Neymar puts Man Utd to the sword as Dortmund advance and Giroud scores four
Paris, France (AFP) — Neymar’s brace helped Paris saint-germain (PSG) to a vital 3-1 win over Manchester United yesterday that took the French club to within touching distance of the Champions League last 16, while Borussia Dortmund secured their qualification for the next round and Olivier Giroud scored all four goals in Chelsea’s 4-0 thumping of sevilla.
PSG could have been on the brink of elimination from Group H with a defeat at Old Trafford, but Neymar put last season’s runners-up ahead in the sixth minute and the world’s most expensive player sealed their victory in stoppage time.
In-between, Marcus Rashford’s shot went in off Danilo Pereira to bring United level in the first half, and Edinson Cavani hit the bar against his former club.
Marquinhos prodded the
French champions back in front midway through the second half and the game appeared up for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side when Fred was sent off for a second yellow, having been fortunate to escape a red card early on.
Neymar’s late clincher could prove crucial as it gives PSG the head-to-head advantage following United’s 2-1 win in Paris in October.
“We had some big chances, big moments and that’s the difference when you get to the big games,” said Solskjaer.
There is a three-way tie on nine points at the top of the group with RB Leipzig right in contention after Norwegian striker Alexander Sorloth scored in injury time to give them a 4-3 victory at Istanbul Basaksehir.
Irfan Can Kahveci’s superb hat-trick looked to have rescued a draw for Basaksehir as they came back from 3-1 down to draw level. Yussuf Poulsen, Nordi Mukiele and Dani Olmo also scored for Leipzig.
It all means PSG now need only draw at home to Basaksehir next week to qualify.
“We have almost qualified, which means we have not qualified yet. That is the reality. Being almost pregnant does not mean you are pregnant,” said PSG Coach Thomas Tuchel.
United also only require a point when they visit Leipzig, but will be out if they lose, while the Germans would in that case go through.
Dortmund secured their progress after a 1-1 draw at home to Lazio in Group F, despite losing Erling Braut Haaland to a leg injury.
Raphael Guerreiro put the Germans in front but Ciro Immobile’s penalty against his old side brought Lazio level.
Lazio will join Dortmund in the next round if they avoid defeat against Club Brugge next week.
The Belgians are two points back and still in contention after beating Zenit SaintPetersburg 3-0, with teenage Belgian international Charles De Ketelaere putting them ahead, Hans Vanaken adding a penalty and Noa Lang also scoring.
The performance of the evening came from Giroud, as the France striker scored all four goals in Chelsea’s 4-0 win away to Sevilla.
On just his second start this season, Giroud produced two lovely finishes before heading in to make it 3-0 and then winning and converting a late penalty.
The 34-year-old is the oldest player to score a hattrick in the competition since Hungarian great Ferenc Puskas in 1965 for Real Madrid against Feyenoord.
Both teams were already through but the win allowed Chelsea to secure top spot in Group E.
In the same group, Marcus Berg’s goal gave Krasnodar a 1-0 win over Rennes, meaning the Russians will play in the Europa League in the new year.
History was made in Turin as France’s Stephanie Frappart became the first woman to referee a men’s Champions League game when Juventus beat Dynamo Kiev 3-0.
The game was also notable for Cristiano Ronaldo, scoring his 750th career goal, his record-extending 132nd in the Champions League.
Federico Chiesa and Alvaro Morata also scored for Juve, who had already qualified from Group G before the game, along with Barcelona.
The Catalans kept up their perfect record and stayed on course to win the group by beating Ferencvaros 3-0 in Budapest without the rested Lionel Messi. Antoine Griezmann and Martin Braithwaite netted before Ousmane Dembele converted a penalty.
After a bleak year for the sport of track and field, where the all-important Olympic Games had to be postponed due to the pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus, national 100m champion for 2018 tyquendo tracey is on a mission to change.
As he puts it, change that he hopes will ultimately lead to personal growth and development for athletes and their welfare.
“On a whole [it] has to do with me personally, just things that need to be changed in order for me to become a better athlete, so people see a better me,” said Tracey.
With time to stop and think as a result of the extended downtime, Tracey says that personal change is something he needed to embark on.
“It’s something that [has to be done]. We all need a new outlook at times, in order to really improve ourselves,” he said.
The 27-year-old, who was the 100m champion of North American, Central American and Caribbean (NACAC) Championships in 2018, says those who are responsible for the administration of the sport don’t love track and field and that the athletes need an association for themselves.
“Jamaican athletics is not being run by people that love the sport, it’s run by people that enjoy the spoils of what the sport produces,” noted Tracey as he continiues his critique of the sport’s administration.
He suggested an strategy that he thinks will protect future generations of Jamaican athletes.
“I think we would need to create an athletes’ association, an association that lets these people know that athletics is the athletes and the athletes is athletics. They keep on making it look like it’s about them and what they want,” Tracey said.
With a new administration elected on the weekend to run Jamaica’s track and field for the next four years, it will be interesting to see if the concerns expressed by Tracey will be addressed by the Garth Gayle-led Jamaica Athletics
Administrative Association (JAAA).
Meanwhile, the Olympic Games are set to be held in Toyko, Japan, despite the COVID-19 still affecting the globe, and Tracey admitted that there is some amount of fear heading into the new year and the new season.
“I would describe the 2021 season in one word ‘scary’, honestly, a lot is unsure and not certain. Nonetheless it’s bitter-sweet, so I am looking forward to it and holding onto the side of things that I want to happen,” Tracey reasoned.
Like all Jamaican sprinters, heading to Tokyo to represent the country is high on the agenda, but Tracey says that he is not looking that far just yet. The first objective, he says, is just making the team to represent the country.
“For now, my focus is on turning up at the National Trials and being in the top three,” Tracey stated.
When asked if he can be classified as a part of the new Jamaican sprinting brigade, Tracey said that he wants his work on the track to speak for itself.
“I am striving for greatness. I’m not as lucky or as talented as some, but I do work hard, and if I can inspire and help others while I do that, then of course,” he noted.
Tracey also believes that the local administrators have failed the sport during the “glory years” between 2007 and 2018, highlighted by the impact and influence of the legendary Usain Bolt.
“No tree bears fruit every single day of every year of its life. There is always a time when the tree has no fruit and works on making new ones.
“With that said, Jamaica had stumbled on some of the greatest and sweetest fruits one can think of, and what did the country and the people managing those fruits do? Nothing!
“They just drank from what those fruits were producing and put nothing in place for the future of that tree, to produce more fruits,” the sprinter said, tapping into his philosophical side.
Tracey also believes the Government has failed the athletes as well.
“Moreover, there were so many mediums where the Government and JAAA could have built facilities and made programmes to facilitate, especially the vast amount of talent we have leaving high school. Some end up being taken for granted, lost in the US collegiate system, or manipulated by greedy coaches and pushed aside,” Tracey blasted.