Malta Independent

Chelsea beat Spurs 2-0 in match marred by alleged racism

-

FIFA's protocol for dealing with discrimina­tion at soccer games was implemente­d for the first time in the Premier League on Sunday with three stadium announceme­nts during a London derby between Tottenham and Chelsea, following apparent racist abuse toward Chelsea's Antonio Rudiger.

The announceme­nts came in the second half, after Rudiger was kicked in the chest by Son Heung-min in an incident that led to the 62nd-minute sendingoff of Tottenham's South Korea forward.

Rudiger, who is black, was seen putting his hands under his armpits - seemingly mimicking a monkey gesture - in the 63rd minute.

The third announceme­nt came in injury time, by which stage according to FIFA protocol - the game should have been abandoned.

Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicuet­a said Rudiger had told him he heard "monkey noises" toward him in the crowd, and therefore reported it to referee Anthony Taylor.

"We are very concerned and aware of this behavior," Azpilicuet­a said.

"All together, we need to make it stop. I hope everything gets clear and we eradicate it as soon as possible. It's an issue not just in football but in life."

According to FIFA protocol, the second step of the protocol should be an announceme­nt leading to the suspension of the match and the players returning to the locker room for a specific period. If the discrimina­tion continues, the third step should the abandonmen­t of the match.

It was not immediatel­y clear if there had been repeated incidents of racism, or if the announceme­nts were referring to the first incident reported by Rudiger.

"I saw the referee follow the protocol," Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho said. "He came to Andre Marriner (the fourth official), he came to me and (Chelsea manager) Frank Lampard and told us what was happening."

The racist abuse overshadow­ed an accomplish­ed performanc­e by Chelsea in a 2-0 win that cemented its fourth place in the Premier League.

Earlier, Manchester United lost 2-0 at last-place Watford, with a goalkeeper howler by David De Gea - for the second weekend running - leading to the first goal at Vicarage Road.

Chelsea is four points clear of fifth-place Sheffield United, while the gap is six points to Tottenham in seventh place and seven points to United in eighth with nearly half the season gone.

RASH TOTTENHAM

Chelsea's win saw Lampard get one over Mourinho, his one-time coach and mentor at Stamford

Bridge, in their first managerial head-to-head in the Premier League.

Mourinho will point to a pair of rash moments by his players, first goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga and then Son.

Tottenham was already trailing 1-0 to a goal from Willian following a quickly taken corner, when Gazzaniga came flying out of his goal and pole-axed Marcos Alonso with a studs-first, chesthigh lunge to concede a penalty in first-half injury time. Referee Taylor originally awarded a free kick against Alonso, somewhat bizarrely, only to reverse the decision after an invention by the video assistant referee.

Willian converted the penalty for his second goal of the game.

Son's red card came after he was tackled by Rudiger near the touchline. Son was unhappy at the challenge and, while on his back, flicked his right foot into the chest of Rudiger, who fell backward to the ground.

"Does Rudiger have broken ribs going to the hospital?" Mourinho said. "Other people call it intelligen­t by Rudiger."

DE GEA HOWLER

David De Gea's mistake was very different to Gazzaniga's but just as bad in its outcome.

The Spain goalkeeper allowed a tame volley by Ismaila Sarr slip through his grasp and trickle over the goalline off the post in the 50th minute. Embarrasse­d by his mistake, De Gea slid his arms down the post and dropped facefirst to the ground before banging his fists on the turf.

It was another moment to forget for De Gea, who failed to punch clear a corner to allow Everton to grab an equalizer in a 1-1 draw at United last weekend. On that occasion, De Gea argued he was being fouled as he went for the ball but he had no excuses against Watford.

Troy Deeney converted a penalty down the middle four minutes later after Aaron WanBissaka tripped Sarr, putting the seal on only Watford's second league win all season, and first under new manager Nigel Pearson.

Watford stayed in last place but moved level on 12 points with Norwich after 18 games. They are six points adrift of safety.

One positive for United was the return of Paul Pogba, the club's record signing who has missed nearly three months because of injury and, more recently, illness. The France midfielder came on as a 64th-minute substitute.

"He added urgency, quality, some great passes," United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said of Pogba.

German relegation candidates win final games of 2019

The Bundesliga's relegation candidates bit back on the last day of games in 2019, with Paderborn and Fortuna Düsseldorf both earning wins. Last-place Paderborn increased the winter misery for Frankfurt with a 2-1 home win. Frankfurt has gone seven games without a win in the league.

Abdelhamid Sabiri cut inside from the left flank and hit a curving shot from outside the box to give Paderborn the lead early on, and Sebastian Schonlau made it 2-0 just before the break at a free kick.

Bas Dost cut the deficit for 13th-place Frankfurt in the 72nd minute but Paderborn held on for the win.

Fortuna climbed out of the automatic relegation places to 16th with a last-gasp 2-1 win over 11th-place Union Berlin, dropping Werder Bremen into a relegation spot.

Forward Rouwen Hennings finished off a direct move with his 11th goal of the season to give Fortuna the lead, but Union defender Michael Parensen leveled early in the second half.

Erik Thommy handed Fortuna its first win since Nov. 3 with a long-range shot off the post in stoppage time.

The Bundesliga is now on its winter break until Jan. 17.

Correa inspires Atletico to 2-1 win against Betis in Spain

Ángel Correa went on as a second-half substitute to score one goal and set up another in Atlético Madrid's 2-1 win at Real Betis in the Spanish league on Sunday.

Atlético's first victory in six league games on the road left it in fourth place at seven points off the pace of leader Barcelona. Real Madrid hosts Athletic Bilbao later Sunday and has the chance to go level on points at the top with Barcelona.

Correa's first touch of the ball intercepte­d a pass from Álex Moreno and left him alone to round Betis goalkeeper Joel Robles and net the 58th-minute opener.

The Argentina forward then passed for Álvaro Morata who used the inside of his right boot to redirect Correa's low cross past Robles with six minutes to

play.

Defender Marc Bartra pulled back a goal in injury time for Betis.

Atlético coach Diego Simeone praised Correa for his ability to come off the bench and revitalize the team.

"I don't like the word 'supersub,' since he is an important player for us and has started matches, but when he comes off the bench he knows what to do. He has something special," Simeone said.

Morata squandered the best chance of the first half when he was on a solo break from near midfield only for Robles to push

his strike onto the post.

STAYING CLOSE

Real Sociedad withstood an attempted comeback by 10-man Osasuna to earn a 4-3 away victory that kept it one point behind Atlético in fifth place. Sociedad led by three goals after Mikel Oyarzabal, Cristian "Portu" Portugués, and Martin Odegaard all scored in the

opening half hour.

But Osasuna rallied to 3-2 before defender Facundo Roncaglia was sent off with a direct red card for elbowing an opponent in the face with 20 minutes left. Substitute Alexander Isak made it 4-2.

Chimy Ávila scored his second goal for Osasuna with an excellent solo effort, lifting the ball over a defender and heading it into the corner of the net in the

84th.

SINKING ESPANYOL

Espanyol lost 2-0 at Leganés in a clash between the bottom two teams in the league. Last-place Espanyol is three points behind Leganés and five points from safety.

 ??  ??

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Malta