Venus upsets Sri Lanka defeat Serena to reach rain, Pakistan in Rogers Cup final first Test MONDAY, AUGUST 11,17 2014 18 Stewart pulls out of race after fatal crash Page 19 LONDON: Arsenal’s Spanish midfielder Mikel Arteta (right) raises the Community Shield trophy after Arsenal won the FA Community Shield football match against Manchester City at Wembley Stadium. —AFP Arsenal thrash City in curtain-raiser Community Shield LONDON: Arsenal delivered a rousing demonstration of their with the same confidence and belief.” return to Wembley, with new signing Mathieu Debuchy obliging keeper Willy Caballero-who was preferred to Joe Hart-but he Premier League title credentials by overwhelming league cham- Victory in the traditional season curtain-raiser-which wit- Gael Clichy to head a cross clear. helped limit the damage in first-half stoppage time by rushing pions Manchester City 3-0 in the Community Shield at Wembley nessed the first use of vanishing spray in English football-sug- Debuchy then blocked a shot by Samir Nasri-lustily booed by out to prevent Sanchez collecting a pass from Sanogo. yesterday. gests Arsenal are in fine fettle ahead of their opening league fix- the fans of his former club-at the other end, before Cazorla gave Sanchez made way for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain after a lively Buoyed by last season’s FA Cup success over Hull City, Arsene ture at home to Crystal Palace on Saturday. Arsenal the lead in the 21st minute. first-half cameo on the right flank, while City were given fresh Wenger’s side took charge with first-half goals from Santi Cazorla In mitigation for City, manager Manuel Pellegrini could point Jack Wilshere was felled on the edge of the box by Dedryck impetus by the introduction of David Silva. and Aaron Ramsey before substitute Olivier Giroud added a glori- to the absences of first-teamers such as captain Vincent Boyata, but play continued and the ball ran to Cazorla, who Jovetic twice threatened to halve Arsenal’s lead, heading ous long-range third. With £30 million ($50.5 million, 37.8 million Kompany and Sergio Aguero, but his side’s rustiness will be cause threw Clichy off-balance with a clever feint before drilling home against the post and blazing the rebound over before seeing a euros) new signing Alexis Sanchez also impressing on a sunny for concern ahead of their season opener at Newcastle United. left-footed. rasping 15-yard shot blocked by Wojciech Szczesny. afternoon in northwest London, Arsenal’s fans will hope it proves “These things happen before the season starts,” Pellegrini told BT Edin Dzeko looked to get City level by racing away from But Giroud put the game to bed on the hour, gathering the the precursor to a sustained title challenge, after seeing their side Sport.”It was not the pace we played in pre-season, but I will talk Calum Chambers and teeing up Stevan Jovetic, but Laurent ball in the inside-right channel and launching a superb, dipping fall away last season. with the players and I am sure we will be ready to start the Koscielny produced a timely block. Moments later it was 2-0. strike from 25 yards that plunged beneath the crossbar. “Two things were important today: to win a trophy, even Premier League.” From Sanchez’s sweeping through ball, Yaya Sanogo played a Arsenal’s fans goaded their City counterparts by aping their though it is not a major one, and to play well, and I am very hap- pass inside that was slightly behind Ramsey, but the Welshman backwards-facing ‘Poznan’ goal celebration. The teams will py because we played some very good football,” said Wenger. SUPERB STRIKE checked his run and smartly chipped the ball on before drilling a resume hostilities in the Premier League on September 19, by “This showed that when the team is focused, we have a With the millstone of a nine-year trophy drought no longer shot into the bottom-left corner. which time Pellegrini will expect to have witnessed significant chance to win a league game. We want to go into each game weighing them down, Arsenal made an assured start on their It had been a less than ideal first 45 minutes for new City goal- improvements. — AFP Juve strike late to Liverpool down Dortmund LIVERPOOL: Liverpool warmed up for the ished for a lack of concentration from a win Sydney friendly start of their Premier League campaign Steven Gerrard corner five minutes later, with a Philippe Coutinho-inspired 4-0 with the unmarked Lovren allowed time SYDNEY: Juventus will have to given the hosts the lead in the ninth friendly win over Borussia Dortmund at and space to head home from inside the improve their fitness before they minute when he found space for his Anfield yesterday. six-yard box. begin their quest for a fourth shot on the edge of the box and Brendan Rodgers’s side dominated their straight Serie A title, new coach stroked the ball past Gianluigi final pre-season match with Brazilian play- INTELLIGENT MOVEMENT Massimiliano Allegri said after they Buffon. maker Coutinho the most impressive per- The remainder of the first half was needed two late goals to snatch a 3- Carlos Tevez hit the post just former as he scored one goal and had a played at a more sedate pace although 2 win over an A-League All Star XI before the break after a slick one- hand in another. Coutinho, full of intelligent movement and yesterday. two with Fernando Llorente but it Coutinho, who will be expected to carry clever flicks, continued to threaten in the The All Stars, captained by was not until the 59th minute that much of Liverpool’s creative burden follow- final third in combination with Sturridge Juventus great Alessandro Del Piero, the latter headed Juve’s equaliser ing the sale of Luis Suarez to Barcelona, was and Sterling. Gerrard brought a superb were deservedly leading 2-1 with from a Patrice Evra cross. a constant menace throughout as Daniel one-handed diving save from Langerak two minutes to go in the friendly Substitute Tomi Juric lashed Sturridge, Dejan Lovren and Jordan with a curling free-kick on the stroke of played in front of a crowd of 55,364 home the All Stars’ second goal in Henderson also got their names on the half-time, and shortly after the interval the at Sydney’s Olympic Stadium. the 77th minute after a defensive scoresheet against German club Dortmund. home side put the result beyond doubt. French midfielder Paul Pogba, error by Kwadwo Asamoah but Liverpool, looking to gone one better Sterling seized upon a misplaced pass who was named best young player Pogba and Pepe saved the blushes after finishing runners-up to Manchester and found the unmarked Coutinho who at the World Cup, got Juventus back of the visitors. City in the Premier League last season, swivelled and then placed it into the net on terms when he chested the ball Allegri said a tactical switch in the handed debuts to new defensive signings past the hapless Langerak to get the goal down and steered it into the top cor- last 10 minutes had helped his side Javier Manquillo and Lovren while his performance deserved. ner of the net with an exquisite half get back into the match. “The 3-5-2 Sturridge had shaken off a hamstring injury Henderson, who had been full of volley in the 88th minute. has worked well for Juventus but we to start in attack. endeavour and energy throughout, tapped Simone Pepe scored the winner would also like to have the ability to Dortmund boss Jurgen Klopp had only home Liverpool’s fourth from close range three minutes later with a low drive show some flexibility in our forma- one of Germany’s quartet of World Cup- just after the hour mark. from a similar position on the edge tion,” Allegri added. winning players at his disposal in the form Rodgers, with one eye on the visit of of the box to give new coach two Chilean midfielder Arturo Vidal, of Kevin Grosskreutz, who remained on the Southampton in their opening league wins from his first two matches after the subject of intense speculation bench. game, made a number of substitutions they beat an Indonesia XI 8-1 on over a big money move to Liverpool’s passing looked crisper than throughout the second period as Lucas Wednesday. “It was a good game,” Manchester United, was again left that of their Bundesliga counterparts in the Leiva Jordan Ibe, Rickie Lambert, Jose former AC Milan coach Allegri told out of the matchday squad. early stages, and Coutinho created the first Enrique, Martin Kelly and Joe Allen were all reporters through a translator. “They Allegri has already said he would opening with a weighted ball for Raheem introduced. were well organised and we were like to keep Vidal and maintained Sterling who saw his shot beaten away by The changes to personnel saw put under some pressure, particular- that the 27-year-old, who had knee Mitchell Langerak in the Dortmund goal. Liverpool’s passing become disjointed in ly in the first half when we made surgery before the World Cup, only Coutinho was instrumental in the final half hour as the game petered out some technical mistakes. returned to training properly this Liverpool’s opening goal in the 10th minute as contest. “We got better in the second half, week. when he played a first-time pass which sent But Dortmund, well short of match fit- but we’ve still got plenty of work to “Vidal has started to train again, Sturridge clear and he angled a shot past ness, rarely troubled a Liverpool defence do, particularly on our physical con- he’s well and we hope to have him SYDNEY: Juventus player Fernando Llorente (center) heads the ball as Langerak into the corner of the net.