KANE NETS HATTRICK IN TOTTENHAM WIN
LONDON:
hat-trick turned Tottenham Hotspur’s potentially tricky FA Cup fifth-round tie at Championship side Fulham into a Sunday stroll by the River Thames as they won 3-0 at Craven Cottage. England striker Kane struck early on and twice after the interval to take his tally for the season to 19 as the eight-times FA Cup winners eased into the quarter-finals. Stung by consecutive defeats and wary of becoming another weekend Cup shock after upsets involving Leicester City and Burnley, Tottenham produced a dominant performance. Tottenham last lifted the FA Cup in the 1990-91 season. PARIS:After a near-perfect start to his season at Nice, Mario Balotelli appears to be on a slippery slope after being sent off for dissent in a Ligue 1 game on Saturday.
The Italian striker was shown a straight red card — his second of the season — in the 68th minute of their 1-0 win at Lorient, with referee Tony Chapron telling L’Equipe on Sunday: “He insulted me in English. I won’t say more but it was something classical.”
Balotelli was backed by Nice keeper Yoan Cardinale, who claimed that his team mate “did not say much” and the Italian was a victim of his troublemaker image.
Coach Lucien Favre, however, was less understanding.
“Is he victim of his reputation? Do you think it was a red card because it was Balotelli ? It’s ridiculous,” Favre said. “If there is enough for a red card, they send off, if there is not enough, they do not send off.” Nancy 0 Lille 1 Nice 1 Nantes 1 Guingamp 0
Lazio 2 Inter 1 Napoli 3 Genoa 0 Cagliari 1 Sassuolo 2
Eibar 0 Villarreal 1 Athletic 0
RB Leipzig 2
The 20-year-old Brazilian forward, nicknamed “Gabigol”, replaced Antonio Candreva in the 74th minute and took seven minutes to end his goal drought when he finished calmly after being picked out by Danilo D’Ambrosio’s cross.