Established 1961 15 Sports Mon day, January 8, 2018 Newport stun Leeds, West Ham survive FA Cup test McCoulsky heads in a dramatic 89th-minute winner LONDON: Lowly Newport County came from behind going. I told them we don’t have to win the game in the to send Championship side Leeds United crashing out first 10 minutes of the second half and we got crosses of the FA Cup yesterday but Premier League West Ham into the box. “It was an outstanding header. He has 11 stayed alive with a goalless draw at Shrewsbury. goals for us this season and he has been superb for us. On-loan forward Shawn McCoulsky headed in a He was hungry and wanted it and I am delighted.” The dramatic 89th-minute winner for Welsh club Newport Championship visitors had made nine changes from the to seal a 2-1 victory against the 1972 Cup winners and side held by Nottingham Forest on New Year’s Day, and send the crowd at Rodney Parade wild. manager Thomas Christiansen’s decision backfired in a Leeds had earlier tak- frenzied finale. en an early lead in the It is another miserable third-round tie when result in the FA Cup for Gaetano Berardi’s Leeds, who crashed out deflected long-range in the fourth round last shot found the net. But Leeds were year to non-league Newport, currently 11th Sutton United. in League Two-the reduced fourth tier of the English HART SAVES game-levelled 14 min- to 10 men West Ham had goal- utes from time when keeper Joe Hart to thank Leeds defender Conor for keeping them in the Shaughnessy sliced into Cup with a 0-0 draw his own net. after an uninspired per- Infused with fresh belief in front of a passionate formance against Shrewsbury Town of the third tier. Welsh crowd, Newport pressed for a winner, and with The England goalkeeper, returning to the club where he a minute to go on-loan substitute McCoulsky rose started his career, was handed a cap from the crowd as highest at a corner to head in the decisive goal and he battled against the slanting winter sun. He made a send the stadium into raptures. Leeds were then fine save from Mat Sadler with about 10 minutes to go NOTTINGHAM: Nottingham Forest’s US defender Eric Lichaj (2L) heads the first goal past Arsenal’s Colombian reduced to 10 men when substitute Samuel Saiz was until the interval and repeated the trick against Alex goalkeeper David Ospina during the English FA Cup third round football match between Nottingham Forest and immediately sent off over an off-the-ball incident. Rodman to keep the score at 0-0. The League One Arsenal at The City Ground in Nottingham. — AFP “This is much better beating Championship teams high-fliers continued to take the game to David like Leeds,” said Newport manager Michael Flynn. “I Moyes’s team in the second half but there were few don’t want to be winning relegation battles, I want to clear-cut opportunities for either side. London Stadium. Tottenham host AFC Wimbledon while north London be winning FA Cup ties and climbing the table. Shrewsbury’s Jon Nolan had a golden chance to seal On Saturday, League Two Coventry City sent rivals Arsenal travel to Nottingham Forest, seeking to “I thought we were the better team in the first half, a dramatic victory in the dying minutes of normal time Premier League side Stoke City crashing out, prompt- join the two Manchester clubs and Liverpool in the the goal was unfortunate, but we had chances and kept but blazed over and the two sides will meet again at the ing the sacking of Mark Hughes. In later games, fourth-round draw. —AFP Bernardeschi Spanish La Liga table MADRID: Spanish La Liga table after yesterday’s early keeps Juventus on game (played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, Napoli’s heels points): Barcelona 17 14 3 0 45 7 45 Atletico Madrid 18 11 6 1 27 8 39 MILAN: Fernando Bernardeschi scored the only goal Valencia 18 11 4 3 38 18 37 as champions Juventus kept Serie A leaders Napoli in Real Madrid 16 9 4 3 30 14 31 their sights with a 1-0 win over Cagliari in Sardinia on Sevilla 18 9 2 7 23 27 29 Saturday. Napoli cemented their position in top spot Villarreal 17 8 3 6 24 20 27 before Italy’s two-week winter break with 51 points Eibar 18 8 3 7 24 30 27 from 20 games after seeing off Verona 2-0. Leganes 17 7 3 7 13 14 21 They are one point clear of Juventus with Inter Real Betis 18 7 3 8 30 34 24 Milan a distant third, nine points behind the leaders, Getafe 18 6 5 7 22 18 23 after being held 1-1 at Fiorentina on Friday. Italian Real Sociedad 18 6 5 7 31 30 23 winger Bernardeschi nudged home on 74 minutes fol- Girona 18 6 5 7 22 28 23 lowing a solo break by Douglas Costa down the right Celta Vigo 17 6 3 8 30 25 21 flank, but there were worries for Massimiliano Allegri’s Athletic Bilbao 17 5 6 6 18 19 21 side with Argentina star Paulo Dybala limping off with a Espanyol 17 5 5 7 14 21 20 suspected hamstring strain. Both Napoli’s goals came in the second half against Levante 17 3 9 5 15 22 18 a dogged Verona, with Kalidou Koulibaly breaking the Alaves 17 5 0 12 13 25 15 deadlock after 65 minutes in Naples and Jose Callejon Deportivo La Coruna17 4 3 10 19 34 15 sealing the win 13 minutes later. CAGLIARI: Juventus’ French midfielder Blaise Matuidi (R) vies for the ball with Cagliari’s Italian midfielder Luca Malaga 17 3 2 12 13 31 11 Coach Maurizio Sarri remains cautious despite Cigarini during the Italian Serie A football match between Cagliari Calcio and Juventus at the Sardegna Arena Las Palmas 18 3 2 13 14 40 11 heading into the second half of the season ahead of the stadium in Cagliari, on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia. — AFP reigning six-time champions. “We know that Juventus have years of certainties-that they can safely close above 90 points, while we cannot say the same thing Nainggolan was dropped by Roma for posting a video trick, completing the scoreline five minutes after the Cagliari apologises about ourselves,” said the Napoli boss. of himself smoking, drinking and swearing on New break. “It’s a magic time for us,” said Immobile. “My “We know that we must repeat last season’s per- Year’s Eve. “You have to make difficult choices in life to goals come thanks to everyone’s work, there were per- formances to get back into the Champions League and do the right thing and from the next game Radja will be fect assists on the first three. We can now enjoy the to Matuidi for anything more than that is undiscovered territory.” more fired up than ever to contribute to the cause,” holidays after this win.” Captain Leonardo Bonucci Roma missed the chance to join Inter on 42 points, said Di Francesco. headed in his first AC Milan goal to see off Crotone 1-0 slipping to fifth after a shock 2-1 defeat to ten-man win at San Siro, further boosting the struggling side fan racism Atalanta in Rome. Atalanta-fresh from their Italian Cup IMMOBILE MAGIC after their Italian Cup win over Inter. “The new year defeat of Napoli-were two goals up by half-time Lazio-like Roma with a game in hand-moved just could not have started better,” said the Italy defender ROME: Serie A club Cagliari apologised on Sunday to through Andreas Cornelius and Marten de Roon. two points behind Inter into fourth after Ciro Immobile of Milan who are on 28 points in eleventh position. Blaise Matuidi for the racist abuse fans directed at the Edin Dzeko reduced the deficit on 56 minutes but hit four goals in a 5-2 goal blitz in against SPAL. “The derby improved our confidence, our self-belief, Juventus winger during the Italian champions 1-0 win in Roma failed to take advantage of playing the entire Immobile is having another great season at Lazio after and you could see that by how we took risks.” Bottom Sardinia on Saturday, the second time he has received such abuse in as many weeks. Writing in French on their second half with an extra man on the pitch after de scoring 23 times last campaign, and moveed two ahead club Benevento won their game second in a row, with Twitter account, Cagliari apologised for the abuse, which of Inter’s Mauro Icardi at the top of the Serie A scorers Massimo Coda’s brace giving them a 3-2 win over 10- Roon was sent off for a second yellow card. took place late in the first half of a tense encounter at the “We started well for 10 minutes, then fell apart and charts, with 20 goals in 19 games. man Sampdoria, while Andrey Galabinov scored late to Sardegna Arena following a clash between Matuidi and a lost our confidence after going a goal behind,” said Spaniard Luis Alberto opened for Lazio after just move Genoa away from the relegation zone with a 1-0 Cagliari defender. “You are a fantastic player and an Roma coach Eusebio Di Francesco.