SUNDAY, MARCH 13, 2016 SPORTS Pelle strikes twice as beat Stoke

who currently occupy the last Europa League Southampton squandered a gilt-edged chance slot. It was Southampton’s first league win at the to effectively kill the game off before half-time Stoke City 1 Britannia Stadium since April 2006. as Long freed Tadic, whose decision to cut inside Stoke welcomed captain Ryan Shawcross onto his right foot allowed Geoff Cameron to back after eight games out with a back problem come across and block. Stoke sought to exploit and they made a positive start, Giannelli Imbula the let-off and reduced the deficit in the 52nd Southampton 2 shooting wide after a positive run and Ibrahim minute, Arnautovic flicking the ball into the roof Afellay seeing a shot blocked. But no sooner of the net from Afellay’s cross. had Southampton stirred as an attacking force, Stoke pushed for a leveller, but found no joy, Stoke goalkeeper Jack Butland tipping Pelle’s Afellay shooting over from range and Virgil van STOKE-ON-TRENT: Graziano Pelle ended a 13- header over the bar, than they went ahead. Dijk brilliantly diverting Mame Biram Diouf’s game goal drought with a brace as From Steven Davis’s left-wing corner, Pelle shot over the bar. Southampton won 2-1 at Stoke City yesterday to rose at the near post to glance a header past Southampton should have been awarded a steal a march on their European qualification Butland. penalty when Tadic was sent sprawling by rivals. The Italy striker struck twice in the first 30 Butland parried from Shane Long shortly Butland after knocking the ball past him, only for minutes and despite Marko Arnautovic reducing after, but on the half-hour the Stoke goalkeeper referee Lee Mason to shake his head. the arrears and Southampton substitute Sadio was at fault as Pelle swapped passes with Dusan After Southampton substitute James Ward- Mane seeing red at the death, Ronald Koeman’s Tadic before curling in a tame shot that the Prowse had struck the bar with a side held on for victory. In ending a three-game England international should have saved. To free-kick, Mason angered the visitors again BARCELONA: FC Barcelona’s , right, duels for the ball against Getafe’s winless run in the , Southampton make matters worse for the home side, winger by showing Mane a straight red card for an aerial Alvaro Pereira during a Spanish soccer match at the Camp Nou stadium in climbed above Mark Hughes’s Stoke to seventh Xherdan Shaqiri was then forced off holding the challenge on Erik Pieters, but Koeman’s men sur- Barcelona, Spain, yesterday. — AP place, three points below Manchester United, top of his thigh, with Bojan Krkic coming on. vived. — AFP Messi, help Barca to 12th straight La Liga win

BARCELONA: Lionel Messi scored, provid- which left Guaita flatfooted. ed three assists and missed a penalty as Iniesta was rested for the final half hour Barcelona pressed home their advantage at ahead of Arsenal’s trip to the Camp Nou, the top of La Liga with a 6-0 thrashing of despite Barca holding a commanding 2-0 Getafe yesterday. first-leg lead. Juan Rodriguez’s own goal opened the Yet, Suarez didn’t get the chance to fur- scoring before Messi saw his penalty saved ther his case in the battle with Cristiano by Vicente Guaita, teed up Munir El Ronaldo to be La Liga’s top scorer as he Haddadi and Neymar and smashed home remained on the bench for the full 90 min- his 36th goal of the season all before half- utes. — AFP time. Neymar and Arda Turan rounded off the scoring to seal Barca’s 12th straight La Liga win after the break. A 37th consecutive game without Matches on TV defeat opens up an 11-point lead on sec- ond-placed Atletico, who host Deportivo la (Local Timings) Coruna later. Real Madrid are now 15 points adrift of ENGLAND FA CUP Barca in third ahead of their trip to Las Arsenal v Watford 16:30 Palmas today. An eighth defeat in nine beIN SPORTS 2 HD games leaves Getafe just a point above the Man United v West Ham 19:00 relegation zone. “This is a unique team, dif- beIN SPORTS 1 HD ferent to the rest and which does things that make it seem like there is nothing the ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE opponent can do,” said Barca boss Luis Liverpool v Chelsea 19:00 Enrique. beIN SPORTS “It is a great pleasure to be in this posi- Aston Villa v Tottenham 19:00 tion.” The European champions weren’t beIN SPORTS 2 HD even at full strength as Enrique left Luis STOKE-ON-TRENT: Stoke City goalkeeper Jack Butland in action, during the English Premier League soccer match between Stoke City and Suarez on the bench ahead of Barca’s Spanish League Southampton, at the Britannia Stadium, in Stoke-on-Trent, England, yesterday. — AP return to Champions League action against Levante v Valencia 14:00 Arsenal on Wednesday. beIN SPORTS 3 HD Yet, the hosts still only took seven min- Sevilla v Villarreal 18:00 utes to break the deadlock as Jordi Alba’s beIN SPORTS 3 HD Bournemouth set for survival driven cross towards Messi was scooped de Bilbao v Real Betis 20:15 into the far corner of his own net by beIN SPORTS 3 HD Rodriguez. Las Palmas v Real Madrid 22:30 Barca’s one fallibility this season was after Cook downs Swansea beIN SPORTS 3 HD exposed moments later when Neymar was chopped down by Emiliano Velazquez ITALIAN CALCIO LEAGUE inside the area. Chievo Verona v AC Milan 14:30 Messi took responsiblity, but for the beIN SPORTS 4 HD Bournemouth 3 ninth time in 20 spot-kicks Barca failed to Udinese v AS Roma 17:00 convert, as Guaita dived to his left to turn beIN SPORTS 4 HD the five-time World Player of the Year’s Genoa v Torino 17:00 effort to safety. beIN SPORTS 1 HD Swansea 2 Guaita’s intervention kept Getafe in the Carpi v Frosinone 17:00 game for just a further nine minutes as beIN SPORTS Messi directed Andres Iniesta’s through ball Fiorentina v Verona 17:00 onto El Haddadi’s head for the second. beIN SPORTS 9 HD BOURNEMOUTH: Bournemouth look set to Gerard Pique then hit the bar as Getafe SS Lazio v Atalanta 22:45 preserve their Premier League status after Steve failed to contain the waves of Barca attacks. beIN SPORTS 5 HD Cook’s late strike clinched a 3-2 win over fellow Neymar’s display had been under scruti- Citta v SSC Napoli 22:45 strugglers Swansea yesterday. ’s side ny after he took advantage of being sus- beIN SPORTS 4 HD embarked on their first ever top-flight campaign pended for last weekend’s 4-0 win at Eibar widely tipped for a quick return to the to fly back to Brazil to celebrate his sister’s GERMAN BUNDESLIGA Championship, but they seem certain to defy birthday. Bayer 04 v Hamburger 17:30 the pundits’ predictions after a thrilling clash at Yet, the break seemed to do the 24-year- beIN SPORTS Dean Court. Max Gradel put Bournemouth old good as he raced onto a brilliant Messi Dortmund v Mainz 05 19:30 ahead before Swansea forward Modou Barrow pass to slot home his first goal in four beIN SPORTS 5 HD equalised to become the first Gambian to score games. Messi then took out his frustration in the Premier League. Josh King restored the at not netting from the spot to rifle home FRENCH LEAGUE hosts’ advantage, then Gylfi Sigurdsson drew the fourth from outside the box five min- Swansea level, only for Cook to win it for utes before half-time. ES Troyes v PSG 16:00 beIN SPORTS 6 HD Bournemouth with 12 minutes left. The pattern continued after the break Bournemouth’s third successive win lifts them 13 with Messi in generous mood with another Nantes v Angers 19:00 beIN SPORTS points clear of the relegation zone on 38 points clinical through ball for Neymar to sweep with eight games remaining. Given that 37 Stade Rennes v Lyonnais 23:00 BOURNEMOUTH: AFC Bournemouth’s Matt Ritchie, center, and Swansea City’s Neil Taylor, left, home his 25th goal of the season. points was enough points to stay up in each of beIN SPORTS during the English Premier League soccer match at the Vitality Stadium, Bournemouth, And Turan added a sixth just before the the last four seasons, the Cherries should be England, yesterday. — AP hour mark with an acrobatic overhead kick back in the Premier League next season. Swansea’s future is less certain after a loss that leaves them eight points above the bottom three. Swansea head coach Francesco Guidolin had Palace pounce late to missed his team’s last two matches after the Italian was hospitalised with a chest infection. reach FA Cup s-finals Guidolin was still recovering so, although he picked the team after leaving hospital this week, READING: Crystal Palace reached the FA Cup West Ham. He received a frosty reception from his assistant Alan Curtis took charge again. semi-finals for the first time in 21 years as Royals fans on his latest return, but eventually Bournemouth were quickly into their stride and Yohan Cabaye’s controversial penalty inspired had the last laugh. King headed just over from Gradel’s cross before a 2-0 win at second tier Reading on Friday. “I haven’t seen the penalty again and I’m Andrew Surman hit a post with a curling free- Alan Pardew’s Premier League strugglers not going to even give it an opinion. I’ve had kick. Gradel was the game’s most influential fig- looked as though they would have to settle for enough trouble with penalties!” Pardew said in ure though and he opened the scoring in the a replay with just minutes left in the quarter- reference to Liverpool’s dubious penalty win- 37th minute. final at the Madejski Stadium. But Yannick ner against Palace last weekend. “It was a tricky Lukasz Fabianski made a hash of punching Bolasie won a debatable 86th minute penalty tie for us but we were really good and should clear when he came for Adam Smith’s cross and after tumbling following the slightest contact have wrapped it up before the penalty. “We’ve Ivorian winger Gradel pounced with a cool finish with Reading defender Jake Cooper, who was been terrific in the cup but edgy and nervous into the far corner for his first Premier League sent off for the foul. in the league. Hopefully we can take this into goal. Gradel charged towards the Bournemouth France midfielder Yohan Cabaye stepped league.” bench to celebrate with the medical staff who up to convert the spot-kick and Fraizer helped him during his long spell out with a cru- Campbell added Palace’s second goal with vir- GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY ciate ligament injury earlier this season. tually the last kick. Chances were at a premium and it took The visitors hit back two minutes later as The Eagles’ late flourish takes them into the over 20 minutes for Reading, 14th in the sec- Barrow cut in from the right before curling his last four for the first time since 1995 when they ond tier, to threaten for the first time when shot into the far corner for his first ever Swansea were beaten by Manchester United in a replay. Michael Hector’s header was comfortably goal. But Gradel was proving impossible for They last made the final in 1990 when Pardew, saved by Wayne Hennessey. Swansea to subdue and in the 50th minute he then a journeyman Palace midfielder, was the Palace gradually began to exert a measure drove forward before picking out King, who goal-scoring hero in a famous semi-final upset of control and Cabaye’s free-kick drew a fine drove his shot past Fabianski’s unconvincing of Liverpool. save from Ali Al Habsi. attempted save at his near post. Barrow turned Palace’s progress to the semi-finals at Emmanuel Adebayor should have put provider in the 62nd minute when his cross Wembley is at odds with their terrible league Pardew’s men ahead when the Togo forward found Sigurdsson for a smart turn and blistering form and they arrived at Reading on a 12- held off Paul McShane for a strike that was too drive into the top corner for the Iceland mid- match winless run that had seen them slide close to Al Habsi. Reading forward Ola John fielder’s seventh goal in his last 11 games. towards the relegation zone. fared no better than Adebayor when a golden INGOLSTADT: Stuttgart’s Kevin Groflkreutz, left, challenges for the ball with There was no let-up from the hosts however It was a much-needed boost for Pardew, opportunity fell his way just before half-time, Ingolstadt’s Robert Bauer during the German Bundesliga soccer match between FC and they regained the lead in the 78th minute who cut his managerial teeth at Reading with his hesitancy allowing the Palace keeper Ingolstadt and VfB Stuttgart in Ingolstadt, Germany, yesterday. — AP when Cook headed Matt Ritchie’s corner into the before walking out in 2003 to take charge of to save after he misjudged a cross.—AFP roof of the net. — AFP