Lyon capitalise on Brest blunders to go top
BREST: Olympique Lyonnais went provisionally top of the Ligue 1 standings by beating Stade Brestois 3-2 after benefiting from some terrible defending by their hosts on Friday.
Lucas Paqueta, Houssem Aouar and Memphis Depay found the back of the net in the opening half to put OL on 55 points from 26 games, ahead of second-placed Lille on goal difference. Lille travel to Lorient and third-placed Paris St Germain, who have 54 points, host Monaco on Sunday.
Brest, who pulled two back through Brendan Chardonnet and Irvin Cardona in an entertaining second half, are 12th on 31 points.
“I am satisfied with this victory. It was in two phases — a first half with the wind for us but which we did not need to use,” said Lyon coach Rudi Garcia of the wet and blustery conditions in the Brittany port city. “We played on the ground, on the move. In the second half, we expected a lot of pressure from the Brest players and our friend the wind, which encouraged their kick and rush.”
Keeper Sebastien Cibois tried to dribble past Paqueta in the box but the Brazilian dispossessed him and tapped the ball into the empty net to put the visitors ahead after nine minutes.
Some poor defending by Paul Lasne then led Aouar to double the tally from inside the area in the 29th minute and Depay added a third from the penalty spot after being brought down by Cibois one minute from the interval.
Chardonnet reduced the arrears with a header eight minutes into the second half and Cardona fired home after beating the offside trap with 16 minutes left.—Agencies
Steffen at the double as Wolfsburg go third
BIELEFELD: VfL Wolfsburg cruised past struggling Arminia Bielefeld 3-0 with two goals from Swiss international Renato Steffen on Friday to earn their fifth win in the last six league games and move up to third place in the Bundesliga.
Wolfsburg have now kept a clean sheet in their last six consecutive league matches for a club record — seven in all competitions — as they battle for a top four finish and a spot in next season’s Champions League.
Steffen opened the scoring in the 29th minute with a right foot shot. He added a second inside two minutes of the restart when he pounced on a poor clearance from the Bielefeld goalkeeper.
The game was decided in the 54th, when midfielder Maximilian Arnold hammered Wolfsburgs third goal into the top left corner from 20 metres.
The Wolves are on 42 points in third place, two behind RB Leipzig, in action at Hertha Berlin on Sunday. Bayern Munich are top on 49 points.
Bielefeld, who drew 3-3 at Bayern on Monday, are stuck on 18 points in 16th, the relegation playoff spot.—Agencies
Torino win at Cagliari to boost survival hopes
MILAN: Torino boosted their chances of escaping relegation after they beat fellow strugglers Cagliari 1-0 in Serie A on Friday.
Brazilian defender Bremer scored the winner in the 76th minute as Torino moved five points clear of 18th-placed Cagliari and the relegation zone.
It was Torino’s first win under new coach Davide Nicola after he had been in charge for four successive draws.
Cagliari had the better chances but the momentum shifted in the closing stages and Torino scored when Rolando Mandragora swung in a corner from the right and Bremer headed in at the back post.
Fiorentina moved 10 points above the relegation zone after winning 3-0 at home against Spezia, who slipped closer to the bottom three.
Gaetano Castrovilli changed the match when he came off the bench on the stroke of halftime, setting up the opener for Dusan Vlahovic early in the second half and scoring another for Fiorentina in the 64th. Valentin Eysseric added the third eight minutes from time.
Spezia, who stunned AC Milan 2-0 last weekend, remained nine points above the drop zone.—AP
Iglesias penalty gives Betis victory over Getafe
BARCELONA: Borja Iglesias earned and converted a late penalty to give Real Betis a 1-0 victory over Getafe in La Liga on Friday.
The Betis striker came on in the 64th minute and made an impact by winning two penalties after being fouled twice by Getafe defender Sofian Chakla in the box.
Getafe goalkeeper David Soria saved the first penalty when he blocked Sergio Canales effort in the 76th. Canales also wasted the rebound by sending it over the crossbar. After earning a second trip to the spot, Iglesias took it on himself to fire the penalty past Soria for the 84th-minute winner in Seville.
The victory lifted Manuel Pellegrini’s Betis into sixth place and a Europa League spot. Getafe’s struggles continued with their winless streak reaching six games. They are in 14th and only three points from the relegation zone before the rest of the games for this round.—AP
Crescent Club reach quarters
LAHORE: Crescent Club crushed Golden Stars Club by 110 runs to enter the quarter-finals of the 36th M Yaseen Akhter Memorial Cricket Tournament at the Model Town ground here on Saturday.
Summarised scores:
CRESCENT CLUB 230-5 in 18 overs (Sadaqat Ali 75, Akhter Shah 46 not out, Salman Khan 41, Rana M Arslan 41; Awais 3-48); GOLDEN STARS 120 all out in 17.1 overs (Mohammad Saleem 32; Asadullah 3-29, Baber Ali 3-28).—Sports Reporter
Published in Dawn, February 21st, 2021
