez had levelled the visitors’ 16th- Benitez’s men blew a two-goal lead provid- minute opener from Gonzalo Rodriguez ed by Gonzalo Higuain and Gokhan Inler as just before the interval. tenacious Cagliari fought back to claim a Sampdoria, who are one point adrift in share of the points. fourth, spurned the chance to leapfrog Benitez told Sky Sport after the game: Napoli into third after settling for a 1-1 “We had the game under control, but gift- draw away to struggling Cesena. ed Cagliari too many chances. “We started The hosts opener the scoring through with the right attitude, but then we took defender Stefano Lucchini on the hour our foot off the pedal and let our intensity mark but saw Constantin Nica turn the ball drop.” Cagliari coach Zdenek Zeman said into his own net 13 minutes from time to the secret to claiming an “important point”- hand Sinisa Mihajlovic’s visitors a share of the Sardians are now two above the drop the spoils. zone-was adopting the correct mental Antonio Di Natale scored his 200th Serie approach. A goal on what was his 400th league “If you have the right mentality, if you appearance when he gave Udinese a 1-0 focus on playing football, the results will half-time lead against Chievo, who saw come,” said the wily veteran. “If you’re Ivan Radovanovic hit a 74th-minute leveller SPAIN: Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, from Argentina, is lifted by his teammates after scoring against Sevilla during a Spanish La Liga soccer match patient, sooner or later the goal-scoring to grab a point. at the Camp Nou stadium. —AP opportunities come your way.” Parma’s woes continued, meanwhile, Higuain, who now has seven goals this with Roberto Donadoni’s side succumbing season, struck for the fifth consecutive 2-0 to promoted Empoli, leaving them league game when he hit a curling shot rooted to the bottom with 10 defeats hav- Messi leaves La Liga greats trailing from just inside the area past Alessio ing leaked 30 goals in 12 games. Cragno after 11 minutes. In Sunday’s late match AC Milan host MADRID: If anyone had said when a callow fans wildly cheered their talisman who joined Raul needed 550 games to reach 228 and Di Inler doubled Napoli’s lead with a daisy- Inter Milan in the city derby in what will be teenager called Lionel Messi netted his debut La the club’s academy at the age of 13. Stefano required 329 for his 227 goals. Anyone cutter from 30 yards that had Cragno Roberto Mancini’s first game in charge fol- Liga goal in May 2005 he would break Telmo He has taken 10 seasons to overhaul Zarra- who has watched Messi in recent years knows clutching at thin air, but Napoli’s two-goal lowing his return as coach of the Zarra’s top-flight scoring record within a decade also setting a remarkable record for goals in a he can do things with a football that seem to joy was short-lived. Nerazzurri. they would have been dismissed as a lunatic. single campaign of 50 in 2011-12 — and the defy the laws of physics and he does not fit into Cagliari centre-forward Victor Ibarbo Milan sit in eighth place, 14 points adrift Yet that is what the pint-sized 27-year-old illustrious names he has leapfrogged give some the mould of a traditional striker. pounced on a Napoli defensive blunder to of Juventus with Inter, who sacked Walter Argentine achieved when he scored a hat-trick indication of the scale of his feat. Most of the other players at the top of the fire past Rafael and reduce the arrears sev- Mazzarri nearly a fortnight ago, a point fur- in Saturday’s 5-1 win for Barcelona over Sevilla The likes of Hugo Sanchez (234 goals), Raul charts were considered out-and-out goalscorers en minutes before the interval. ther adrift in eighth. Genoa, in fifth, host at the Nou Camp, moving to 253 goals and sur- (228), Alfredo Di Stefano (227) and Cesar while Messi tends to roam the pitch. Brazilian forward Diego Farias levelled Palermo today when a win for the hosts passing Zarra’s haul of 251 over 15 seasons for Rodriguez (226) have been left trailing and, with His ability to dribble at speed past oppo- matters two minutes after the restart when would push them up to fourth place. —AFP Athletic Bilbao in the 1940s and 50s. years left in his career, Messi’s eventual tally nents is outstanding and as well as netting a Messi equalled the record with a typically could stand as long as Zarra’s if not a lot longer. phenomenal number of goals, he regularly sets breathtaking effort, curling a free kick around Messi also has a share of the Champions up team mates to score. the wall and past goalkeeper Beto to give Barca League scoring record, having equalled Raul’s “Messi has something magical about him a 1-0 lead. haul of 71 goals this month and he could over- when the ball touches his feet,” former He struck again from close range in the 72nd haul it in Tuesday’s game at APOEL Nicosia. Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson minute and scored a third goal six minutes later A glance at the numbers shows Messi’s goals said. “It’s as if it has landed on a bed of feathers.” with a powerful low drive from the edge of the per game ratio in La Liga is second only to Comparing Messi’s playing style to some of penalty area. Zarra’s who amassed his 251 in a mere 277 La Liga’s previous top marksmen is problematic Messi’s team mates picked him up and threw matches while the Barca attacker needed 289 as relatively little television footage exists of the him into the air several times while his adoring games. Sanchez’s 234 came in 347 matches, likes of Zarra, Di Stefano and Cesar.—Reuters Woeful Liverpool suffer more pain at Palace Crystal Palace 3 Liverpool 1 LONDON: Liverpool suffered more Selhurst Park misery as struggling Crystal Palace came from behind to clinch a shock 3-1 win over the lack- lustre Reds yesterday. Brendan Rodgers’ side saw their hopes of winning the Premier League title effectively ended when they conceded three late goals in a NAPLES: Napoli’s Gonzalo HiguaÌn is tackled by Cagliari’s Antonio Balzano during a 3-3 draw at Palace last season and they fared Serie A soccer match at the San Paolo stadium. —AP even worse on their first return to south London since that painful experience. Rickie Lambert had given Liverpool an early lead with his first goal since his pre-season move from Southampton. But Neil Warnock’s Eriksen sees team hit back through Dwight Gayle’s first half equaliser and Joe Ledley put Palace in front with 12 minutes remaining before Australia midfield- er Mile Jedinak’s brilliant free-kick sealed the Spurs past Hull points moments later. LONDON: Crystal Palace’s James McArthur (right) competes for the ball with Liverpool’s Liverpool, disjointed going forward and care- Raheem Sterling during the English Premier League soccer match. —AP less in defence, could have few complaints come through the youth ranks at White about a dismal result that left them without a his fourth goal in three games against the Reds. organised rearguard in the second half. Hart Lane, the 25-year-old midfielder elect- win in four league matches and with only one Lambert, starting in the absence of injured Gerrard couldn’t keep his long-range effort Hull 1 ed not to celebrate. Briefly, Hull threatened victory in their last seven games in all competi- duo Daniel Sturridge and Mario Balotelli, has on target and Martin Skrtel sliced wide after to swamp Spurs and visiting goalkeeper tions. found it hard to replicate the prolific Speroni’s weak punch before Rodgers sent on Hugo Lloris found himself in the thick of The Reds are languishing in 12th place, only Southampton form and, despite his goal, he still Fabio Borini for Lallana in the final 20 minutes. the action. four points above the relegation zone and two looked tentative when he headed Steven Liverpool last left Selhurst with a win back in Tottenham 2 After flapping at a free-kick, the points ahead of Palace, who climbed out of the Gerrard’s free-kick over from close-range.