CRICKET | Page 4 All-round Chennai thrash Kolkata to go top of table Wednesday, April 10, 2019 FOOTBALL Sha’baan 5, 1440 AH Suarez returns GULF TIMES to England with nothing to prove SPORT Page 2 FOOTBALL/ AFC CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SPOTLIGHT Al Sadd draw with Injury-time heroics Pakhtakor despite earn win for 10-man superb Xavi brace Antlers AL RAYYAN SQUANDER LEAD TO GO DOWN TO AL WAHDA Reuters with a close range header to Hong Kong claim his debut Asian Cham- pions League goal for Shan- dong Luneng, and Graziano efending champi- Pelle doubled the side’s lead ons Kashima Antlers from the penalty spot seven scored twice in in- minutes before the break. jury time to secure a Safawi Rasid’s spectacular Dcome-from-behind 3-2 win curling eff ort just before the over South Korea’s Gyeong- hour mark gave JDT hope of nam FC despite fi nishing their salvaging a point, and Gonzalo Asian Champions League Cabrera hit the cross bar late clash with 10 men yesterday in the game as the Malaysian evening. side narrowly missed out on a The Japanese side trailed by draw. two goals with 19 minutes re- Cedric Bakambu, mean- maining after Tomoya Inukai while, scored a hat trick for headed into his own goal and Beijing Guoan, who claimed Jordan Mutch’s side-foot vol- their fi rst win in group G with ley doubled Gyeongnam’s ad- a 3-1 victory over Thailand’s vantage. Buriram United that pulls An own goal from Korean Roger Schmidt’s side into con- defender Woo Ju-sung halved tention for a place in the next the defi cit with 15 minutes re- phase of the competition. maining, only for Inukai to cap The Chinese side move on an eventful evening when he to four points and trail leaders was sent off six minutes from Jeonbuk Motors by two points time for a second bookable of- after Adriano scored the only fence. goal of the game, as the South Antlers looked destined to Korea champions saw off fel- slip to their fi rst defeat since low two-time champions winning the title last year, Urawa Red Diamonds of Japan. but Takeshi Kanamori lev- In the western half of the elled a minute into injury time draw, Iranian side Esteghlal from close range and Serginho hauled themselves back into smashed his shot into the top the running for a place in the corner two minutes later to next phase as they beat group give Go Oiwa’s side all three C leaders Al Hilal from Saudi points. Arabia 2-1 to secure their fi rst “I think we can be proud win. that we fought to win here The Tehran-based club with 10 men,” said Oiwa. move on to four points from “But we need to turn our three games with Al Hilal still sights to the next game, not leading the standings with six bask in this win for long. We points, while Qatar’s Al Du- managed to keep our com- hail sit in second after their Al Sadd star Xavi is congratulated by teammates after he scored against Uzbekistan’s Pakhtakor in Tashkent yesterday. The match ended in a 2-2 draw. posure when we were under 2-2 draw with former champi- pressure, and that led to the ons Al Ain of the United Arab Agencies Meanwhile, an added-time goal from goals in the end.” Emirates. Tashkent Leonardo sealed a 2-1 comeback win for Kashima move on to seven Zob Ahan maintained their UAE’s Al Wahda against Qatar’s Al Rayyan points from their fi rst three unbeaten start to group A in Group B. games and lead group E by when they defeated UAE side pain and Barcelona legend Xavi The two sides went into the fi xture level two points from Shandong Al Wasl 3-1 to move on to seven rolled back the years with a superb on three points, with goal diff erence fa- Luneng, with the Chinese Su- points, and the Iranian side are fi rst-half brace only for Al Sadd to vouring Al Wahda. per League side securing a 2-1 three points clear at the sum- twice squander their lead and set- Al Rayyan looked to pump crosses into win — their fi rst of the cam- mit after Al Nassr from Saudi Stle for a 2-2 draw against Uzbek giants Pa- the box for Gelmin Rivas throughout the paign — against Malaysia’s Jo- Arabia handed second-placed khtakor in their AFC Champions League fi rst half with the Venezuelan striker see- hor Darul Ta’zim. Al Zawraa from Iraq a 4-1 encounter here on Tuesday. ing his header saved by goalkeeper Mo- Marouane Fellaini scored thrashing. Fresh from their record 14th league title hammed Al Shamsi at the 15-minute mark. in Qatar, Al Sadd seemingly had the match Rivas was again at the receiving end of a in control but defensive errors allowed the Mohammed Juma cross six minutes later, hosts to grab a vital point that helped them but he failed direct his header goalward. stay atop Group D with fi ve points from Korean defender Rim Chang-woo re- three matches. sponded with a headed eff ort for Al Wah- Al Sadd are second on four points, ahead da, but his ball sailed over the crossbar, Persepolis on goal diff erence, after the Ira- before Rivas again missed a header from a nians defeated Saudi Arabia’s Al Ahli 2-0 Rodrigo Tabata cross. for their fi rst victory in Doha on Tuesday. A last-ditch tackle from Mohamed At the Pakhtakor Markaziy Stadium in Alaeldin denied the UAE side a certain the Uzbek capital, it was Xavi who was scoring opportunity before the half-time undoubtedly the star of the show as he Rayyan’s midfielder Rodrigo Tabata (L) vies for the ball with Al Wahda’s defender break. The Qatar defender snatched the silenced the partisan crowd by displaying Ahmed Rashed during their AFC Champions League Group B football match at the ball from underneath the feet of Leonardo glimpses of his class that had made him Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha yesterday. as the Brazilian was set to pull the plug fol- the most feared midfi eld maestro during lowing a quick counter attack. his heyday. however, the advantage however lasted son, struck spectacularly from a 25-yard The match burst into life in the sec- Barely had the match settled into some only three minutes as Khojiakbar Alijonov free-kick in the 16th minute to restore the ond half as Rivas fi nally got his goal for Al sort of a pattern, when Xavi stamped his punished the visitors for a poor clearance Qatari side’s lead. Rayyan. The striker evaded his marker to authority with a sublime strike in the sixth with a powerful shot past goalkeeper Me- But once again they couldn’t hold on to get on the end of Lucca Borges’ cross from minute. shaal Barsham. the lead as Serbian Dragan Ceran made it the right wing and slip home the opener After receiving a fi ne pass from Baghdad With both sides intent on attacking, it 2-2 for Pakhtakor in the 42nd minute with eight minutes after the restart. Bounedjah, the highest scorer in last sea- was only a matter of minutes before an- a fi ne header past Barsham. Al Wahda restored parity in the 67th son’s AFC Champions League, the Span- other goal materialised, and sure enough it Both teams failed to make good of the minute through Sebastian Tagliabue. iard curled in the ball from the edge of the was Xavi once again who was in the thick chances that came their way in the sec- Playmaker Ismail Matar supplied a superb penalty to beat the Pakhtakor goalkeeper of the action. ond half as the match eventually ended in through pass for the Argentine who latched Gyeongnam FC’s Kim Seung-jun (L) fights for the ball against Sanjar Kuvvatov all ends up. The Al Sadd skipper, who has an- a stalemate. They will clash in the reverse onto the ball and applied a composed fi nish Kashima Antlers during their AFC Champions League Group E Much to Al Sadd’s disappointment, nounced he will retire at the end of the sea- fi xture in Doha in two weeks’ time. past goalkeeper Fahad Younis. match in Changwon yesterday. Gulf Times 2 Wednesday, April 10, 2019 FOOTBALL SPOTLIGHT FOCUS Qatar 2022 stadiums feature prominently Ronaldo at Arab football exhibition in Paris he FIFA World Cup Arab world and proud to con- Qatar 2022 features tribute towards this showcase of raring to go prominently in a new our region’s football history.” exhibition launched this The exhibition features 11 Tweek at the Institute of the Arab segments, including one de- World in Paris. voted to Qatar’s hosting of the The Supreme Committee for FIFA World Cup. The Qatari against Ajax Delivery & Legacy (SC), the body segment features all eight sta- tasked with overseeing the in- dium models, along with two Agencies teenager Moise Kean is in fi ne frastructure and legacy for Qatar videos which highlight the re- Rome form netting fi ve goals in the last 2022, has donated stadium mod- cent infrastructure progress. fi ve Serie A outings. els for the exhibition, which is ti- In addition, the Qatar Football “Kean also entered and scored tled ‘Football and the Arab World: Association has donated vari- ristiano Ronaldo is back [the winner in Saturday’s 2-1 de- The Revolution of the Round Ball’.