Gladbach crash again ahead of City clash

BERLIN: Borussia Mnchengladbach captain Lars Stindl missed a penalty and the teams losing streak stretched to six games across all competitions at Augsburg in a 3-1 Bundesliga defeat on Friday.

Gladbach has lost every game since the club announced that coach Marco Rose will be joining league rival Borussia Dortmund next season.

The latest defeat will strengthen fans calls to let him go before Tuesday’s Champions League game against Manchester City. Gladbach has a two-goal deficit to make up against City from the first leg of their last-16 tie.

“We’d rather have a week’s training to prepare for the core tasks at the moment, namely points in the Bundesliga,” said Rose, whose team looks likely to lose further ground in the race for European qualification places.

Stindl’s penalty miss was the visitors biggest chance in a first half that they dominated.

Raphael Framberger conceded the spot kick in the 37th minute for a foul on Marcus Thuram, but Stindl shot to the left of the goal.

Gladbach were to rue the miss early in the second half when Ruben Vargas arrived with pace and powered home a header from a corner.

Gladbach had had 65% possession and 16 goal efforts to the home teams seven.

But Marco Richter scored against the run of play in the 76th with only Augsburg’s third shot on target, and Andr Hahn confirmed his former team’s fate on a counterattack in the 89th.

Rose’s team remained 10th. Augsburg moved 10 points clear of the relegation zone.—Agencies

Saad shines for Bob Woolmer CC

KARACHI: A splendid knock from Saad Baig inspired Bob Woolmer CC to a 40-run success against Pak Farman CC in their match of the All-Sindh Prof Ejaz Ahmed Faruqi Invitation Cricket Tournament fixture at the TMC Ground here on Friday.

Saad struck 81 with the aid of 11 boundaries and a towering six as Bob Woolmer CC posted 216 all out in 39.3 overs.

Pak Farman CC, in their chase, were dismissed for 176 in the 32nd over.

Summarised scores:

Bob Woolmer CC beat Pak Farman CC by 40 runs at TMC Ground.

BOB WOOLMER CC 216 in 39.3 overs (Saad Baig 81, Mohammad Yaqoob 39, Haroon Arshad 20; Aziz-ur-Rehman 4-26, Ikramullah 3-47); PAK FARMAN CC 176 in 31.5 overs (Mohammad Maaz 57, Aziz-ur-Rehman 31, Asghar Malik 20, Mohammad Nawaz 20; Mohammad Yaqoob 4-53, Mohammad Fahad 2-28, Mohammad Bilal 2-43).

Nazimabad Gymkhana ‘B’ beat Abu Rehan CC by seven wickets at Nazimabad Gymkhana Ground.

ABU REHAN CC 126 in 33.2 overs (Akhtar Munir 44; Faizan Khan 4-33, Abdul Rauf 3-23, Farhan Zaman 2-32); NAZIMABAD GYMKHANA ‘B’ 127-3 in 15 overs (Faraz Tanoli 45 not out, Farhan Sadiq 38).

Team Kashmore CC beat Justice CC by seven wickets at PCB Ground, Sukkur.

JUSTICE CC 111 in 25.1 overs (Sajid Ali 34; Mohammad Faraz 2-10, Farhan 2-18, Naveed 2-25, Mohammad Qasim 2-31); TEAM KASHMORE CC 112-3 in 20.1 overs (Abdul Razzaq 30 not out, Awais 29, Majid Ali 27 not out; Zulfiqar Ali) 3-59).—Sports Reporter

Kadewere rescues title-chasing Lyon

REIMS: A stoppage-time goal from Zimbabwe international Tino Kadewere rescued a point for title-chasing Lyon in a 1-1 Ligue 1 draw at Reims on Friday.

Lyon stay third in the table, level on 60 points with Paris Saint-Germain but behind on goal difference.

Lille lead the way on 62 points.

Mathieu Cafaro gave Reims the lead after 33 minutes with a sharp half-volley from a cross by Thomas Foket.

Reims were indebted to goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic who pulled off three memorable saves in the second half.

Lyon’s pressure paid off in the second minute of injury time when Kadewere headed in a cross from Memphis Depay for his 10th league goal of the season.

Lille clash with fifth-placed Monaco on Sunday while PSG, fresh from reaching the Champions League quarter-finals at Barcelona’s expense, are at home to relegation-threatened Nantes.

Lyon and PSG clash next weekend in a key top of the table clash.—AFP

Panelo, Bensadon excel

LAHORE: Master Paints, Diamond Paints and FG Polo recorded wins in the Bank Alfalah National Open Polo Championship here at the Lahore Polo Club ground on Saturday.

Four goals from Marcos Panelo helped Master Paints earn a 7-6 victory against Remounts. Juan Cruz Losada scored a brace and Farooq Amin Sufi struck one for the winners. For Remounts, Ignacio Negri cracked a quartet while LD Imran Shahid and Vieri Antinori scored one apiece.

Francisco Bensadon’s superb six-goal show guided FG Polo to a 7-6 win over Risala. Jamie Le Hardy scored the remaining goal for FG Polo. For Risala, Dylan Rossiter hammered four goals while Abdul Rahman Monnoo and Pedro struck one goal each.

Meanwhile, Diamond Paints defeated Barry’s 6-4 with Raul Laplacette, Ramiro Zaveletta and Mir Huzaifa Ahmed scoring a brace each for the winners. Barry’s, earned all their goals through Ernesto Trotz.—Sports Reporter

Muguruza faces Krejcikova for Dubai title

DUBAI: Garbine Muguruza says she is very proud of her consistency after reaching a third final from five tournaments contested so far this season.

The former world number one needed seven match points to overcome a stubborn Elise Mertens 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) in the Dubai semi-finals on Friday, and is now into her second final in as many weeks, having placed runner-up in Doha six days ago.

The ninth-seeded Spaniard, who is searching for a first title since Monterrey in 2019, owns a tour-leading 17 match-wins in 2021 and will be bidding for a maiden Dubai crown when she faces Czech Republic’s Barbora Krejcikova in the final on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Krejcikova became the lowest-ranked women’s finalist in the Dubai tournament’s history after she defeated Swiss left-hander Jil Teichmann 7-5, 6-2.—AFP

Bautista Agut, Basilashvili in Qatar Open final

DOHA: Spain’s former champion Roberto Bautista Agut, the fifth seed, and Georgia’s unseeded Nikoloz Basilashvili qualified on Friday for the Qatar Open final, overcoming humid and windy conditions.

Bautista Agut eased past Russia’s Andrey Rublev, ranked eighth in the world and the defending champion, with a dominating performance, 6-3, 6-3.

Fresh from a famous victory against Roger Federer, back after 13 months of injury absence, in the quarter-finals, Basilashvili edged American Taylor Fritz 7-6 (7-3), 6-1.

Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2021