30/10/2025

SPORTS THURSDAY | OCT 30, 2025

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Napoli atop Serie A after win at Lecce

BRIEFS Frankfurt exits German Cup BORUSSIA DORTMUND eliminated Eintracht Frankfurt from the German Cup in the second round yesterday, winning 4-2 on penalties after the match finished 1-1. Dortmund were faultless from the spot with Fabio Silva, Niklas Suele, Carney Chukwuemeka and Felix Nmecha all converting, while Ritsu Doan and Fares Chaibi both missed penalties for the home side. “We’ve got a sensational goalie (Gregor Kobel) and plenty of good penalty shooters. It feels nice,”Brandt told reporters. The game was a rematch of the 2017 German Cup final, won 2-1 by Dortmund, with current Borussia coach Niko Kovac then in the Frankfurt dugout. Two-time winners RB Leipzig cantered to a 4-1 victory at neighbours Energie Cottbus. Bochum eliminated top-flight Augsburg 1-0 away and Borussia Moenchengladbach won 3-1 at home against Karlsruhe. Elsewhere, Hertha Berlin beat Elversberg 3-0 in the German capital, Hamburg won 1-0 at Heidenheim and second-division Holstein Kiel beat hosts Wolfsburg 1-0. De Bruyne out for three months: Napoli KEVIN De Bruyne will be out of action for at least three months after suffering a hamstring injury while scoring a penalty for Napoli, the club’s team manager Gabriele Oriali said yesterday. “We’ll have a better idea tomorrow as that’s when his surgery is scheduled, but we don’t know yet exactly how long he will be out for,” Oriali told broadcaster DAZN ahead of the champions’ fixture at Lecce. “It is going to be three to four months and that is unfortunate as he had settled in very well.” Pogba nears Monaco return PAUL POGBA, who has not played a competitive match since September 2023, could make his debut for AS Monaco soon, manager Sebastien Pocognoli said, stressing the need to temper expectations ahead of the midfielder’s return. The former Juventus and Manchester United player joined Ligue 1 club Monaco on a free transfer in June. The 32-year-old was handed a four-year ban in February 2024 after testing positive for DHEA, which boosts testosterone levels. The suspension was cut to 18 months after a successful appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. “For the moment, things are going well, I expect it to be a short time before he’s back in the squad,” Pocognoli said. “When he returns, we’ll need to work together to assess him as a player.” Aston Martin escape sanctions ASTON MARTIN committed a “very minor” procedural breach of Formula One’s cost cap regulations last year due to exceptional circumstances but will face no penalties, the sport’s governing body said yesterday. The International Automobile Federation (FIA) said the other nine teams and five engine manufacturers were all in compliance, despite speculation last week that a more substantial breach might be announced. The FIA said the breach, involving a failure to submit signed versions of its audited annual financial statements by a March deadline, was due to unpredictable circumstances outside the team’s control. Significantly, Aston Martin had not exceeded the cost cap level. The Silverstone-based team had acted cooperatively and in good faith, added the FIA, entering an Accepted Breach Agreement last month to resolve the matter. Speculation about a team being in breach of the cost cap had mounted after the FIA was late publishing the accounts for the 2024 season. Confirmation of teams’ compliance had come much earlier in previous years.

NAPOLI maintained their lead at the top of Serie A yesterday after the champions won a hard-fought contest at lowly Lecce 1-0 and moved three points ahead of AC Milan, who drew 1-1 at Atalanta, and Roma. Andre-Frank Anguissa headed home the only goal in the 69th minute to ensure Napoli followed up on their tempestuous win over Scudetto rivals Inter Milan at the weekend. Napoli are on 21 points from nine league fixtures, three ahead of Milan and Roma. “These matches are never easy, especially after a big game against Inter in which we expended a huge amount of physical and mental energy,” said coach Antonio Conte. Anguissa’s fourth goal of the season, which came after a brilliant individual effort against Inter, gave Napoli a second win in a matter of days and further steadied the ship after a rocky

“We’ve lost so many important players to injury. “But no-one seems to be talking about it.” Rrahmani and Rasmus Hojlund started yesterday’s win on the bench, good news for Napoli with tricky fixtures against Como and Bologna sandwiching the visit of Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League next week. Lecce stay 16th on six points, two above the relegation zone after a fifth defeat of the season for Eusebio Di Francesco’s spirited team. Milan who sit third, level on 18 points with second-placed Roma after a third draw in four matches. Massimiliano Allegri’s team host Roma on Monday. Atalanta are the division’s only remaining unbeaten team but a fifth straight league draw draws have the Bergamo-based club eight points behind Napoli in seventh. – AFP

recent run of results. Conte had to do without a clutch of crucial key players in his 250th Serie A match as head coach. The absentees included Kevin De Bruyne, who according to team manager Gabriele Oriali, will be out of action for at least three months with a hamstring injury. Vanja Milinkovic-Savic was playing after starting goalkeeper Alex Meret suffered a foot fracture in training earlier this month, while Romelu Lukaku is yet to feature in Napoli’s title defence. Two other players key to last year’s four Serie A championship triumph – Amir Rrahmani and Stanislav Lobotka – have already missed chunks of the campaign. “Let’s not forget that it’s since the start of the season that we’ve had to make a virtue of necessity,” added Conte.

Alcaraz stunned Spaniard left nonplussed after shock defeat to Norrie in Paris

Carlos Alcaraz serves to Cameron Norrie during their men’s singles match. – AFPPIC

C ARLOS ALCARAZ arrived at the Paris Masters in rich form but the Spaniard’s campaign in the French capital came to a close much quicker than anyone expected after Britain’s Cameron Norrie pulled off a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 upset. Fresh from winning titles at the US Open, the Cincinnati Open and the Japan Open, six time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz was off his game, racking up 54 unforced errors and venting his frustration in terse exchanges with coach Juan Carlos Ferrero. It was another disappointing showing for Alcaraz at the Masters 1000 tournament, where he has never made it past the quarterfinals. The world No. 1, who opted out of this month’s Shanghai Masters, told reporters he had “no feeling at all” for the ball in yester

US fourth seed Taylor Fritz safely navigated his way through to the third round with a 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 win over Australian qualifier Aleksandar Vukic. Earlier, Russia’s Daniil Medvedev, the 2020 Paris Masters champion, breezed to a comfort able 6-1, 6-3 win over Spaniard Jaume Munar. The eleventh seed will face Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov in the second round. Fresh off winning the biggest title of his career in Basel last weekend, 19-year-old Brazilian Joao Fonseca dug deep to beat Canada’s Denis Shapovalov in three sets. Canadian ninth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime earned a come back 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 6-3 victory over Argentinian Francisco Comesana, while US fifth seed Ben Shelton beat Italy’s Flavio Cobolli in straight sets. – Reuters/ AFP

“ I ’m really disap

day’s defeat.

“I had a lot of practices here, which I was feeling great, feeling amazing, moving on the court, hitting the ball,” the 22-year old said. “But today, even in the

pointed about my level today, and it is what it is.” The Spaniard, how

ever, did praise his oppo nent for capitalising on his mistakes. “I have to give credit to Cam, as well, because I think he didn’t let me stay or come back to the match,” Alcaraz said. “Norrie played really great tennis.” The mercurial Norrie rose to the occasion on the 17,500 capacity centre court at the La Defense Arena. “Such a special win to beat probably the most confident player in the world right now,” for mer world No. 8 Norrie said. “I told myself before the match, even if I get in a winning scenario, I’m not going to be afraid to win. I stayed true to that.”

first set, that I won, I just felt like I could do much more than what I did. I tried in the second set just to be better, but it was totally the oppo site. I just felt even worse.”

Just like during his Roland Garros success earlier in the sea son, Alcaraz hit a serious mid match slump, but on this occa sion he was unable to dig himself out of a hole in the French capital. “I didn’t feel well today. A lot of mistakes … I had no feeling at all,” he summarised.