14 Established 1961 Sports Tuesday, April 24, 2018 Amazing Salah steals show again with goal and award Elneny World Cup dreams are over PARIS: Mohamed Salah continued to steal the limelight ond goal in their 2-0 win over Real Sociedad. The vic- among Africans in Europe at the weekend, scoring a tory was a case of too little, too late for Malaga, record-equalling goal and being voted Players’ Player though, after their relegation was confirmed last week. of the Year. The Liverpool and Egypt sharpshooter got his 31st English Premier League goal in a 2-2 draw at IMOH EZEKIEL/OGHENEKARO ETEBO (Las Palmas) West Bromwich Albion before his goal-littered season The Nigerian duo started for Las Palmas against was rewarded with the award. Another joyful weekend Alaves but could not prevent the side from the Canary for Salah contrasted with that of fellow Egyptian Island of Gran Canaria slumping to a 4-0 home defeat Mohamed Elneny, who that condemned them to injured his ankle as relegation with four Arsenal beat West Ham games of the season 4-1 and could miss the remaining. World Cup. Koulibaly was ITALY ENGLAND the toast of KALIDOU KOULIBALY MOHAMED SALAH (Napoli) (Liverpool) Napoli fans Senegal defender Salah was chosen as Koulibaly was the toast the Premier League of Napoli fans after his Players’ Player of the 90th-minute header Year on Sunday as sealed a 1-0 win at reward for his 41 goals in Juventus and blew the all competitions in an Serie A championship incredible debut season at Anfield. He took his Premier open with four games to play. “It’s the most important League tally to 31 with Liverpool’s second in a draw at goal of my life because winning here was an impossible West Brom to equal the record for goals in a single 38- mission,” he said after his fifth league goal. Koulibaly game season. headed in the winner off a Jose Callejon corner in the final minute to give Napoli their first victory at the MOHAMED ELNENY (Arsenal) Allianz Stadium. Elneny faces a nervous wait to see if his World Cup LIVERPOOL: Liverpool’s Dutch defender Virgil van Dijk (R) and Liverpool’s Egyptian midfielder Mohamed Salah attends dreams are over after being stretchered off in the first SIMY NWANKWO (Crotone) a training session at the team’s Melwood training complex in Liverpool, north west England, yesterday. —AFP half of Arsenal’s win over West Ham. Arsenal boss Nigerian forward Simy grabbed the equaliser after Arsene Wenger admitted Elneny’s ankle injury “doesn’t seven minutes for his third goal in four games as look good” and he left the field with his shirt covering Crotone battled back to a 2-1 victory at Udinese to league goal this season after a rare moment of luck in a MAXWEL CORNET (Lyon) his face which was anguished in pain. shake up the relegation race. Crotone are two points 5-2 defeat at home to Hoffenheim. With his team 3-0 The Ivory Coast forward played his part in another above the drop zone with the win condemning down and playing with 10 men after Emil Forsberg was big win for Lyon by coming off the bench to set up VICTOR MOSES (Chelsea) Benevento to relegation. sent off, Leipzig got a lucky break when Keita’s shot hit Burkina Faso star Bertrand Traore for one goal and then The Nigeria wing-back will get the chance for FA the post and went in off the goalkeeper. The defeat saw net another himself as OL beat Dijon 5-2 away in Ligue Cup redemption after helping Chelsea reach the final FRANCK KESSIE (AC Milan) Leipzig slide to sixth in Germany’s top flight while 1 to stay on course for Champions League qualification. with a 2-0 win over Southampton. Moses played all 90 Ivorian midfielder Kessie came closest to an equalis- Hoffenheim leap-frogged them into fifth. minutes as the Blues eased into a final showdown with er on the hour mark when he rattled the crossbar in the SEYDOU SY (Monaco) Manchester United on May 19. Goals from Olivier San Siro, but AC Milan dropped out of the Europa SALOMON KALOU (Hertha Berlin) Monaco were without both first-choice goalkeeper Giroud and Alvaro Morata killed off Southampton, League places into seventh after an embarrassing 1-0 The veteran Ivory Coast striker was in goal-provid- Danijel Subasic and his habitual back-up Diego leaving Moses dreaming of making amends for last sea- defeat to rock-bottom Benevento, becoming the only ing form in a 3-0 win at 10-man Eintracht Frankfurt. Benaglio for their trip to Guingamp, so Sy came in for son when he was sent off for two bookings as Chelsea team to fail to beat the southerners over two games this Kalou helped unlock the Frankfurt defence and set up his second start of the campaign. The 22-year-old lost 2-1 to Arsenal in the final. season. Australia international Mathew Leckie and Alexander Senegal-born custodian could not prevent his side-who Esswein for second-half goals. The result leaves Hertha played most of the game with 10 men-from losing 3-1, a SPAIN GERMANY ninth while Frankfurt are seventh. defeat that jeopardises their chances of Champions YOUSSEF EN-NESYRI (Malaga) NABY KEITA (RB Leipzig) League qualification, even if they remain second in the The young Moroccan striker netted his team’s sec- The Liverpool-bound Guinea midfielder hit his sixth FRANCE table for now. — AFP face in Mohamed Salah, but it is the Egyptian who pos- Klopp calls for es the biggest threat to their dream of returning to the final for the first time since they lost to Liverpool on Matches on TV home soil in 1984. (Local Timings) Roma signs shirt Roma respect amid Salah made the move from the Italian capital to Anfield just 10 months ago, and has surpassed all sponsorship deal Anfield cauldron expectations since with an incredible 41 goals in 46 UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Liverpool appearances to already net more times than Liverpool v Roma 21:45 he did in two years for Roma. beIN SPORTS HD 1 with Qatar Airways LIVERPOOL: Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp warned The 25-year-old was rewarded for his brilliant cam- the club’s fans not to repeat the scenes that saw win- paign by winning the Premier League’s Players’ Player dows of Manchester City’s team bus smashed by of the Year award on Sunday evening, beating off stiff to the club. We’ve improved every season and done DOHA: Italian club and Champions League semi- thrown cans and bottles ahead of their Champions competition from Manchester City’s Kevin de Bruyne to finalists Roma announced yesterday their new shirt brilliant this season to get this stage.” However, even League semi-final, first leg against Roma at Anfield the prize. “I’m really happy for him, really proud of Klopp’s men’s 5-1 thrashing of Premier League champi- sponsors will be Qatar Airways in a three-year deal, today. City became just the latest victims of a famous that, it is a fantastic achievement. I think if all the other described as the largest the club has ever signed. ons Manchester City over two legs in the last eight was European night at Anfield on the pitch three weeks ago players vote for you it means most to all players,” The deal was made public just a day before one of upstaged by Roma coming from 4-1 down in the first as Liverpool raced into a 3-0 first leg lead that laid the added Klopp. “In a season like this, when Kevin de leg of their quarter-final with Barcelona to progress on Roma’s biggest games for decades, the first leg of a Bruyne played a season like he did, it made it even Champions League semi-final against Liverpool at foundations for their 5-1 aggregate victory over the away goals thanks to a famous 3-0 second leg win. more special.” Anfield today. English champions in the quarter-finals. Klopp admitted he thought it was a joke when he was The team’s shirts, which will be their second- However, Klopp wants to retain the passion inside first informed of Roma’s result against Barca, but insists choice colours of white, will carry the sponsorship the stadium without the ugly scenes outside which are START OF SOMETHING SPECIAL both sides should believe they can be European cham- for the first time in that match. “We are delighted to the subject of a UEFA investigation. “In the stadium do Despite their rich heritage in the competition as five- pions despite the presence of powerhouses Bayern announce this historic partnership between AS Roma it again and better. Outside the stadium, please show time winners, Liverpool haven’t been in the last four of Munich and 12-time winners Real Madrid in the other and Qatar Airways, two great brands with global the respect we have to show,” said Klopp yesterday. the Champions League for a decade. And captain semi-final. “I do understand many people would have ambitions,” said Roma’s president Jim Pallotta. “This is such an outstanding football club, an outstand- Jordan Henderson believes this season’s run to the thought this semi-final would be City v Barcelona, but “Today’s announcement is the result of discus- ing football family, known for fantastic atmospheres all semis can be the start of something special under it’s not, because it is football and Roma made it possi- sions behind the scenes for more than eight months over the world, so we don’t need to throw whatever at Klopp.