30/09/2024

SPORTS MONDAY | SEP 30, 2024

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Flick takes blame … as Osasuna halt Barcelona’s perfect start O SASUNA shattered La Liga leaders Barcelona’s perfect start to the season with an emphatic 4-2 victory yesterday and their coach Hansi Flick said he ease in the 18th minute. Zaragoza finished the second himself 10 minutes later after being sent through on goal, with the winger bypassing goalkeeper Inaki Pena with a fine ball roll and then slotting into the empty net.

Revived Vlahovic shoots Juve top

DUSAN VLAHOVIC fired Juventus top of Serie A with a brace in yesterday’s 3-0 win at Genoa who were forced to play behind closed doors as punishment for fan disorder in their midweek Italian Cup defeat to local rivals Sampdoria. Juventus are a point ahead of Torino, AC Milan and Inter Milan, who were 3-2 winners at Udinese earlier, after Vlahovic settled a match played in an atmosphere that harked back to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Serbia striker has struggled for form in the early weeks of the season, only netting in one of his previous six Juventus appearances. But he opened the scoring from the penalty spot two minutes

after half-time before rifling home from Teun Koopmeiners’ fine pass in the 55th minute. “People talk, say that you’re the best when you score goals and a flop when you don’t. I do my talking on the pitch,” said Vlahovic to DAZN . “I know very well that there is a lot expected of me and I am not running away from that.” Thiago Motta’s team, who also scored in the final minutes through substitute Francisco Conceicao, are yet to concede a league goal this season and snapped a run of three consecutive goalless draws in Serie A with a professional display. A third defeat of the season left Genoa in 16th place and one point above the relegation zone. Lautaro Martinez struck his first goals of the season in Inter’s entertaining win at Udinese. Davide Frattesi’s deft finish after just 43 seconds was followed by Argentina forward Martinez’s strikes moments before and after halftime. The win in Udine helped Inter bounce back from Milan derby defeat last weekend and move up to fourth, on 11 points after six matches. “After the derby we kept quiet and worked hard and I think you saw that on the pitch,”said Martinez to DAZN . Monaco celebrate centenary with late win SECOND HALF substitute Lamine Camara struck deep into injury time as Monaco beat Montpellier 2-1 yesterday to pull level on points with Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain. Monaco celebrated the club’s centenary in their Louis-II Stadium with a thrilling victory as Senegalese midfielder Camara, who had come off the bench in the 67th minute, finished off a cross from captain Denis Zakaria. The victory is a boost before Monaco’s Champions League trip to Dinamo Zagreb on Thursday. It allows the Principality side move level on 16 points with leaders PSG after six games. “I’m very happy with the victory in front of all these former Monegasque stars, including Arsene Wenger,” said coach Adi Huetter. “We saw everyone’s emotion when the goal was scored. It’s a great victory, in front of our supporters, former coaches and former players.” Decked out in black to commemorate Monaco’s original 1924 jersey, Adi Hutter’s side were trailing after 16 minutes to Rabby Nzingoula’s first Ligue 1 goal. Montpellier goalkeeper Dimitry Bertaud made two exceptional saves denying Breel Embolo then Denis Zakaria as Monaco continued to push. US forward Folarin Balogun grabbed the equaliser after 32 minutes finishing off an Embolo cross. Hutter brought on substitute Camara midway through the second half to give his team impetus. Montpellier forward Tanguy Coulibaly’s sending off in the 90th minute for a second yellow card had repercussions. The hosts’ pressing paid off when Camara broke through in the eighth minute of injury time to deny Montpellier a precious point. They slid to third from bottom of the league. – AFP Martinez’s brace will be great news for coach Simone Inzaghi whose team host Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League on Wednesday. “It definitely important for me because a striker is always on the hunt for goals,” he said. “I always say that first I work for the team, and if I manage to score then so much the better.” – AFP

would take the blame. The Catalans won all seven of their opening fixtures but Flick’s heavily rotated side came badly undone in Pamplona as Ante Budimir scored a brace either side of Bryan Zaragoza’s strike. Pau Victor had given Barca a lifeline to pull them back into the game before Budimir bagged his second from the penalty spot. Abel Bretones added a sensational fourth from the edge of the box, before Lamine Yamal pulled one back with a fine effort of his own. Victory would have matched Barcelona’s best ever start to a league campaign with eight consecutive wins. “In the first half we made a lot of mistakes, it’s not normal we play like this – we had a lot of changes in the team and this is maybe one reason for that,” Flick told reporters. “I think it was necessary. We had so many matches, a lot of players had so many minutes, I have to take care about that. This is my responsibility. “If you want to blame someone for this defeat then take me.” Ahead of a Champions League match against Young Boys on Wednesday (3am Malaysian time), Flick felt he had to shuffle his pack, especially after Barca lost at Monaco in their European opener. The coach rested Spain Euro 2024 starlet Yamal and Brazilian winger Raphinha among other regular picks. As a result Barcelona failed to ignite and Osasuna winger Zaragoza took centre-stage. On loan from the German giants, Zaragoza created the opener for target-man Budimir with a fine cross, which the Croatian nodded home with

Victor pulled Barcelona back into the game after Osasuna goalkeeper Sergio Herrera gave the ball away with a poor throw and then could not keep out his early shot from distance. With Yamal and Raphinha thrown into the fray Barcelona began to threaten increasingly only for Osasuna to increase their lead against the run of play . Dominguez, 19, scythed down Budimir in the area as he went to shoot and the striker buried the penalty. Ruben Pena wasted a glorious

Vlahovic. – AFPPIC

chance to grab a fourth but Bretones made no mistake with a vicious effort from the edge of the box. Yamal hit back brilliantly

from range and teed up Torres who struck the post, but it was too little, too late. “It’s normal there are rotations, there are a lot of games, it’s not an excuse,” Barcelona midfielder Pedri told Movistar .

“In the second half we deserved a bit more but we let in goals when we were at our best.” Osasuna rose to sixth and Zaragoza said his team had been determined to beat the leaders. “We knew Barca were an incredible team, they had won everything and we knew we had to get stuck into it, and that’s how we went out there,” explained the winger. “It’s a special game and really nice to play in.” – AFP Kane limps off as Bayern held by Leverkusen

HARRY KANE went off injured as Bayern Munich were held 1-1 at home by champions Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga yesterday. Robert Andrich put the visitors ahead after 31 minutes in Munich but Aleksandar Pavlovic pulled leaders Bayern level eight minutes later with an incredible long range shot. England captain Kane, who was largely anonymous in front of goal, hobbled off with a foot injury with four minutes remaining after a collision with Leverkusen’s Amine Adli.

Coach Vincent Kompany said it was “too early” to know the extent of the injury but he was hopeful Kane would be fit for Thursday’s Champions League clash at Aston Villa. “I don’t have the exact information but hopefully it’s just a bit of pain and we’ll get him back this week,” said Kompany. Bayern sporting director Max Eberl added: “When Harry leaves the field it means

something because he’s pretty tough. “(The incident) doesn’t look good, but we hope he’s made out of strong English wood and nothing’s broken.” Bayern’s Serge Gnabry hit the woodwork twice in the second half, but Leverkusen held on for a draw. “We deserved more, definitely,” said Bayern captain Manuel Neuer. “We were clearly the better team and had the better

adding “that was the style and manner we needed to play here today. “We were serious, restricted their chances and I’m happy with the point.” In earlier matches, Benjamin Sesko scored twice in five minutes as RB Leipzig’s young attack combined superbly to beat Augsburg 4-0 at home. Last year’s runners-up Stuttgart came back to earth after Sunday’s 5-1 demolition of Borussia Dortmund, needing a stoppage time Deniz Undav goal to snatch a 2-2 draw at Wolfsburg. St Pauli won their first top division match since February 2011 with a 3-0 victory at a wasteful and unlucky Freiburg. – AFP

chances. The goal we conceded was frustrating.” Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso was happy. “Against Bayern you need to be disciplined and make sacrifices,” he said,

Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane in agony on the ground during the Bundesliga match against Bayer Leverkusen yesterday. – AFPPIC