MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2013 SPORTS Ahly restore Egyptian pride after shootout

JOHANNESBURG: Al-Ahly restored ated 6-1 by in a World Cup the 10 minutes before half-time to the ‘Red Devils’, who were some Egyptian football pride yes- play-off five days ago. and gave the record seven-time lucky to be one goal ahead on the terday by squeezing into the CAF Ahly went ahead inside three champions several scares. day and on aggregate. Champions League final after a minutes with a simple goal as Ewangue Mbongo got past a Coton continued to press as the penalty shootout. crossed and defender and goalkeeper and - second half progressed without The Cairo ‘Red Devils’ won the Abdullah Al-Saied towered above tain Sherif Ekramy used his legs to creating any clear cut chances on a spot-kick duel with Cameroonian two defenders to nod the ball wide block a close-range shot. clear, hot afternoon in north-east visitors Coton Sport 7-6 in Red Sea of Luc Feudjou. Kingue Mpondo came even . resort El-Gouna after a 1-1 draw The home side ‘owned’ the ball closer three minutes later, hitting But with 65 minutes gone the behind closed doors. in the first quarter of the game with the post after stretching to connect Cameroonians deservedly levelled A 1-1 first leg draw in Garoua timid Coton repeatedly running with a partially cleared cross. when several Ahly defenders failed two weeks ago meant a 2-2 aggre- around trying to gain possession. After 35 largely idle minutes, to cut off a low cross and Kada net- gate tie as the clubs sought a final But it took Ahly until midway Ekramy was suddenly the busiest ted with with a close-range tap. showdown with South African side through the half before they threat- footballer in El-Gouna and needed Pirates qualified Saturday by Orlando Pirates. ened to score again with chances two attempts to hold a snap shot drawing 1-1 with Esperance on the Needing to score to level the falling to Walid Soliman and Rami from teenager Alexis Kada. outskirts of Tunis to advance on the shootout, Jacques Haman blazed Rabiea in quick succession. Coton were on a roll and had away-goal rule after a goalless first over and Ahly kept alive hopes of a Unmarked Soliman hurried a appeals for a penalty rejected by leg. record eighth Champions League shot that finished well off target the Mauritian referee, with televi- Rooi Mahamutsa put the title. and a looping Rabiea header off an sion replays suggesting a collision Buccaneers ahead with a flying The outcome was a massive Ahmed Fathy free-kick landed on between two players did not war- header off a corner on 52 minutes HURGHADA: Egypt’s footballer Ahmed Abud El-Zaher (left) of Al-Ahly vies for the relief for Egypt after a national side top of the net. rant a spot-kick. and Iheb Msakni swept home a low ball against Cameroon’s Stephane Kingue Mpondo of Coton Sport during their packed with Ahly stars was humili- Coton finally came alive during The half-time whistle was a relief cross soon after. —AFP African Champions League semi-final football match. —AFP Fiorentina stun Juve

MILAN: Giuseppe Rossi scored a hat-trick for Fiorentina in a stun- ning come-from-behind 4-2 win over Juventus yesterday which helped Roma maintain their five- point lead at the top of . Roma’s 2-0 defeat of Napoli on Friday opened up a five-point cush- ion over both Rafael Benitez’s side and Juventus ahead of the latter’s visit to Florence. And despite Juventus holding a 2-0 lead at the half-time interval following a penalty and a strike from Paul Pogba, the champions crumbled during 14 second-half minutes in which ‘La Viola’ staged a remarkable come- back. Roma now have a maximum 24 points from eight wins with Napoli back up to second at five points adrift with Juventus, suffering their first defeat of the season, slipping one place to third. Juventus coach GERMANY: Hamburg’s Heiko Westermann (left) vies for the ball with Stuttgart’s insisted his side had not been side- Vedad Ibisevic during the German First Division Bundesliga football match. —AFP tracked by thoughts of their Champions League trip to Real ITALY: Juventus’ Carlos Tevez, of Argentina (with back to camera at center) celebrates with his teammates Hamburg hold Stuttgart Madrid on Wednesday. after scoring a penalty during a Serie A soccer match against Fiorentina. —AP But while claiming Juve domi- club’s first win of the campaign and unmarked to the right of the area his first goal in Serie A. Two minutes BERLIN: Hamburg remain unbeaten in Mario Goetze came off the nated throughout, he admitted his moved them two places above the and the Spaniard made no mistake, later Rossi grabbed his third when three league games under coach Bert van bench for the second-half and played a key side were unrecognisable late in relegation zone. beating Buffon with a precise right- Fiorentina caught Juve sleeping on Marwijk after picking up a point in their part in the hosts’ first three second-half the second half. “We dominated It leaves Bologna as the only foot shot at his near post to claim the counter-attack. —AFP thrilling 3-3 draw with 10-man VfB goals. them in every department and had team in Serie A without a win. After Stuttgart yesterday. His dream pass through to Arjen the game wrapped up,” said Conte. a 2-1 defeat away to promoted Italian League results/standings Ex-Holland coach Van Marwijk took Robben allowed the winger to equalise on “Then the unimaginable hap- Sassuolo, Stefano Pioli’s men prop pened-we lost a game that we were charge in September after predecessor 50 minutes and two minutes later, Goetze up the table with three points from Atalanta 2 (Cigarini 41, Denis 84) Lazio 1 (Perea 53); Fiorentina 4 (Rossi dominating. Those 10 minutes Thorsten Fink was fired following a disas- combined with the Dutchman for a possible 24. 66-pen, 76, 80, Joaquin 78) Juventus 2 (Tevez 37-pen, Pogba 40); Genoa changed everything and we con- trous start to the season, including a 6-2 Germany’s Thomas Mueller to fire home to Sassuolo coach Eusebio di 2 (Gilardino 22, 50) Chievo 1 (Bentivoglio 47); Verona 3 (Cacciatore 9, ceded some strange goals. It just drubbing at Borussia Dortmund. make it 2-1. Francesco, celebrating his side’s Jorginho 61-pen, 88-pen) Parma 2 (Parolo 19, Cassano 25); Livorno 1 wasn’t like us.” Hamburg captain Rafael van der Vaart With Bayern finally making their 80 per- first win in Serie A, took the oppor- (Siligardi 90+2) Sampdoria 2 (Eder 19-pen, Pozzi 90+6-pen); Sassuolo 2 Fiorentina coach Vincenzo earned his side a point when he equalised cent possession pay off, Goetze fired in a tunity during his post-match inter- (Berardi 12-pen, Floro Flores 17) Bologna 1 (Diamanti 34-pen). for the third time for the hosts on 67 min- cross for Mario Mandzukic to score their Montella said: “This is the best view to make amends of a personal result ever. It’s already difficult to utes on Van Marwijk’s home debut. third on 69 minutes. nature. Italian Serie A table ahead of yesterday’s late match (played, won, score against Juve, so putting four Stuttgart spent the last six minutes with And when Bayern vice-captain Bastian “It’s my wife’s birthday today, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points): 10 men after Germany Under-21 centre- Schweinsteiger was fouled in the area, past them gives us immense satis- but I totally forgot. I’d like to wish back Antonio Ruediger was shown a Mueller stepped up to drill home the faction.” her happy birthday now,” said Di Roma 8 8 0 0 22 1 24 Fiorentina’s win was not the only straight red for hitting Dutch midfielder penalty for his second of the game eight Francesco. Rossi’s triple strike Napoli 8 6 1 1 18 6 19 shock of the day, however, with means the former Manchester Van der Vaart in the ribs. minutes from time. Juventus 8 6 1 1 16 10 19 “We have improved again and are play- Bayer Leverkusen had briefly gone top Atalanta securing a precious 2-1 United striker is now Serie A’s top ing football the way I like it,” said Van on Friday thanks to a controversial ‘phan- win at home to Lazio thanks to scorer with eight goals from eight Verona 8 5 1 2 16 12 16 Marwijk as Hamburg rallied at 3-2 down tom’ goal in their 2-1 win at Hoffenheim. German Denis’s 84th minute win- games. Fiorentina 8 4 3 1 17 10 15 after ex-Arsenal defender Johan Djourou The German Football Federation (DFB) will ner. Early season surprise packages He helped spark the fightback Inter Milan 7 4 2 1 16 6 14 Verona kept their place in the top conceded a second-half own goal. investigate today while Hoffenheim have when he beat from Atalanta 8 4 0 4 11 11 12 five thanks to a 3-2 win over Parma the penalty spot in the 66th minute “We had a couple of really nice attacks, called for a replay after Stefan Kiessling’s AC Milan 8 3 2 3 14 13 11 which pleased me. We had a bit of bad luck 70th-minute winner came in bizarre cir- which came courtesy of two penal- after Ghanaian Kwadwo Asamoah with the own goal.” After a draw at cumstances. Replays showed his header ties from Jorginho in the 61st and was adjudged to have fouled Lazio 8 3 2 3 12 12 11 Frankfurt and a 5-0 hammering of only ended in the back of the net after fly- 88th minutes. Matias Fernandez. Udinese 8 3 1 4 9 9 10 Nuremberg, the point kept Hamburg 15th, ing through a hole in the side netting. Verona, one of three promoted Rossi levelled for the hosts when Cagliari 8 2 4 2 10 12 10 teams from Serie B, now sit fourth, having been in the bottom three when Van Schalke 04, who host Chelsea in the he held off the threat of Pogba on Torino 7 2 3 2 10 10 9 eight points behind Roma and one the edge of the area and sent a Marwijk took over, while Stuttgart are Champions League on Tuesday, needed a Parma 8 2 3 3 13 15 9 eighth. 91st-minute winner from Roman ahead of Fiorentina although both superbly-struck angled shot across Wolfsburg moved up to ninth with a 2-1 Neustaedter to seal a 3-2 win at bottom sides could be overtaken by Inter if Buffon and into the net. Livorno 8 2 2 4 9 12 8 win at Augsburg with Wolves ex-Bayern side Eintracht Braunschweig. Walter Mazzarri’s men beat Torino Just as Arturo Vidal, who started Genoa 8 2 2 4 8 12 8 Munich midfielder Luiz Gustavo heading Dortmund, who are at Arsenal tomor- in yesterday’s late match. on the bench after missing training Sampdoria 8 1 3 4 8 14 6 Sampdoria, meanwhile, had the first-half winner. row in the Champions League, stayed sec- due to a late return from Chile, was Catania 8 1 2 5 6 13 5 Nicola Pozzi’s penalty strike in the preparing to replace Claudio On Saturday, European champions ond with a hard-fought 1-0 win at home to Sassuolo 8 1 2 5 7 22 5 Bayern extended their unbeaten Hanover 96. sixth minute of added-on time to Marchisio for the final quarter hour Bundesliga run to 34 games by coming Germany winger Marco Reus hit the thank for a 2-1 away win at new Fiorentina took the lead. Chievo 8 1 1 6 6 15 4 from behind for a 4-1 home win over winning penalty after just four minutes boys Livorno. Juve’s defence was in disarray Bologna 8 0 3 5 9 22 3 Mainz to go back to the top. when Hanover’s Japan defender Hiroki It was the struggling Genoa when Borja Valero saw Joaquin Having last lost in the German league Sakai fouled left-back Erik Durm in the back in October 2012, Bayern are now just area. two matches short of equalling Hamburg’s Borussia stay second and level on 22 30-year-old, 36-match streak. points with third-placed Leverkusen, just a Sochaux hold high-flying Monaco Bayern were punished for a poor first- point behind Bayern. half in Munich when Mainz striker Shawn Second-from-bottom Freiburg picked PARIS: Herve Renard’s reign as Monaco’s coach, said: “We began Parker fired home after capitalising on a up a point with a goalless draw at Werder manager of Sochaux began promis- really well, scoring twice but then mistake by centre-back Jerome Boateng. Bremen, while Eintracht Frankfurt drew 1-1 ingly with a 2-2 draw against high- we left our concentration in the But Bayern roared back when Germany at home to Nuremberg. —AFP flying Monaco in yesterday’s early dressing room.” Later yesterday Ligue 1 action. Saint Etienne host Lorient and Renard, who guided Zambia to Bordeaux are at Lyon. German Bundesliga results/standings last year’s Africa Cup of Nations On Saturday Zlatan Ibrahimovic title, is in charge of his first ever and Edinson Cavani both struck Hamburg 3 (Lasogga 22, Beister 55, Van der Vaart 67) VfB Stuttgart 3 (Maxim French first division side. twice to inspire Paris Saint-Germain 3, Gentner 37, Djourou 64-og); Augsburg 1 (Werner 10) VfL Wolfsburg 2 (Arnold 35, And he will have been more to a comfortable 4-0 victory over Luiz Gustavo 42). than satisfied with this battling hapless Bastia. stalemate against the Principality Nigerian ‘keeper Vincent German Bundesliga table after yesterday’s match (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, side that began the weekend top of Enyeama saved a late penalty to goals against, points): the table, but after this result end it help Lille to a 1-0 win at 2012 cham- in second place two points behind pions Montpellier while Guingamp Bayern Munich 9 7 2 0 19 4 23 Paris Saint Germain. came back to defeat Evian 2-1. Borussia Dortmund 9 7 1 1 22 7 22 Struggling Sochaux are one off Nantes continued their sparkling Bayer Leverkusen 9 7 1 1 20 9 22 the foot of the table, on six points. return to the top flight by defeating Hertha Berlin 9 4 3 2 15 9 15 Monaco were set fair for a win after Ajaccio 1-0, while Algerian Foued Schalke 04 9 4 2 3 17 19 14 a quickfire double from Ferreira Kadir gave Rennes a 2-0 lead before M?nchengladbach 9 4 1 4 19 14 13 Carrasco in the fifth and tenth min- basement dwellers Valenciennes Hanover 96 9 4 1 4 11 12 13 utes. Sochaux to their credit never stormed back to salvage a 2-2 draw. VfB Stuttgart 9 3 3 3 19 13 12 let up and earned a share of the On Friday, Colombian goalkeep- VfL Wolfsburg 9 4 0 5 11 12 12 spoils with second half goals from er David Ospina shrugged off his Cedric Bakambu and Joseph Loppy. World Cup jet lag to star in Nice’s 1- Werder Bremen 9 3 3 3 9 12 12 “I spoke a lot this week about 0 win over Cote d’Azur rivals Hoffenheim 9 2 4 3 21 22 10 the psychological aspect and after Marseille. Another South American, Eintracht Frankfurt 9 2 4 3 12 14 10 ten minutes I was thinking that was Argentine striker Dario Cvitanich, Augsburg 9 3 1 5 10 17 10 all for nothing,” said Renard. grabbed the only goal of the game Mainz 05 9 3 1 5 13 21 10 “But in football you should never for Nice. Hamburg 9 2 3 4 20 22 9 give up, and it was a great reaction Also Friday, Toulouse edged Nuremberg 9 0 6 3 10 18 6 against the leaders before the Reims 2-1 thanks to a 87th minute Freiburg 9 0 5 4 9 18 5 weekend. “ It’s only one point penalty from Danish international FRANCE: Sochaux’ Zambian forward Emmanuel Mayuka (left) vies Braunschweig 9 1 1 7 7 21 4 though and we need a lot more to Martin Braithwaite, his third goal of with Monaco’s French midfielder Jeremy Toulalan, during the French stay in Ligue 1.” Claudio Ranieri, the season. —AFP League One football match. —AFP