Barcelona edge Real Sociedad 2-0, Real Madrid held by Valencia

May 10, 2015

Madrid, May 10: Barcelona was one victory away from clinching the Spanish league title after Real Madrid fell four points adrift on Saturday, when Cristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty in a 2-2 home draw to Valencia.

Barcelona

Barcelona cruised to a 2-0 win over Real Sociedad at Camp Nou to put the pressure on Madrid with only two more rounds to play.

Madrid appeared set to keep pace after Gareth Bale and Ronaldo hit the woodwork early, but Paco Alcacer and Javi Fuego struck for Valencia before goalie Diego Alves smothered Ronaldo’s spot kick in first-half injury time.

Pepe and Francisco “Isco” Alarcon leveled for Madrid in a dramatic second half at the Santiago Bernabeu that concluded with Valencia clinging to a draw that may cost the hosts the title.

Barcelona can dethrone Atletico Madrid with a win at its Vicente Calderon in the next round. If, and when, that match is played. The final two rounds are in doubt after the Spanish federation announced it was suspending all matches from next Saturday in protest at a proposed law regulating the sale of broadcasting rights.

After a second slip to fourth-place Valencia this season, Madrid’s best chance for silverware depends on overturning its 2-1 loss against Juventus in their second-leg Champions League semifinal on Wednesday.

“It’s very difficult for us now, but we have to wear these colors with pride, and try to win our games,” Pepe said. “We have to pick ourselves up for Wednesday’s match.”

Bale curled a free kick off one corner of the goalframe in the 14th, and four minutes later Ronaldo thumped a header off the other as Madrid looked set to romp.

But that was when Jose Gaya, the 19-year-old left back who ended months-long rumors of a move to Madrid by extending his contract on Friday, placed a perfect cross for Alcacer to stab under goalkeeper Iker Casillas in the 19th.

The Madrid crowd then received the double blow of midfielder Toni Kroos leaving with a left-thigh injury a minute before Fuego was left unmarked to head in Dani Parejo’s free kick in the 26th.

After Madrid’s Javier Hernandez also hit the post, Gaya gave Madrid a lifeline when he fouled Bale in the box just before halftime, but Alves increased his fame as a spot kick specialist by saving Ronaldo’s try.

Pepe powered in a header from James Rodriguez’s corner kick to halve the difference in the 51st.

Valencia had settled down in defense when Isco curled in a long-range strike with six to go, sparking a last-gasp push by Madrid that ended only with the final whistle.

“The result isn’t good, but the match was the complete opposite,” Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said. “We fought until the end and had many chances to score … three balls off the woodwork, a missed penalty … but it wasn’t enough.”

Sociedad was fortunate to escape a scoreless first half at Camp Nou, but Neymar broke through in the 51st with his 35th goal of the season after Lionel Messi’s pass was headed on by a defender for the Brazilian to nod home.

Substitute Pedro Rodriguez netted from an acrobatic bicycle kick to secure the points with five minutes left, in a rare moment to shine for the forward who has spent most of the campaign on the bench.

“These three points were vital,” Barcelona coach Luis Enrique said. “The outcome was never in doubt. My players never let up for even a second.”

Barcelona’s 1-0 loss at Sociedad on Jan. 4 marked the low-point of the Catalan club’s season. Since then, it has won 28 of its last 30 games, and is in the running for three trophies — having reached the final of the Copa del Rey, and with one foot in the Champions League final after beating Bayern Munich 3-0 this week. Their second-leg semifinal is on Tuesday.

There was also drama in the fight to avoid relegation as Albert Lopo’s last-gasp header to salvage Deportivo La Coruna a 1-1 draw at Athletic Bilbao altered three teams’ place at the bottom of the table.

Deportivo, Eibar and Granada, which earlier beat already-relegated Cordoba 2-0, were left tied on 31 points. But the tiebreakers meant Deportivo escaped the drop zone, while Granada was left in 18th and Eibar fell to 19th.

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News Network
March 2,2020

Mar 2: Indian captain Virat Kohli was left frustrated and deflated as New Zealand won the second Test inside three days in Christchurch on Monday to sweep the series.

India started the day at 90 for six and were all out for 124, before New Zealand chased down the required 132 to win for the loss of three wickets in 36 overs.

It ended a disappointing tour for India and Kohli as New Zealand, who won the first Test by 10 wickets early on day four, wrapped up the series with ease.

New Zealand are now unbeaten in their last 13 home Tests, winning nine of them, and in the past decade their record as hosts is played 39, won 20, drawn 13 and lost five.

In the latest series, on traditional New Zealand green wickets, India managed scores of 165, 191, 242 and 124, reflecting the low contributions from Kohli of 2, 19, 3 and 14.

Kohli came to New Zealand as the world's top Test batsman and oozing charm as he described New Zealand as the “nice guys” of cricket.

But during the series he lost his top ranking to Australian Steve Smith and when Kane Williamson went for three in the first innings of the second Test the pressure showed when he gave the New Zealand skipper a very animated send-off.

There was further evidence of frustration when he was caught on camera yelling an obscenity at a group of New Zealand supporters on Sunday.

The end came quickly for India on day three as Tim Southee and Trent Boult tormented the batsmen with their variety of inswing and outswing deliveries targeting both sides of the stumps.

Hanuma Vihari was the first to fall, in Southee's second over, when he turned a legside delivery too fine and was caught by BJ Watling diving to his left.

Five balls later and with no addition to the score, India's other overnight batsman Rishabh Pant was caught behind off a Boult delivery that swung away.

Mohammed Shami was caught for five by Tom Blundell at deep mid-wicket and Jasprit Bumrah was run out when trying to give the strike to Ravindra Jadeja, who was unbeaten on 16.

Boult and Southee signed for most of the dismissals with Boult taking four for 28 and Southee three for 36. The swing pair accounted for 25 of the 40 Indian wickets in the series.

There was enough seam and swing available for India to keep the New Zealand batsmen guessing but Bumrah and Umesh Yadav were unable to apply consistent pressure and Mohammed Shami was troubled by a sore shoulder.

New Zealand coasted through a century opening stand by Tom Latham and Blundell before losing three quick wickets.

Latham notched his 18th half-century and second of the Test before he was caught behind off Yadav for 52, Kane Williamson had a short stay for five, and Blundell went for 55.

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News Network
January 17,2020

Jan 17: Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza cruised into the women's doubles final of the Hobart International with her Ukrainian partner Nadiia Kichenok here on Friday.

Sania and Kichenok sailed past the Slovenian-Czech pair of Tamara Zidansek and Marie Bouzkova 7-6 (3) 6-2 in the semifinal contest that lasted one hour and 24 minutes.

The fifth-seeded Indo-Ukrainian combination will lock horns with second seeds Shuai Peng and Shuai Zhang of China. The Chinese pair got a walkover after Belgium's Kirsten Flipkens and Alison Van Uytvanck conceded the other semifinal match because of injury.

While Sania and Kichenok had to fight hard in the opening set, the second set was a cakewalk for the combination.

The first set was a tough contest between the two pairs, bringing the tie-breaker into the equation after it was level at 6-6.

In the tie-breaker, Sania and Kichenok upped their game by a few notches to outsmart their opponents and take the lead.

The second set was a no-contest as Saina and Kichenok broke their opponents thrice -- in the second, sixth and eighth game -- to easily pocket the set and a place in the summit clash.

Saina and Kichenok got 11 break chances out of which they converted four, while their opponents utilised two out of the five break chances that came their way.

The 33-year-old Sania is returning to the WTA circuit after two years. During her time away from the game, she battled injury breakdowns before taking a formal break in April 2018 to give birth to her son Izhaan. She is married to Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik.

Before the ongoing event, Sania last played at China Open in October 2017.

A trailblazer in Indian tennis, Sania is a former world No.1 in doubles and has six Grand Slam titles to her credit.

She retired from the singles competition in 2013 after becoming the most successful Indian woman tennis player.

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News Network
July 16,2020

Kolkata, Jul 16: BCCI president Sourav Ganguly on Wednesday went into home quarantine after his elder brother and Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) joint secretary Snehasish Ganguly tested positive for Covid-19.

Snehasish, a former Bengal first-class player, has been admitted to the Belle Vue hospital in Kolkata after his COVID report came positive.

"He was suffering from fever for the last few days and his test report came positive today. He's been admitted to Belle Vue Hospital," a CAB official said.

"The reports arrived late in the evening. As per health protocols, even Sourav will have to be in home quarantine for a stipulated period," a source close to the BCCI President added.

Snehasish had shifted to their ancestral house, where Sourav is based, in Behala after his wife and in-laws at his Mominpur residence tested positive for the dreaded virus.

The former India captain was, however, unavailable for a comment on the development.

Recently, during an interview to India Today, Sourav had spoken about how life around him has changed, making people more vulnerable.

"My brother visits our factories everyday and he is more at risk," the former batting star had said

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