MLB | Page 5 GOLF | Page 7 Buehler’s day Fan blinded by on vs Rockies Koepka’s tee as Dodgers shot takes legal advance action Wednesday, October 3, 2018 FOOTBALL Moharram 23, 1440 AH Late Silva winner GULF TIMES gets Man City back on track in Europe SPORT Page 2 FOOTBALL / AFC CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Persepolis pick up narrow win in ‘wrestling’ match vs Al Sadd ‘The team (Sadd) must believe in its potential... they were playing wrestling and this is not football’ By Sahan Bidappa Doha l Sadd coach Jesu- aldo Ferreira slammed Persepolis for playing “wrestling... not foot- Aball” during the fi rst leg of their AFC Champions League semi- fi nal at Jassim Bin Hamad Sta- dium. Despite dominating the pro- ceedings for much part of the game, it all came down to a Ali Alipour penalty to break the deadlock in the 86th minute, as Persepolis won 1-0. In the end, Sadd were pun- ished for their lack of penetration in front of the goal as Persepolis’ narrow win put them in the driv- er’s seat ahead of the return leg at the Azadi Stadium in Tehran on October 23. Alipour won a penalty after being fouled by Sadd goalkeeper Saad al-Sheeb, who had replaced injured Mishal Barshm, just in- side the box. The home players protested the referee’s decision but it was a right call as the foul occurred just inside the box. Al Sadd’s Salem al-Hajri (left) vies for the ball with Persepolis’ Ali Alipour during the match yesterday. After a prolonged delay, Al- ipour picked himself up and wasted a golden opportunity to made no mistake in fi nding the take the lead. bottom corner from the spot to After Resan crossed the ball in signal celebratory scenes from from the left, all Godwin Men- their small pocket of away fans. sha could do was head the ball There was late drama to the over the crossbar. Afi f remained a heated contest as well after an lively threat for the home team on Al Sadd goal in the injury time the left and in the 43rd minute, was ruled out. In what seemed his low drive at goal was kept out like a contentious call from the by a fi ngertip save from the div- Sri Lankan referee Dilan Per- ing Beiranvand. era, Persepolis goalkeeper Alireza Hassan al-Haydos replaced Beiranvand threw the ball in front Al Sadd captain Xavi (right) vies for the ball with Persepolis’ Ahmad Nourollahi during the first leg of the Woo-young after half-time to of him to kick it down the fi eld AFC Champions League semi-final at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium yesterday. PICTURES: Noushad Thekkayil inject space into Sadd attack but but Sadd forward Akram Afi f in- the Persepolis were determined tercepted the ball mid-air which 3-1 scoreline. we can maintain our chance to and Gabi were employed as wide not to make it easier for them. resulted in the ball bouncing into Ferreira said Sadd must believe compete for the title. We real- midfi elders. But the mobility Bounedjah cut a frustrated fi gure the post. Even as Afi f started his they can still turn it around in the ise how diffi cult it is to achieve failed to translate into penetra- throughout the match as he failed celebratory lap, the referee ruled second leg. “The team must be- this goal but are determined to tion as Sadd’s prolifi c striker and to fi nd the opportunities and was the eff ort as a foul. lieve in its potential. There will be achieve it,” Ferreira added. tournament top-scorer Baghdad also involved in few skirmishes Despite that misfortune, Sadd an opportunity to score in Tehran There was no doubt that Sadd Bounedjah was kept silent by a with Persepolis defenders, which and Ferreira will look back at the and now we are thinking of only were the quality side at least on resolute backline marshalled by attracted attention from the ref- match as a missed opportunity one outcome: that is to win the the paper. They had won 10 of captain Jalal Hosseini. eree. and have a huge task in front of return leg,” he said. their last 14 home games, scor- Persepolis were tough nut to Having been eliminated at the them in Tehran in three weeks’ The Portuguese manager was ing over 2.5 goals per game and crack despite missing three key same stage of the tournament time. also critical of the physical game failing to score just twice. But players — Kamal Kamyabinia and last year, Persepolis now poten- For Sadd, who are chasing employed by Persepolis. “The last night it was a diff erent story Mohamed Ansari to suspension, tially are just 90 minutes away their third Asian title and fi rst Iranian team is a very diffi cult as they failed to capitalise on a and defender Hossein Mahini out Al Sadd coach Jesualdo Ferreira. from contesting their fi rst-ever since 2011, they would need a team. They were playing wres- dominating start. of the season with knee injury. In Champions League fi nal, where repeat of their quarter-fi nal win tling and this is not football. We Sadd enjoyed much of the pos- fact, the away team looked dan- The fi rst real chance of the lis goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand they will be looking to become against Esteghlal in Tehran last fought a lot over the course of the session with captain and mid- gerous with Ali Mosleh, Omid match for Sadd came in the 16th was on hand to safely gather the only the third Iranian side to be month, where they stunned the match. Now we have no choice fi eld maestro Xavi playing in a Alishah and Bashar Resan linking minute. Afi f got into the box and ball. crowned Asian champions after massive, raucous crowd with a but to win the return leg, so that free role, while Jung Woo Young up down the left. had a go at the goal but Persepo- Two minutes later, Persepolis Esteghlal and PAS Tehran. SPOTLIGHT FOCUS Scottish football signs Barca break billion-dollar revenue barrier Reuters transfer fee. Barcelona The club also announced a 26-country deal with beIN record budget of $1.105bn for this season, which needs to be AFP League’s chief executive, said BeIN, which is headquartered C Barcelona announced approved at a general assembly Doha it would allow Scottish football in Doha, also show live matches yesterday it has become on Oct. 20. to be shown “in new territories in the same region from Spain’s the fi rst sports club to The club added that its debt around the world”. La Liga, France’s Ligue 1, and the post annual revenues amounted to $181.3mn as of cotland’s Premier League Other countries in the agree- English Premier League. exceedingF $1bn. June 30. yesterday announced a ment include Egypt, Kuwait, News of the contract came just La Liga champions Barcelona “The extraordinary income broadcast deal to show Saudi Arabia and Morocco. 24 hours after beIN launched presented their annual accounts from payment of Neymar Jr’s matches across 26 coun- The deal comes after Scottish a huge $1-billion compensa- yesterday, showing earnings of buyout clause has been com- Stries in the Middle East, Australia league offi cials in August ended tion claim against Saudi chan- $1.05bn for the 2017-18 fi scal pensated in next year’s budget and New Zealand with Qatar- a rights agreement for overseas nels which it accuses of illegally year, breaking its own income through improved commercial based channel beIN Sports. coverage of games with media broadcasting live games. record for the fi fth successive and sponsorship revenue, media The deal, which will also cover company MP & Silva. Qatar accuses pirates in Saudi year and posting a profi t for the rights, exploitation of the stadi- the League Cup, will run until BeIN’s Daniel Markham said Arabia of industrial-scale theft eighth consecutive year. um and transfer of players,” the June 2020, a joint statement from the deal with the Scottish Pre- by using a satellite provider in Barca said the rise in rev- club said in a statement. the Scottish league and beIN mier League “reaffi rmed” the the kingdom to illegally broad- enue was driven by increased “This is the fi rst time that said. company’s position as a global cast matches through a channel income from television rights and the August 2017 sale of Paris Saint-Germain for a revenue has surpassed $1bn, a Neil Doncaster, the Premier sports broadcaster. called beoutQ. from the Champions League Brazilian forward Neymar to record 222mn euros ($257mn) huge step up from 2016-17.” Gulf Times 2 Wednesday, October 3, 2018 FOOTBALL UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE Late Stanislas Late Silva winner penalty gives Bournemouth gets Man City back win over Palace Reuters mouth — the Welsh international London keeper keeping out a shot from Wilson and then diving to push away a header from Dan Gosling. n 87th minute penalty But three minutes from the from substitute Junior end, referee Mike Dean spot- on track in Europe Stanislas gave Bourne- ted Palace defender Mamadou mouth a 2-1 victory Sakho throw out at an arm and Aover Crystal Palace at the Vitality elbow into the face of Jeff erson Guardiola’s men bounce back from the loss against Lyon a fortnight ago Stadium on Monday. Lerma and awarded a penalty The win, Bournemouth’s which Stanislas slotted home for fourth in seven games, moves the three points.