Premier League: Cech fluffs lines as Arsenal lose, Coutinho stunner lifts Liverpool

August 10, 2015

London, Aug 10: Petr Cech made a Premier League debut to forget for Arsenal as his errors helped West Ham United to record a 2-0 victory at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday.

LeagueCech's arrival from Chelsea has been acclaimed as a signing that could turn Arsenal into title contenders, but he was found wanting as Arsene Wenger's side opened their Premier League campaign with a home defeat for the second time in three years.

Cech's rash charge allowed Cheikhou Kouyate to head West Ham in front from debutant Dimitri Payet's 43rd-minute free-kick and the Czech international's slowness to get down saw him beaten at his near post from 25 yards by Mauro Zarate shortly before the hour.

"We were not convincing offensively or defensively," said Wenger, whose side beat champions Chelsea 1-0 in the Community Shield last weekend.

"The players were maybe too nervous and put too much pressure on themselves. Today we have been hurt mentally and it is a good opportunity to respond."

West Ham's win echoed Aston Villa's 3-1 success at the Emirates on the first day of the 2013-14 campaign and enabled Slaven Bilic to crown his first league game as manager with a famous victory.

"We are all very pleased and it is a great start for us -- not only for the three points, but points against a team that are title contenders," said the Croatian, who is a former West Ham defender.

"If you add to that a London derby, it makes it an even bigger win. This is very special. I am very proud of the second-half performance."

Bilic named 16-year-old Reece Oxford in midfield and saw the teenager turn in a commanding display as West Ham bounced back from their Europa League elimination at the hands of Romanians Astra Giurgiu last Thursday.

Wenger sent on Theo Walcott and Alexis Sanchez as Arsenal sought to claw back their two-goal deficit, but the closest they came to scoring was a deflected first-half shot by Aaron Ramsey that hit the bar.

- Coutinho stunner -

Philippe Coutinho scored a stunning 30-yard winner in the 86th minute as Liverpool partially atoned for their 6-1 drubbing at Stoke City on the final day of last season with a 1-0 win at the Britannia Stadium.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers gave starts to new signings Nathaniel Clyne, Joe Gomez, James Milner and £32.5 million ($50.4 million, 45.9 million euros) striker Christian Benteke, while Roberto Firmino came off the bench in the second half.

But the game was drifting to a goalless draw until Brazilian playmaker Coutinho picked the ball up in the inside-left channel, turned, and arrowed a glorious, bending strike into the top-right corner.

Meanwhile, Dutch midfielder Giorginio Wijnaldum scored on his competitive Newcastle United debut as former England head coach Steve McClaren began his St James' Park tenure with a 2-2 draw at home to Southampton.

After Graziano Pelle had put the visitors in front, goals from Papiss Cisse and £14.5 million new recruit Wijnaldum put Newcastle in front, but Southampton substitute Shane Long headed in a 79th-minute equaliser.

Chelsea opened their title defence with a 2-2 draw at home to Swansea City on Saturday, with Manchester United edging Tottenham Hotspur 1-0.

Manchester City, runners-up last season, travel to West Bromwich Albion on Monday.

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Agencies
February 13,2020

New Delhi, Feb 13: Sanjiv Chawla, a key accused in the match-fixing scandal involving former South African cricket team captain Hansie Cronje in 2000, was extradited from the UK on Thursday, Delhi Police said.

The 50-year-old British national, accompanied by a crime branch team from London, reached IGI Airport this morning, a senior officer said.

He is likely to be taken to the crime branch office for questioning, he added.

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News Network
May 28,2020

New Delhi, May 28: India is not at risk of losing hosting rights for next year's Twenty20 World Cup despite its cricket board's failure to secure a tax exemption for the event, a key BCCI official has told Reuters.

Tax exemptions for International Cricket Council (ICC) events are listed as a requirement in host agreements and the BCCI was supposed to confirm they had secured one by May 18.

ESPNcricinfo, citing correspondence between the two bodies, has reported that the ICC has threatened to shift the tournament away from India over the issue.

However, BCCI treasurer Arun Singh Dhumal told Reuters that would not happen and that negotiations were continuing.

"There is no risk to the tournament," he said by telephone.

"That is a work in progress. We are discussing it with the ICC and we'll resolve it."

The BCCI encountered a similar problem when it hosted the event in 2016 when the government refused to provide a tax exemption, and there has been no change in New Delhi's stance despite the board's appeals.

Failure to secure that exemption in 2016 saw the ICC withhold an equivalent sum from India's share of revenue from the governing body's grants and it appears to be taking an even harder line this time around.

"There are certain timelines within the agreements that we collectively work towards to ensure we can deliver successful world class events and continue to invest in the sport of cricket," an ICC spokesperson told Reuters.

"In addition to this the ICC Board agreed clear timelines for the resolution of the tax issues which we are guided by."

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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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