Salah sours Gerrard’s return to Liverpool
ABU DHABI: India’s Jehan Daruvala put up a strong defence on way to his second victory of the 2021 Formula 2 season here on Saturday.
The 23-year-old from Mumbai had started the sprint race on reverse grid pole position after qualifying 10th for the feature race.
Racing for Carlin, the Indian did well to maintain his position on the opening lap before Felipe Drugovich put him under pressure for the major part of the 23-lap race. Daruvala pulled away towards the end to cross the chequered flag two seconds ahead of Brazil’s Drugovich.
The win was Daruvala’s third of his Formula 2 career after Bahrain last year and Monza this year. It was a much-needed win after the disappointment in Saudi Arabia last week.
LIVERPOOL: Liverpool ensured there was no happy return to Anfield for Steven Gerrard as Mohamed Salah’s second-half penalty earned a 1-0 win over Aston Villa.
Gerrard said he would gladly sacrifice some of his legendary status among the Liverpool support for a result on his first trip to Anfield as part of the visiting team. However, Villa barely laid a glove on the Jurgen Klopp’s men, who should have been far more convincing winners as they moved back to within a point of Premier League leaders Manchester City.
Gerrard was welcomed with gentle applause as he emerged from the tunnel, but there was no great fanfare for the man who scored 186 goals in 710 games as a Liverpool player.
Even a brief chant of his name from the Kop was drowned out by cries of “Liverpool” as the crowd focused their attention on maintaining pace with City at the top of the table.
Sterling nets 100th PL goal in Man City win
MANCHESTER: Pep Guardiola saluted Raheem Sterling’s “massive contribution” to Manchester City after the forward scored his 100th Premier League goal to give the leaders a 1-0 win against 10-man Wolves.
Sterling netted from the spot in the second half at the Etihad Stadium to clinch City’s sixth successive league victory.
Manchester City’s cause was aided by a needless first half red card for Wolves striker Raul Jimenez, who was dismissed for failing to retreat the required 10 yards before a free-kick he had been booked for conceding seconds earlier. Sterling’s landmark goal ensured City capitalised
on Jimenez’s blunder.
Arsenal cruise to victory over Southampton
LONDON: Arsenal weathered storms on and off the pitch before coasting to a 3-0 win over Southampton as boss Mikel Arteta dropped captain Pierreemerick Aubameyang from the match-day squad for disciplinary reasons.
Before kick-off, Arteta was tight-lipped as he explained that Aubameyang’s absence was due to a “disciplinary breach”, with Alexandre Lacazette starting on his own up front.
Southampton had the better of the opening exchanges with Adam Armstrong forcing an early corner and a fine save from Aaron Ramsdale as the Gunners struggled to deal with the visitors’ high press. They managed to break thorough it in the 21st minute with a sweeping move, attacking down the left where Bukayo Saka squared to Lacazette, who fired home.
Chelsea need late penalty to defeat Leeds
LONDON: Chelsea got their title challenge back on track with a dramatic 3-2 home win over Leeds United on Saturday, settled by an injury-time penalty converted by Jorginho who had earlier scored another spot kick.
The win left Chelsea in third place with 36 points, two off leaders Manchester City and one behind Liverpool.
Leeds went ahead against the run of play in the 28th minute when Daniel James went down under a challenge by Marcos Alonso to win a penalty that Brazilian playmaker Raphinha stroked home.
Chelsea, who lost last weekend at West Ham United, looked stunned. But the Blues clawed their way back into the game when Alonso, trying to atone for his earlier error, stole the ball from Stuart Dallas, exchanged passes with Timo Werner and crossed for Mason Mount to score with an angled shot.
Thomas Tuchel’s men turned the game around when referee Chris Kavanagh, after a VAR check, awarded them a penalty after a Raphinha challenge on Antonio Rudiger and Jorginho fired high into the net.
Bayern down Mainz to extend lead at top
BERLIN: Bayern Munich extended their lead at the top of the Bundesliga to six points on Saturday after coming from behind to seal a 2-1 home victory against Mainz.
Second-half goals by Kingsley Coman and 18-year-old Jamal Musiala sealed the victory after Mainz took a shock early lead.