Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai) - HT Navi Mumbai Live
Atletico win, inch ahead in La Liga title race
MADRID: Atletico Madrid homed in on the La Liga title with a 2-1 win over Real Sociedad at home on Wednesday.
Diego Simeone’s side made an aggressive start and after spurning a few early chances they deservedly went ahead with a low finish from Yannick Carrasco in the 16th minute, doubling their lead in the 28th through Argentine forward Angel Correa.
Sociedad had their moments but were denied by six saves from Atletico’s talismanic keeper Jan Oblak while forward Portu hit the post late on. They finally got a goal when defender Igor Zubeldia bundled the ball into the net in the 83rd minute, ensuring a nerve-shredding finish for the leaders.
Atletico lead the standings on 80 points, four clear of secondplaced Barcelona
Ron scores 100th goal, keeps Juve’s hopes alive REGGIO EMELIA: Cristiano Ronaldo’s 100th goal for Juventus in all competitions helped keep alive his side’s hopes of a top-four Serie A finish after a 3-1 win at Sassuolo on Wednesday.
The result was not easy to come by for Juve, with returning goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon saving an early penalty, but goals from Adrien Rabiot, Ronaldo and Paulo Dybala meant they stayed fifth, two points off the Champions League spot.
The Portugal forward netted 100 goals in 131 games and in the process become the first Juve player to ever do so in less than three seasons. Prior to Wednesday night, only Omar Sivori and Roberto Baggio had required four seasons to reach the 100goal mark.
In addition, Ronaldo became the first player in history to tally more than 100 goals with three different clubs and his national team, having done so with Manchester United and Real Madrid as well as Portugal.
Elsewhere on a busy night in Serie A, AC Milan thrashed Torino 7-0 to stay third and Atalanta cruised to a 2-0 win over Benevento, who remain deep in the relegation mire, to remain second. Inter Milan continued their winning streak with 3-1 win over AS Roma.
Chelsea’s CL push hit by defeat to Arsenal LONDON: Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel said his side’s 1-0 defeat by Arsenal on Wednesday was their own fault and a “wake-up call” ahead of a huge end to the season.
Tuchel’s side would have all but sealed a Premier League topfour finish with a win, but instead are now looking over their shoulders after a poor performance. Emile Smith Rowe’s first-half goal settled the London derby after a defensive mix-up by the hosts in which Jorginho’s wayward backpass was scrambled off the line by Kepa Arrizabalaga but PierreEmerick Aubameyang teed up Smith Rowe to score.
“Totally our fault, nobody else’s. We lost, it’s totally our responsibility. We had huge chances. We made an own goal more or less—total gift,” Tuchel said after the match.
Chelsea-City CL final moved to Porto
LONDON: The all-English Champions League final will be held in Porto with 12,000 fans from Chelsea and Manchester City, UEFA confirmed Thursday.
The May 29 showpiece was moved from Istanbul to the 50,000-capacity Estadio do Dragao due to England imposing tougher pandemic travel restrictions on Turkey that would have prevented fans flying in.
The initial alternative had been to use Wembley Stadium but talks with the British government stalled on Monday.
Nadal, Djokovic in
Italian Open quarters ROME: Nine-time champion Rafael Nadal saved two match points to defeat Canada’s Denis Shapovalov in a three-set battle and advance to the quarter-finals of the Italian Open on Thursday.
Second seed Nadal won through 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(3) after nearly 3hr 30min on court against the 13th-seeded Shapovalov. Nadal was trailing a set and 0-3 down in the second set before powering back. The Spaniard reached his 16th last-eight appearance in Rome and a 97th ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final.
Earlier, world No 1 Novak Djokovic swept into the quarterfinals as well with straight-sets win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in front of spectators at the Foro Italico. The five-time Rome champion won 6-2, 6-1 in 70 minutes against the 48thranked Spaniard.
IOC comes up with mental health toolkit
NEW DELHI: Given that one in three athletes can experience a mental health issue, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) released a toolkit on it on Thursday.
The IOC Mental Health in Elite Athletes Toolkit is a combined effort of different IOC units such as the medical and scientific commission, the athletes’ entourage commission, the mental health working group and the athletes’ commission. Olympic champions Abhinav Bindra, Sergey Bubka and Kirsty Coventry were involved in the project along with Dr Uegur Erdener, head of the IOC’s medical and scientific commission.