BBASEBALLASEBALL | Page 5 CCRICKETRICKET | Page 7 Kershaw shines India look as Dodgers to dominate beat Toronto West Indies Blue Jays in fi rst Test Thursday, August 22, 2019 FOOTBALL Dhul-Hijja 21, 1440 AH Ribery joins GULF TIMES Fiorentina for one last challenge SPORT Page 3 FOOTBALL/QNB STARS LEAGUE Sayyar double as champs Al Sadd start season in style Xavi made an early substitution in the 35th minute, taking off Akram Afif and bringing on Hassan al-Haydos By Sports Reporter Doha efending champions Al Sadd made a crack- ing start to their QNB Stars League campaign, Dscoring an emphatic 4-1 win over Al Wakrah in the opening match of the new season at the Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium yes- terday. Al Sadd’s goals were scored by Abdulaziz al-Ansari (ninth minute), Abdelkarim Hassan (74th) and Ahmed Sayyar (84th and 90th minutes), while Al Wakrah’s only goal came from Mohamed Benyettou in the 26th minute. Al Sadd were given a fright in the fi rst half which saw the teams fi nish with one goal apiece, but hit their groove late in the match to give a very in- volved Xavi his fi rst league win in Qatar. Al Sadd’s Abdulaziz al-Ansari (top) and Abdelkarim Hassan (bottom) celebrate their goals against A few months ago Xavi had Al Wakrah. inspired Al Sadd to their record 14th league title and the Span- iard was busy over the past few weeks steering his side to the quarter-fi nals of the AFC Champions League and the Sheikh Jassim Cup title, his fi rst piece of silverware as the coach. Al Sadd began the game and well and had a scoring chance in the third minute. Akram Afi f sent in a cross after a short cor- ner and the unmarked Pedro rose to head the ball, but it went just over the bar. The Wolves made the break- through in the ninth minute. Wakrah managed to equalise in half, Xavi made another change, right, with the ball evading eve- Abdulaziz al-Ansari controlled the 26th minute through Mo- sending on Ahmed Sayyar in ryone before falling to Abdelka- an aerial pass from Afi f, before hamed Benyettou, who tapped place of Hamid Ismail. rim who lashed in with his left slotting the ball past Saoud al- in past Saad al-Dosari, after Al-Haydos almost scored in foot to make it 2-1. Khater to score the opening goal Cristian Ceballos’ cross from the 55th minute, slipping the ball Ahmed Sayyar then scored of the season Al Sadd coach Xavi reacts during the right. past the onrushing keeper but twice in the space of six minutes In the 15th minute, Afi f was the match against Al Wakrah Xavi made an early substitu- Al Wakrah captain Bruno Uvini to extend Al Sadd’s lead further. sent through on goal by Gabi, yesterday. PICTURE: Noushad tion in the 35th minute, taking made a last-ditch clearance In the 84th minute, Ali Asad but he was brought down by the Thekkayil off Akram Afi f and bringing on inches away from the goal-line. dribbled past his marker and last defender Ali Malallah. The Hassan al-Haydos, who played Al Sadd fi nally got back in the squared the ball for Sayyar to fi n- referee consulted VAR before up front alongside Abdulaziz al- lead in the 74th minute, when ish off . Sayyar made it 4-1 in the sending off the Al Wakrah player. Ansari and Hashim Ali. Abdelkarim Hassan scored. Al- 89th minute with a close range Despite being a man down, Al At the start of the second Ansari sent in a cross from the strike. BOTTOMLINE Kenya’s Obiri to compete in both 5k and 10k in Doha Nairobi: Kenyan middle-distance champion Hellen Obiri said yes- Duhail score heart-stopping terday she will compete in both the 5k and 10k races at the IAAF World Athletics Championships in Doha next month. Obiri, 29, the current world win over Qatar Sports Club 5,000m champion, aims to become one of the rare athletes By Sports Reporter ia’s men a lifeline. to win over both distances at the Doha Msakni profi ted from same event. a lapse in concentration “Since I have a wild card for the by Qatar SC goalkeeper 5,000m in Doha, I feel it is the lmoez Ali Jassem Adel who failed right time to run both the 5k struck in sec- to cleanly collect Ed- and 10k. The humid weather has ond-half stop- milson’s shot from afar. Al Duhail players been favourable to me the three page time to Msakni made no mistake celebrate their times I have ran in the Qatari Agive Al Duhail a heart- from close to equalise. winning goal capital,” Obiri told AFP. stopping 2-1 win over Almoez then scored against Qatar “I know that this is a big task but I Qatar Sports Club in the the winning goal in the Sports Club. am going to intensify my training in the qualifying race. QNB Stars League yes- second minute of added in these remaining five weeks The Kenyan men’s team will terday. time, unleashing a pow- before we travel to Doha.” be led by 2015 World 10,000m Al Duhail trailed by erful grounder from the Obiri qualified for the 10k race bronze medallist and three-time a 60th minute goal edge of the penalty area. by coming second behind world World half marathon champion from Junior Kabananga Al Duhail take on Al bronze medallist Agnes Tirop in Geoff rey Kamworor, who won but Yousef Msakni re- Arabi next while Qatar the Kenyan trials on Wednesday. the men’s race, ahead of Rhonex stored parity in the 88th SC clash with Al Wak- Rosemary Wanjiru finished third Kipruto and Rogers Kwemoi. minute to give Rui Far- rah. Gulf Times 2 Thursday, August 22, 2019 FOOTBALL EPL FOCUS Stadium site contamination Reds’ attacking verve new headache for Beckham’s will test validity of MLS team AFP Miami avid Beckham’s Major League Soccer club in Miami may have hit a new stumbling block after an environmental report showed unexpected Gunners’ positive start levels of contamination at a proposed stadium Dsite, the Miami Herald reported. The only sides to win both Premier League games so far meet on Saturday at Anfield, The newspaper reported Monday that the analysis found arsenic contamination at more than twice the le- where Arsenal have a terrible recent record they can only improve on gal limit as well as hazardous debris in surface level soil at Melreese Country Club. The 131-acre site near Miami airport has been put forward as Inter Miami’s permanent home, with a sprawling $1 billion complex planned. The report was alarming enough that Miami City Manager Emilio Gonzalez on Tuesday ordered the closure of Melreese golf course, Miami’s only city-owned course. The Herald reported that the analysis by environmen- tal fi rm EE&G – hired by Inter Miami – found that soil samples taken in recent months showed not only elevated arsenic levels but also barium and lead above legal limits. Much of the pollution apparently came from a now defunct municipal incinerator. The Herald reported that tests by the county Department of Environmental Re- sources Management yielded “similarly grimy results, showing high concentrations of lead in the soil at the site.” It wasn’t immediately clear if the cost of additional cleanup would make plans for the stadium complex un- feasible. Inter Miami offi cials have in the past estimated the cleanup would cost in the range of $35mn. Inter Mi- ami is due to launch in 2020, with the club planning to build a stadium in time for next season in neighbouring Fort Lauderdale. Beckham’s ownership group went to court in South Florida in May and obtained permission to demolish crumbling Lockhart Stadium, home of the now-defunct Fort Lauderdale Strikers which is to be replaced with an 18,000-seat arena. The plan had been to use Lockhart for two seasons until the permanent home at Melreese Country Club is completed. Lockhart is the sixth pro- posed stadium site for the club. MLS confi rms 28th team will be in St. Louis Major League Soccer confirmed on Tuesday that St. Louis has been awarded an expansion franchise that Arsenal’s French striker Alexandre Lacazette (centre) celebrates after scoring the opening goal of the English Premier League against Burnley at the Emirates Stadium in London on August will boost North America’s top football league to 28 17, 2019. (AFP) teams. MLS Commissioner Don Garber made the announcement alongside the club’s ownership group, Paul Wilson concerned was a 5-1 drubbing on to fi ght a lot: Liverpool also play have players with the quickness of ertson. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain including Carolyn Kindle Betz, the Taylor family and The Guardian Brendan Rodgers’ watch in 2014 football.” Liverpool do not have thought and movement to take ad- is returning to the team as well and Jim Kavanaugh. when Luis Suarez, Raheem Ster- the equivalent of Ashley Barnes, in vantage of even momentary slack- Arsenal need no reminding how With Betz and six other female members of the Taylor ling and Daniel Sturridge ran riot other words, nor are they quite so ness in an opponent’s defence. explosive he can be from midfi eld, family part of the group, St. Louis becomes the first urnley should feel fl at- to such an extent the visitors barely fond of the long balls and aerial Liverpool have potential match- or perhaps they do.