Established 1961 15 Thursday, July 9, 2020 Sports Zlatan fires Milan comeback as Juve miss chance to stretch lead Lazio suffer title blow at Lecce as Patric sent off for biting MILAN: Juventus wasted the chance to move 10 edge of the area into the top corner to score his points clear at the top of Serie A as the defending first Serie A goal. champions blew a two-goal lead to lose 4-2 at a Ronaldo doubled the advantage less than eight Zlatan Ibrahimovic-inspired AC Milan on Tuesday, minutes into the second half, netting for the fifth after second-placed Lazio’s shock defeat at Lecce. consecutive game and for the 26th time in Serie Maurizio Sarri’s men led through goals from A this term with a cool finish. But Milan were Adrien Rabiot and Cristiano Ronaldo early in the handed a lifeline out of nowhere on the hour second half, but were then blown away by a bril- mark as Bonucci was penalised for handball, and liant Milan display as Ibrahimovic scored and had Ibrahimovic stepped up to score his sixth goal an assist. since returning to the San Siro from LA Galaxy Milan coach Stefano Pioli, who could reported- in January. ly be sacked at the end of the season, saw his side The 38-year-old made it back-to-back games boost their hopes of European qualification by with a goal and an assist in the 66th minute, teeing moving above Roma and Napoli into fifth. “I am up Franck Kessie to score with a deflected strike. not remotely thinking about August 3 or the Incredibly, Milan completed the turnaround with future. I am thinking of their third goal in five min- the next game,” Pioli told utes as Rafael Leao beat DAZN. “There have been Szczesny at his near post. some tough moments, but Ante Rebic had an I love what I do.” excellent chance to make Juve remain on track for Tough it 4-2 with 12 minutes a ninth straight title, sitting remaining, but Szczesny seven points clear of Lazio moments did well to save with his with seven matches boot, The Croatian inter- remaining, but could have national wrapped up the MILAN: AC Milan’s Italian defender Davide Calabria (L) defends against Juventus’ Brazilian for- rendered the race all but points two minutes later ward Douglas Costa during the Italian Serie A football match AC Milan vs Juventus played behind over with a victory. The though with his 10th closed doors at the San Siro stadium in Milan, as the country eases its lockdown aimed at curb- loss snapped the Turin league goal of the season. ing the spread of the COVID-19 infection, caused by the novel coronavirus. —AFP giants’ seven-game winning run in the league. Juventus dominated the first half without finding LAZIO STUMBLE AGAIN hope to achieve it as soon as possible, but that is the half-hour mark when Senegalese forward a breakthrough as the closest they came was when Earlier, Lazio, who lost 3-0 to Milan at the week- our only objective.” Khouma Babacar nodded home Filippo Falco’s Leonardo Bonucci glanced Miralem Pjanic’s free- end, slumped to a second straight loss, beaten 2-1 at Lecce ended a six-match losing streak in dra- cross. Lazio survived a massive scare on the stroke kick wide when unmarked only three yards from relegation-threatened Lecce. Defender Patric added matic fashion to climb out of the relegation zone. of half-time as Lecce were awarded a penalty for a goal. to Lazio’s problems in injury time as he was dis- Lazio were without strikers Ciro Immobile and controversial handball against Patric, but Mancosu Ibrahimovic had a couple of speculative efforts missed for biting Lecce’s Giulio Donati and could Felipe Caicedo through suspension against Milan, spooned his spot-kick over the crossbar. easily held by Wojciech Szczesny at the other end face a lengthy ban, especially with the strict but both played a part as the latter gave the visitors Lecce centre-back Fabio Lucioni headed in a and also saw a goal ruled out for offside. The reign- COVID-19 regulations in place. a fifth minute lead, shortly after Lecce midfielder corner to give the home team a shock lead early in ing champions burst into life after the interval “Our dream must continue, which is to qualify Marco Mancosu’s strike was ruled out by VAR for a the second half. Patric’s moment of madness came in though, as French international Adrien Rabiot drove mathematically for the Champions League,” Lazio handball in the build-up. the third minute of added time when he bit Donati forward and fired a fine left-footed shot from the coach Simone Inzaghi told Sky Sport Italia. “We But the hosts grabbed a deserved equaliser on on the arm. —AFP South Wales. to effectively manage these challenges solely on to Players’ union The first aborted attempt by the teams to leave players and their families”. was on Monday, when fog scuppered their planned A-League chief Greg O’Rourke insisted they had slams ‘unacceptable’ flight to Canberra. A day later when they were on done “absolutely everything we could to get the buses to the airport only to learn they would have players and staff out of Victoria”. “We are in discus- Chinese-owned A-League travel fiasco to spend a fortnight in quarantine on arrival. sions the NSW government, and we will continue to The border between Australia’s two most popu- seek the exemptions necessary for the teams to Espanyol to drop SYDNEY: Australia’s footballers’ union lashed out lous states — Victoria and New South Wales — travel,” he added. yesterday at “unacceptable” chaos after three was closed from midnight Tuesday. “What the play- The NSW government has indicated it would be Melbourne-based A-League teams were prevented ers and their families have had to endure over the sympathetic to the request with Deputy Premier out of La Liga from leaving Victoria for a second time with borders past 48 hours is unacceptable,” Professional John Barilaro saying if the opportunity was there shutting as coronavirus cases surge. Footballers Australia said. “let’s bring them across the border”. The chaos MADRID: Forever condemned to live in the shadow The top flight A-League is due to resume next “The lack of clarity, the ad-hoc planning and throws into doubt the A-League plan to restart on of Barcelona, Espanyol’s worst nightmare will come week but Melbourne City, Melbourne Victory shifting commitments have left the players embar- July 16 in New South Wales with Melbourne Victory true today if they are doomed to relegation from La and Western United remain stranded in the city rassed, frustrated and entirely lacking confidence in playing Western United in a blockbuster Melbourne Liga by their city neighbours. It is a likely scenario. while Football Federation Australia seek govern- the process.” It added “a reliable and feasible plan” derby. The league was suspended because of the With four games remaining, Chinese-owned ment exemptions so they can cross into New was needed “that does not shift the game’s inability pandemic March 24. —AFP Espanyol are rock bottom, 11 points from safety. Even a win at the Camp Nou would therefore only delay the inevitable. Los Periquitos (The Budgerigars) have not beat- Howard will play for en Barcelona in La Liga since 2009, when Mauricio Pochettino was coach. Today therefore looks set to be the day of reckoning for a club who are one of Lakers when NBA the proudest names in Spanish football. It is too much to bear for fans, with the resumes in Orlando Federation of Espanyol Supporters’ Clubs this week issuing a statement to express their dismay at what LOS ANGELES: Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight has happened under the current ownership. China’s Howard says he will play when the NBA season Rastar Group, which specialises in model cars, paid resumes in Orlando on July 30 despite concerns the 60 million euros ($67.7m) for 54 per cent of the restart might distract from his social activism. club’s shares in January 2016. They now own almost Howard announced his decision to join LeBron 100 per cent. James and his other Laker teammates in a CNN “We have been deeply angered by this shameful appearance late Monday, citing his contract and his season, the worst in our history,” said the federa- hunger to win an NBA crown at age 34. tion, which has called on president Chen Yansheng “Yes, I will be joining my team in Orlando, but to hand over the reins to someone based locally. during that time we will be getting a lot of work “We want to express our indignation, our sadness, done,” Howard said of mixing his NBA goals with our disappointment, anger and feeling of helpless- his activism. ness at witnessing this pathetic relegation.” Howard said he will donate his salary from the Espanyol have spent the season chopping and restart, about $700,000, to his Breathe Again char- changing coaches, with David Gallego, Pablo ity. This season, Howard has averaged 7.5 points, Machin and Abelardo Fernandez all being sacked 7.4 rebounds and 1.2 blocked shots a game for the before sporting director Francisco Rufete was put Lakers, who led the Western Conference at 49-14 in charge last month. He has been unable to halt when the NBA season was shut down March 11 LOS ANGELES: File photo shows Dwight Howard #39 of the Los Angeles Lakers argues his foul call with the slide.