Barcelona beat Real Betis to remain top; Atletico, Real Madrid keep up pressure in La Liga

May 1, 2016

Madrid, May 1: Barcelona remain on top of La Liga with two games remaining as goals from Ivan Rakitic and Luis Suarez earned a 2-0 win over 10-man Real Betis.

Barcelona

On a day of high tension when all three title contenders were at one point top of the table, Antoine Griezmann came off the bench to score the winner in Atletico Madrid's 1-0 win over Rayo Vallecano to remain behind Barca solely due to their inferior head-to-head record.

Gareth Bale's thunderous header 10 minutes from time kept an under-strength Real Madrid just a point behind the leaders in third in a 1-0 victory at Real Sociedad.

Barca need to win their two remaining games at home to Espanyol and away to Granada to be assured of retaining their title and were given a huge helping hand by Betis despite an unconvincing performance.

"I don't think either of the other two are going to drop points so we have to win our games," said Barca boss Luis Enrique. "We need to concentrate on ourselves, be the best in attack and defence and resolve the game with the belief we have shown today."

Betis defender Heiko Westermann was deservedly sent-off 10 minutes before half-time when he chopped down Rakitic to see his second yellow card in seven minutes.

Rakitic took advantage of more Betis generosity five minutes after half-time when he was left with the simple task to slotting into an empty net after German Pezzella and goalkeeper Antonio Adan failed to cut out Lionel Messi's cross.

Suarez fired straight at Adan when gifted a golden chance by Messi to seal the points 17 minutes from time.

However, the Uruguayan made amends from another sensational Messi through ball eight minutes later to register his 54th goal of the season.

In San Sebastian, Bale inspired a Real Madrid side without the injured Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema to a 10th straight La Liga win.

"I am happy for him because he has had problems this season with injury, but when is fit you notice," Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane said of Bale. "We could have scored earlier in the first-half, but we had to work until the end against a difficult side. I am happy with the performance and to get three points once again."

As well as the absent Ronaldo and Benzema, Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane rested Marcelo, Dani Carvajal and Toni Kroos with one eye on the return leg of their Champions League semi-final against Manchester City on Wednesday.

Bale was a constant threat in the air as he twice saw powerful headers fly just wide as Madrid completely dominated the hosts before the break.

The visitors continued to press after the break, but Geronimo Rulli looked set to end their title hopes as the Argentine made a brilliant save to deny Bale from another fine Rodriguez cross.

Yet, a week after leading Real back from a two-goal deficit at Rayo Vallecano, Bale made the difference again when he got across his marker to bullet home a header from Lucas Vazquez's cross.

Atletico boss Diego Simeone also showed his priorities lie with the second leg of their Champions League semi-final against Bayern Munich in midweek as he made seven changes to the side that beat the German champions 1-0 on Wednesday.

However, Atletico's youngsters struggled for the opening 55 minutes until Griezmann rode to the rescue.

The French international made a sensational and instant impact after coming off the bench as he controlled a loose ball on the edge of the area before thrashing a volley into the bottom corner for his 30th goal of the season.

And despite a late Rayo onslaught, Atletico held out to record their 34th clean sheet of the season.

"The important thing was to win and on a personal level I'm happy to score the goal," Griezmann told Movistar+. "Now we need to rest. We have a great game to come on Tuesday and we'll try to get a good result there to go through to the final."

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Agencies
April 12,2020

London, Apr 12: Former Formula 1 legendary driver Stirling Moss died at the age of 90 on Sunday.

"All at F1 send our heartfelt condolences to Lady Susie and Sir Stirling's family and friends," Formula 1 said in a statement.

Often referred to as the greatest driver never to win the world championship, Moss contested 66 Grands Prix from 1951 to 1961, driving for the likes of Vanwall, Maserati and Mercedes, where he famously formed a contented and ruthlessly effective partnership with lead driver Juan Manuel Fangio.

In his 10-year-long stint at the tracks, Moss took 16 wins, some of which rank among the truly iconic drives in the sport's history - his 1961 victories in Monaco and Germany in particular often held up as all-time classics.

Moss won the 1955 Mille Miglia on public roads for Mercedes at an average speed of close to 100mph, while he also competed in rallies and land-speed attempts.

Following an enforced retirement from racing (barring a brief comeback in saloon cars in the 1980s) after a major crash at Goodwood in 1962, Moss maintained a presence in Formula 1 as both a sports correspondent and an interested observer, before retiring from public life in January of 2018.

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News Network
March 6,2020

Melbourne, Mar 6: Experienced middle-order batter Veda Krishnamurthy believes that "destiny" is in favour of first-time finalist India to win their maiden ICC Women's T20 World Cup title provided they get a grip on their nerves in the summit clash against Australia on Sunday.

India will have a psychological advantage going into the final as they had stunned the defending champions by 17 runs in the tournament opener.

The Harmanpreet Kaur-led India reached the final on the basis of their unbeaten record in the tournament after their semifinal against England was washed out on Thursday.

Krishnamurthy, who was a part of the Indian team that finished runner-up to England in the 2017 Women's ODI World Cup, knows the pain of missing out on a world title.

"It's all about destiny, and I'm a big believer in destiny. I feel like this is the way it was meant to be. There is a joke going around that this World Cup is made in such a way that it's helping us, starting from the wickets to everything else," she was quoted as saying by the tournament's official website.

"Being in the final is just reward for the way we played in the group stages. There was an advantage to having won all our games with the weather not in our hands."

The team's first target of reaching the final having achieved, the 27-year-old player said the Indians now need to hold their nerves and remain focussed leading up to the big day on Sunday.

"We said the first aim was to get to the final and take it from there. We've crossed the first stage. We need to make sure we hold our nerves and we do what we need to do on the final day," she said.

India's recent rivalry with Australia has taken fascinating twists and turns, with Kaur's outfit chasing down 173 in their recent tri-series, then getting home by 17 runs in the T20 World Cup opener.

But all is not hunky-dory for Krishnamurthy on the personal front. Considered a great finisher, she has recovered from a series of single-digit scores in the tri-series to score 20 from 11 balls in a finishing role against Bangladesh.

Having amassed just 35 runs from four matches in the tournament so far, the Karnataka batter knows her role in the team.

"As an individual, the role given to me is very consistent in the last year. They've put the effort in the last year to keep me there and I've been supported by every individual, not just one or two. The entire team, with all the support staff, have shown faith in me," she said.

"I know coming into the World Cup, I would play a crucial role to finish the innings well, which I felt I was unable to do in the last World Cup in the West Indies," she added.

Krishnamurthy said specific roles have been set for every player of the squad and they all are trying to contribute as much as they can to help the team achieve its goal.

"I was very motivated to do my role and I've been working on that. It's not just me, all 15 players involved know what their role is," she said.

"I'm happy we're all putting in efforts and executing our role properly. Even if it's a smallish contribution of saving a couple of runs, it's all panned out really well."

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News Network
January 8,2020

Indore, Jan 8: Skipper Virat Kohli struck an unbeaten 30 as India beat Sri Lanka by seven wickets in the second Twenty20 international in Indore on Tuesday.

The hosts rode a 71-run opening stand between KL Rahul, who hit 45, and Shikhar Dhawan, who made 32, to chase down their target of 143 in 17.3 overs and take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series after the first match was rained off.

Leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga took the wickets of the Indian openers but Shreyas Iyer, who scored 34 before falling to paceman Lahiru Kumara, and Kohli, who hit the winning six, got the team home.

The third match is on Friday in Pune.

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