FOOTBALL | Page 2 CCRICKETRICKET | Page 4 Ronaldo Bangladesh To Advertise here issues record upset Call: 444 11 300, 444 66 621 climb down win over from rant Sri Lanka Monday, February 29, 2016 NBA Jumada I 20, 1437 AH Curry’s three-pointers GULF TIMES break NBA records and Thunder’s hearts SPORT Page 7 Manchester City players celebrate with the trophy after winning the League Cup final against Liverpool at the Wembley Stadium in London yesterday. City edged out Liverpool 3-1 on penalties. (Reuters) SPOTLIGHT City beat Liverpool in League Cup fi nal Goalkeeper Caballero makes three saves in the shoot-out Reuters to ignite in a fi rst half low on quality. the Argentine’s shot. Liverpool boss London Liverpool were assured in posses- Juergen Klopp sent Lallana on with 20 sion without having much cutting edge minutes remaining and the midfi elder and it was counter-attcking City who was involved in the equaliser. Arriv- anchester City guaranteed came closest to scoring after 22 minutes ing unmarked in the area, he prodded manager Manuel Pellegrini when Sergio Aguero’s shot was touched Daniel Sturridge’s cross against the some silverware in his last against the post by Mignolet. Aguero post and the ball defl ected kindly for season in charge with a had led Liverpool centre back Mamadou Coutinho to beat Caballero in front of Mpenalty shootout defeat of Liverpool in Sakho a merry dance in the build-up, a red wall of Liverpool supporters. the League Cup fi nal after last night’s the Frenchman still dizzy after an ear- Mignolet denied Yaya Toure and match at Wembley ended 1-1. lier clash of heads with teammate Emre Fernando in the nervy fi nal min- City keeper Willy Caballero saved Can that eventually forced him off to be utes while at the other end Liverpool spot kicks from Lucas Leiva, Philippe replaced by Kolo Toure. substitute Divock Origi was close to Coutinho and Adam Lallana while The second period was action- touching captain Jordan Henderson’s Yaya Toure slotted home the winning packed and it was four minutes old shot past Caballero. eff ort as they triumphed 3-1 on penal- when the deadlock was broken in a Aguero had the fi rst clear chance in ties. Earlier, Fernandinho gave City the moment Mignolet will want to forget. extra time when he was denied by a lead after 49 minutes when his shot Aguero slid a pass to the sprinting refl ex save from Mignolet. Caballero, slipped through keeper Simon Migno- Fernandinho down the right and while preferred to Joe Hart in goal, made an let’s grasp but Coutinho levelled with the Brazilian’s shot from a tight angle even better stop to keep out Origi’s seven minutes to go from a rebound. was well struck, it should never have point-blank header at the start of the Mignolet and Caballero made vital squeezed past the keeper. Raheem second period of extra time. Former saves in extra time but City clinched Sterling, loudly booed by Liverpool City midfi elder James Milner’s poor season’s fi rst trophy in dramatic fash- fans throughout, could have killed off back header gave the lurking Aguero a ion to give Pellegrini his second League his old club on the hour but steered a chance but he stabbed his eff ort well Cup, having also lifted it two years ago shot wide with the goal gaping. City over. Liverpool drew fi rst blood in the as well as the Premier League title. took charge and Aguero was denied a shootout when Fernandinho’s spot Once the now familiar pre-match raz- clear-cut penalty when tripped by Al- kick hit the post but three consecutive zamatazz of pyrotechics and national berto Moreno and Mignolet redeemed failures made it a miserable fi rst Eng- anthem was concluded, the fi nal failed himself with a low save to keep out lish fi nal for German Klopp. QSL Sadd cruise past Arabi By Sports Reporter pounced on an Arabi midfi eld mistake, it if Boualem Khoukhi’s long distance Doha and his powerful run and shot found shot had found the back of the net. the bottom left corner of Rajab Ham- With Al Arabi pushing hard to get za’s goal. back into the tie, Sadd eff ectively fi n- SL side Al Sadd took a major Al Sadd where in the ascendency ished off the match on the 74th minute step in consolidating their and it didn’t take them long to regis- thanks to a Hassan Haydoos tap in top four status yesterday, ter a second goal. This time it was the from close range. Sadd captain Xavi defeating rivals Al Arabi 3-1 turn of January signing Morteza Pour- put through an inch perfect pass to Qin a pulsating QSL tie at Lekhwiya sta- aliganji to head in from a Xavi corner. substitute Hamza, and his deft no look dium. The Iranian international’s well time pass found it’s way into the path of the Two fi rst-half goals from defenders run and header found the back of the Qatari international who slotted in Musab Khoder & Morteza Pouraliganji net for a memorable fi rst goal for his from six yards out for his eighth goal of along with a breakaway second half new side, the fi rst half ended 2-0 to Al the season. strike from Qatari international cap- Sadd. The buildup play and assist from tain Hassan Haydoos ensured that the Al Arabi found their way back into Hamza was worthy of winning any Wolves grabbed all three points. the tie on the 48th minute. Veteran tie, and Sadd coach Jesaldo Ferreria Al Sadd started the tie on the front midfi elder Javad Nekounam took ad- can rest a little easier now he has day- foot, and created a host of key chances. vantage of some lax Sadd defending, to light between his side and the chasing However it was in the 20th minute that hit a half volley shot past Sadd stopper pack for the top four places. The result they found their breakthrough. Qa- Saad al-Sheeb. Al Arabi began to push leaves Al Sadd in fourth place, four tari U23 international Musab Khoder for an equalizer, and could have had points clear of fi fth-placed Umm Salal. Gulf Times 2 Monday, February 29, 2016 FOOTBALL SPOTLIGHT BACKING OFF Ronaldo issues climb down from Man Utd starlet teammates rant Rashford leaves Arsenal reeling The win represented Van Gaal’s third win over the past six days but more significantly, damaged Wenger’s hopes of winning Arsenal’s first league title in 12 years File picture of Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo. AFP “When I said this I was AFP Madrid referring to my level of fi tness, Manchester not play. I am not better than any of my teammates. I don’t hree-time World Player want to undervalue any of eenage forward Marcus Rash- of the Year Cristiano Ro- my teammates, but when the ford’s dream start to life at Man- naldo has backtracked best aren’t there it is diffi cult chester United continued yes- on critical comments of to win” terday as he scored two goals in This Real Madrid teammates fol- This team’s 3-2 victory over Arsenal at Old lowing their 1-0 defeat to Atleti- “I don’t want to undervalue Traff ord. co Madrid. any of my teammates, but when The win represented Louis van Gaal’s The derby defeat on Saturday the best aren’t there it is diffi cult third victory, in three competitions, realistically ended Real’s title to win.” over the past six days, but more signifi - challenge as they now trail lead- “I like to play with Pepe, Ka- cantly, damaged Arsene Wenger’s hopes ers Barcelona by nine points hav- rim (Benzema), Bale, Marcelo. of winning Arsenal’s fi rst league title in ing also played a game more. I don’t want to say that Jese 12 years. Ronaldo lambasted his team- (Rodriguez), Lucas (Vazquez), The 18-year-old forward, who scored mates by suggesting Real would (Mateo) Kovavic are not good twice in the mid-week Europa League be top if everyone was as good as players, they are very good, but victory over FC Midtjylland, was on the him. to win a competition you need mark again in an astonishing fi rst half in “If everyone was at my level, the best.” which he beat Petr Cech on two occa- we would be top,” he said. However, Real captain Sergio sions. However, Ronaldo issued a Ramos launched a staunch defence To make his impact all the more stun- subsequent statement to Madrid of the rest of the squad, pressuring ning, the goals came within three min- sports daily Marca claiming he Ronaldo into a climbdown. utes of each other as United delivered a was referring to his fi tness levels “We are proud of everyone serious blow to Wenger’s aim of narrow- having not missed a minute of La that is part of the squad and the ing the fi ve-point advantage that leaders Liga action this season. work of all the players that get Leicester City held before kick-off . “When I said this I was refer- fewer minutes (on the fi eld),” said After 29 minutes, Ander Herrera start- ring to my level of fi tness, not the Spanish international. ed a move with a telling tackle on Theo play.