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Atletico Madrid look to end drought in midweek LaLiga action

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MADRID, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) — Atletico Madrid will look to end their goal drought as LaLiga moves quickly into a round of midweek matches which kick off on Tuesday with three games.

Atletico make the short trip to the south of the capital to face bottom of the table Getafe, who have made their worst ever start to a top-flight season with six consecutive defeats to pile the pressure on coach Michel Gonzalez.

Getafe conceded three goals to recently promoted Rayo Vallecano on Saturday and Atletico will hope to take advantage of a lack of defensive rigor as they look to end a run of two matches without scoring a goal.

Koke and Thomas Lemar are both out for Tuesday and Geoffrey Kondogbia is also a doubt after limping out of Saturday’s 0-0 draw at home to Athletic Club Bilbao, but it is in attack where Diego Simeone will want to see more spark as Antoine Griezmann and Luis Suarez are struggling for form.

Unbeaten Athletic Club will look to build on the point they took from the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium when they entertain Rayo in an emotional return to the San Mames Stadium for Rayo coach Andoni Iraola.

Iraola made 510 appearances for Athletic Club as a player (the fourth highest number in the club’s history) and is assured of a warm welcome on his return. Rayo have started their return to the top-flight well with seven points from their first five games, but even with Radamel Falcao in the side, they may find it hard to break down a defense that has conceded just one goal so far this campaign.

Tuesday’s final game sees Levante entertain Celta Vigo in a match between two sides still looking for their first win of the season. Levante have four draws and one defeat, while Celta travel to Valencia with just one point and four defeats after Friday’s 2-1 loss at home to Cadiz.

League leaders Real Madrid entertain Mallorca on Wednesday night.

De Gea the hero for Man Utd, but Chelsea go top in the Premier League

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LONDON, Sept, 19 (Xinhua) — David de Gea saved a 95th minute penalty from West Ham’s veteran midfielder Mark Noble to give Manchester United a dramatic win in the London Stadium.

Manchester United had fought back from a goal down after Said Benrahma had put West Ham ahead after 30 minutes.

Cristiano Ronaldo equalized from close range six minutes later after West Ham keeper Lucas Fabianski had saved his original header and Jesse Lingard, who had a successful loan at West Ham last season, curled home the winning goal in the 89th minute.

Luke Shaw’s handball deep into injury time gave West Ham the chance to level the score, but De Gea saved from Noble, who was brought on specifically to take the penalty.

Chelsea went to the top of the table after a dominant display gave them a 3-0 win away to Tottenham in the last game of the weekend.

Tottenham threw everything at Chelsea in a high-tempo first half, but all of their efforts were undone when Thiago Silva headed Chelsea ahead following a corner in the 49th minute.

N’Golo Kante celebrated his return from an ankle injury by hitting his side’s second of the game in the 57th minute with a big deflection off Eric Dier, and Antonio Rudiger rounded off the win with a smart finish in injury time.

Earlier in the day Brighton confirmed their excellent start to the season with a 2-1 win over Leicester City thanks to a Neal Maupay penalty and Danny Welbeck’s header.

Jamie Vardy got a goal back for Leicester on his 250th Premier League appearance, but the visitors were frustrated when Ademola Lookman and Wilfred Ndidi had goals ruled out for offside.

Sadio Mane’s 100th goal for Liverpool helped his side to a 3-0 win at home to Crystal Palace that was tougher than the final score suggests.

Mane seized on a rebound following Mohamed Salah’s header two minutes before halftime, but Liverpool had to wait until the 78th minute for their second of the game when Salah scored following a corner and Nabi Keita added a third in the last minute.

Manchester City disappointed in a 0-0 draw at home to Southampton in a game where the VAR played a key role in overturning a decision to give the visitors and penalty and send off Kyle Walker.

Martin Odegaard’s brilliant free kick was enough to give Arsenal a narrow 1-0 win away to struggling Burnley, who have lost four of their first five games this season.

Burnley have one more point than Norwich, whose 3-1 defeat to Watford means they have lost all five games this season.

Dennis Bonaventura put Watford ahead in the 17th minute and although Teemu Pukki cancelled that goal out before halftime, two second half strikes from Ismaila Sarr gave the visitors all three points.

Aston Villa ended Everton’s unbeaten start to the season with a 3-0 win at Villa Park with all the goals coming in a nine-minute spell midway through the second half.

Matty Cash opened the scoring in the 66th minute before a Lucas Digne own goal and Leon Bailey’s volley assured the win.

Brentford continued their fine start to life in the Premier League with a 2-0 win away to Wolves thanks to goals from Ivan Toney and Bryam Mbuemo and they cruised home despite playing the last 25 minutes with 10 men after Shandon Baptiste’s sending off.

Newcastle United and Leeds United remain winless after a 1-1 draw on Friday night with Allan Saint-Maximin scoring an equalizer for Newcastle after Raphinha had put Leeds ahead in the 13th minute.

Kenyans take home men’s, women’s titles at Rome Marathon

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ROME, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) — A one-year pause due to the coronavirus pandemic didn’t have a big impact on the victory stands at the Rome Marathon, with African runners continuing their long dominance of the race on Sunday, which was first run in 1982.

Kenyan Clement Langat Kiprono took the overall championship for the 42.2-kilometer (26.2-mile) race in 2 hours 8 minutes and 23 seconds. Kiprono came in five seconds ahead of Tanzanian Emmanuel Naibei, who finished in 2:08:28, followed by Ethiopian Ulfata Deresa Guleta, who took third in 2:08:42.

Kiprono’s compatriot Peris Lagat Cherono won her race by a more comfortable margin, finishing in 2:29:29, well ahead of Judith Jerubet, also from Kenya, who crossed the finish line in 2:30:50, and Jifar Fantu Zewunde of Ethiopia, who finished in 2:32:02.

All told, more than 7,500 runners were on the early-morning starting line in the shadow of Rome’s Colosseum. The city’s mayor, Virginia Raggi, was the race’s ceremonial starter.

Last year’s race was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, and this year’s edition was pushed back from April, its normal spot on the calendar, for the same reason.

Runners who registered for the 2020 race were automatically entered in this year’s edition, and race finishers were awarded two medals: one for 2020 and one for 2021.

Kiprono was the fifth consecutive Rome Marathon champion to run under 2 hours and 9 minutes in his victory, but he was still short of the course record of 2:07:17 set by countryman Benjamin Kiptoo in 2009. Cherono was also slower than the course record of 2:22:52 run by Ethiopian Alemu Megertu in 2019, the previous edition of the race.

African runners have won the men’s title in 15 consecutive races, starting after Italian Alberico Di Cecco won in 2005, and they have won 12 straight races in the women’s division, following the victory of Russian Galina Bogomolova in 2008. Cherono’s win broke a six-race streak of victories by Ethiopian runners in the women’s division.

Real Madrid win in Valencia to go top as rivals all slip up

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MADRID, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) — Real Madrid came from behind to win 2-1 away to Valencia and open up a two-point gap at the top of La Liga on Sunday night.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side looked to be heading for defeat in the game between the top two in the table as Valencia’s high-pressing game had them on the back foot and trailing after Hugo Duro put the home side ahead in the 66th minute.

Duro hit a left foot shot that took a deflection on its way past Thibaut Courtois and the goal sparked more life into Real Madrid and in the last 15 minutes Valencia were guilty of sitting deep and trying to defend their lead.

Vinicius Jr leveled for Madrid in the 86th minute with his shot also taking a big deflection to wrong-foot Valencia keeper Giorgi Mamardashvili and the Brazilian had a hand in his side’s second goal two minutes later when he crossed for Karim Benzema to score off his shoulder.

Mallorca and Villarreal drew 0-0 on Sunday lunchtime in a game that was more entertaining than the final score suggests, with Villarreal (who have drawn their last four games) having the best chances.

Real Sociedad and Sevilla also failed to trouble the scoreboard in a duel between top-four hopefuls in San Sebastian. Sevilla will probably travel home happier with the points than the home side, who saw Mikel Oyarzabal’s poor penalty saved by Sevilla keeper Bono.

Leandro Cabrera scored a 97th minute equalizer to save a point for Espanyol in a 2-2 draw away to Betis.

Aleix Vidal side-footed Espanyol ahead in the 16th minute, but Willian Jose and Nabil Fekir turned the score around for Betis before the break.

The home side were reduced to 10 men in the 78th minute when German Pezzella was shown a direct red card and in the time added on after that incident Cabrera powered home from the edge of the area.

Atletico Madrid dropped two points on Saturday after being held to a 0-0 draw by an effective and disciplined Athletic Club side that had the best chances to win the match.

Atletico Madrid’s only chance was a Marcos Llorente shot which bounced off the post in the second half and the visitors would have taken all three points if Inaki Williams (who was making his 200th consecutive league appearance) or Asier Villalibre had hit the target with just Jan Oblak to beat.

Atletico’s frustration was compounded when Joao Felix was sent off in the 77th minute for insulting referee Gil Manzano.

Former Atletico striker Radamel Falcao scored on his debut to round off Rayo Vallecano’s 3-0 win over Getafe on Saturday lunchtime. Oscar Trejo’s ninth minute penalty opened the scoring and Pathe Ciss’s 78th minute header doubled Rayo’s lead against a rival that has lost all five games.

Alaves are also without a point after losing 2-0 defeat at home to Osasuna, who claimed all three points thanks to a David Garcia header in the 21st minute of the game and a 28th minute penalty from Roberto Torres following a handball in the Alaves area.

Elche and Levante drew 1-1 with Jose Luis Morales’s 55th minute goal cancelling out Lucas Perez’s 33rd minute opener for the home side.

The round of matches kicked off as Cadiz won 2-1 away to Celta Vigo thanks to goals from Anthony Lozano and Alfonso Espino, who scored from close range after a penalty.

FC Barcelona play Granada on Monday night.

Dortmund overpower Union 4-2 in Bundesliga

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BERLIN, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) — Two goals from Erling Haaland helped Borussia Dortmund to inflict a resilient Union Berlin its first defeat of the season at the closer of the fifth round in Bundesliga on Sunday.

The “Eisernen” thought they had caught a perfect start on the road but for all that Taiwo Awoniyi’s goal was ruled offside in the first minute of the game.

Dortmund then gained the upper hand and broke the deadlock with 10 minutes played after Raphael Guerreiro finished off a combination via Mahmoud Dahoud, beating Berlin goalkeeper Andreas Luthe from 15 meters.

The “BVB” increased the pressure and doubled the advantage following a counterattack as Thomas Meunier’s pinpoint cross allowed Haaland to head home a 2-0 lead in the 24th minute.

Union couldn’t hold the pace in the first half, and to make things worse Marvin Friedrich cleared Marco Reus dangerous square pass into the wrong goal to make it three for Dortmund in the 52nd minute.

The own goal was a wake-up call for the visitors who suddenly sparked to life as Max Kruse converted a foul play penalty to reduce the arrears to 3-1.

Dortmund ceased its offensive actions and got promptly punished with another goal by Union as Niko Gieselmann’s corner kick found Andreas Voglsammer, who nodded home to make it 3-2.

Just when Union was about to take things over, Haaland destroyed all hopes of a comeback as the Norway international beat Luthe to secure the 4-2 win in the 83rd minute.

With the result, Dortmund defended its third spot in the Bundesliga standings while Union Berlin remains on the eighth place.

“We had everything under control and were three goals ahead, but we still allowed the opponents to come back. That is unnecessary. There are still things that we need to improve,” Borussia Dortmund head coach Marco Rose said.

“At the end of the day you have to play a perfect game in Dortmund for 90 minutes otherwise you won’t reap any points,” Union Berlin head coach Urs Fischer said.

Elsewhere, 10-men Bayer Leverkusen edged Stuttgart 3-1 thanks to Robert Andrich, Patrik Schick and Florian Wirtz, and unbeaten Wolfsburg lost its top spot to Bayern Munich after sharing the spoils with winless Eintracht Frankfurt following a 1-1 draw.

Unfortunate Juve continues poor performance in Serie A

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ROME, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) — Juventus continued its dismal performance in Serie A after a 1-1 draw with AC Milan on Sunday, as Alvaro Morata’s early opener was canceled out by Ante Rebic.

Juve was fresh from a comfortable win over Malmo FF in Champions League, but also in dire need of a victory in domestic campaign, as it just collected one point before Sunday’s game, while Milan made three wins in as many matches.

An injury crisis was taking its toll on Milan, it had to do without Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Olivier Giroud, Rebic started as a makeshift center-forward, while Juve had a relatively full squad to choose from.

The Bianconeri went ahead just four minutes into the game through a counterattack, Morata ran from the midfield to loop over an on-rushing Milan’s goalkeeper Mike Maignan.

The home side dominated the first half, but failed to extend the lead, and Milan punished the wasteful Old Lady in the 76th minute, as Rebic met Sandro Tonali’s corner to nod in off the inside of the post.

The Rossoneri had the chance to turn around the game in the dying minutes but Pierre Kalulu’s scorcher inside the box was denied by Wojciech Szczesny.

Milan now ranks second with 10 points after four rounds, just behind Inter Milan on goal difference, while Juve surprisingly sits in the delegation zone with two points.

Roma also saw their wining streak ended, as the Giallorossi was stunned by Hellas Verona 3-2.

Also on Sunday, Lazio shared the spoils with Cagliari 2-2, Sampdoria dominated Empoli 3-0 away, Venezia lost to Spezia 2-1 on home turf.

Ethiopia’s Gemechu breaks women’s record at Copenhagen Half Marathon

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COPENHAGEN, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) — Tsehay Gemechu from Ethiopia stormed to the finish line in 1:05:08 to set a new women’s record in the Copenhagen Half Marathon on Sunday.

The 22-year-old cut seven seconds off the race record set by the Netherlands’ double Olympic gold medalist Sifan Hassan in 2018.

Finishing in second place was fellow Ethiopian Hawi Feysa, 33 seconds adrift, and Kenya’s Vivian Kiplagat crossed the line third with a time of 1:06:07.

After an absence of one year and a half, the CPH Half returned to the streets of central Copenhagen on Sunday with approximately 20,000 entrants from all over the world.

A tight finish in the men’s event saw Amdework Walalegn from Ethiopia having to squeeze across the finish line in 59 minutes and 10 seconds under pressure from Keneth Renju of Kenya, who came just two seconds behind.

Third place in the men’s event was secured by fellow Kenyan Daniel Mateiko in 59 minutes and 25 seconds.

With the final remnants of COVID-19 restrictions lifted in Denmark earlier in the month, “one of the world’s fastest half marathon routes of 21.0975 kilometers”, according to organizers Sparta Atletik & Lob, was now able to attract a “distinguished field of runners”.

Feature: Yao Ming’s influence lingers on at China’s National Games

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XI’AN, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) — Ten years after retiring, Chinese basketball legend Yao Ming remains in the country’s limelight.

Yao, current president of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), came to watch the U19 3×3 basketball competition every day after the National Games began on Thursday. Every time he entered the court, his presence would cause a stir.

Cellphones fixed on him, media focused on him, fans swarmed to take photos with him in the background. Organizers and volunteers fumbled in setting up security lines and persuading journalists and audiences to return to their seats.

Such disturbances have been commonplace in the past four days, as organizers became more accustomed to handling this.

After retiring in July 2011, Yao never stepped away from the center stage as a superstar, and his celebrity remains undimmed.

Though he remains a fixture on front pages, Yao notably refused to endorse any commercial brand or sports product since he retired.

During his five-year spell with CBA side the Shanghai Sharks and his nine-year NBA experience with the Houston Rockets, Yao became the most successful international sports star representing China and an idol of Chinese sports fans.

Yao, now 41, is dedicated to pushing forward reform of China’s domestic basketball league and mini-basketball program, in order to change the sporting mindset of young basketball fans and China’s basketball future.

During the National Games, Yao has focused on the 3×3 basketball event, which brought China its first Olympic basketball medal in 29 years with the women’s team’s bronze medal at the Tokyo Games.

Kenya’s Tusker coach relishes Zamalek test in CAF Champions League

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NAIROBI, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) — Kenya’s Tusker FC head coach Robert Matano is relishing the stern test posed by Egyptian giants Zamalek FC in the round of 32 at the 2021/22 CAF Champions League.

The Kenyan side wrapped up a 4-1 win on aggregate over Arta Solar 7 of Djibouti after thumping the visitors 3-0 in Nairobi on Saturday.

A glamour tie against the White Knights of Cairo awaits the Brewers who survived a number of scares before overpowering Arta.

“We were expecting to score even five, but it was not possible. We are happy about the victory because we played well despite some of the injuries we had. We managed to control the tempo,” Matano told a press conference after the game.

Matano, known in local circles as “The Lion” attributed the resounding victory to the depth of his team, saying they had recruited well and were able to make desired changes during the second half of the game.

“In the first leg, the team was split with some of the players in Nairobi, others in Djibouti and part of the team in Dubai. We came against a side that had trained together for one month in Cameroon, but we managed to contain them,” he added.

Matano stressed that his team has the quality to give Zamalek, who last won the Champions League in 2002, a good go despite coming to the tie as underdogs.

His team has to contend with the fact that Kenyan sides have an abysmal record against Egyptian opposition.

Zamalek now stands between them and a place in the lucrative group stages of the CAF Champions League.

A loss will demote the Kenyans into the final qualifying round of the second tier CAF Confederations Cup.

The first leg of the round of 32 will be played in Nairobi between Oct. 15-17 with the return fixture set for Oct. 22-24.

Relentless Bayern crush newly promoted Bochum 7-0 in Bundesliga

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BERLIN, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) — Bayern Munich showed no mercy with newcomers Bochum and reaped its fourth win in a row after sealing the deal with four goals in the first half in the 5th round in Bundesliga on Saturday.

The visitors from Bochum staged a bright start on the road though as Gerrit Holtmann’s dangerous curl on target caught Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer almost flat-footed with 12 minutes played.

Bayern responded in style and broke the deadlock five minutes later when Leroy Sane drilled a free kick over the wall into the top right corner from 25 meters.

The hosts gained momentum and should have doubled their advantage in the 25th minute but Thomas Muller’s shot from promising position got blocked.

Two minutes later, Joshua Kimmich utilized Bayern’s next chance as the Germany international made it two after scoring with a turn shot from inside the box following Sane’s good build-up work.

The “Bavarians” continued to press forward and tripled their lead at the half-hour mark when Serge Gnabry shrugged off Danilo Soares before beating custodian Manuel Riemann with a well-placed shot into the far post corner.

Things went to worse just before the break as Bayern established a four-goal advantage by courtesy of Vasilios Lampropoulos, whose clearance from close range ended up in the wrong goal.

Bayern retracted with its four-goal lead in the opening stages of the second half but with an hour into the game Robert Lewandowski got his name on scoreboards as well after the Pole tapped home Gnabry’s blocked shot from inside the box.

The fourth goal of the game took the wind out of Bochum’s sails whereas the hosts weren’t done with the scoring as Kimmich wrapped up his brace after slotting home Leon Goretzka’s header in the 65th minute.

Bochum couldn’t put up resistance in the closing stages while Bayern substitute Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting rounded off the win with the seventh goal of the game.

With the win, Bayern Munich move atop the Bundesliga standings for the moment meanwhile Bochum suffered its highest defeat in the club’s history to slip to the 17th place.

“We staged a poor performance. It is always tough to play against Bayern, but we made too many mistakes. We literally assisted Bayern with four goals. You must play better than we did to take some points. We made it too easy for the host,” Bochum goalkeeper Manuel Riemann said.

Elsewhere, Mainz shared the spoils with in-form Freiburg after 90 goalless minutes.

Florian Niederlechner’s sole goal helped Augsburg to edge Borussia Monchengladbach 1-0 and Arminia Bielefeld played out a goalless stalemate with Hoffenheim.

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