Neymar returns as Al-Hilal edge 9-goal Asian thriller against Al-Ain

Three goals in the first half put the visitors from Riyadh ahead at the break to help maintain a perfect record of three wins from three in Group One. (X/@AlHilal_FC)
Three goals in the first half put the visitors from Riyadh ahead at the break to help maintain a perfect record of three wins from three in Group One. (X/@AlHilal_FC)
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Updated 21 October 2024
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Neymar returns as Al-Hilal edge 9-goal Asian thriller against Al-Ain

Neymar returns as Al-Hilal edge 9-goal Asian thriller against Al-Ain
  • Salem Al-Dawsari, Soufiane Rahimi bag hat-tricks
  • Neymar, returning from injury, almost capped his return to action with a goal

AL-AIN, UAE: Neymar finally returned to action after a year out through injury, but it was Salem Al-Dawsari who grabbed the headlines with a hat-trick as Al-Hilal won 5-4 at Al-Ain in a thrilling AFC Champions League elite clash.

The victory, against the tournament’s holders, meant that the Saudi Arabians have taken a big step toward the knockout stage, while they also enjoyed a modicum of revenge against the team from the UAE.

Three goals in the first half put the visitors from Riyadh ahead at the break to help maintain a perfect record of three wins from three in their group which, after a semifinal loss to the UAE powerhouse in last season’s edition, provided welcome news.

Al-Ain, coached by Hernan Crespo, thought they had taken the lead in the seventh minute and Al-Hilal goalkeeper Mohammed Al-Rubaie was relieved when it was ruled out for offside. The replacement for the injured Yassine Bounou misjudged a long ball out of defense and breathed a sigh of relief that the flag went up after Soufiane Rahimi — the Moroccan who wreaked havoc in the meeting between the two teams in their last meeting — put the ball in the net.

The visitors took the lead after 26 minutes thanks to a well-taken strike from Renan Lodi. The Brazilian left-back, who has enjoyed a fine start to the season, picked up possession on the corner of the area and sent a low shot into the corner. 

Six minutes before the break, however, Rahimi, the tournament’s top scorer from last season, equalized for the defending champions. The Saudi Arabian visitors failed to clear a corner and the forward poked home a low cross from Brazilian midfielder Erik.

Al-Hilal then scored twice in added time. First, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic headed home a Joao Cancelo cross from the right and then, on the counter-attack, Nasser Al-Dawsari picked up the ball well inside his own half and slipped a low pass through to his namesake, who had broken free of the backline to get to the ball ahead of the goalkeeper to sweep home, first time, from the right corner of the area.

Mateo Sanabria fired home from the left side of the area after 63 minutes to make it 3-2 and get the Al-Ain fans on their feet.

But if there were nerves from the boys in blue then they were not apparent as they restored their two-goal advantage almost immediately. Malcom backheeled to Milinkovic-Savic on the right and the Serbian’s cross was swept home high into the net by Al-Dawsari for his second and Al-Hilal’s fourth.

Four-time Asian champions Al-Hilal are not the kind of team to throw away a two-goal lead with 25 minutes remaining, but Al-Ain scored again after 67 minutes. Rahimi cut inside the area from the left and his shot beat the goalkeeper at the near post to make it 4-3.

But with 15 minutes remaining, Al-Dawsari completed a fine hat-trick, shooting home powerfully from just outside the area to score a goal worthy of winning any game.

Then it was time for Neymar to come off the bench, but the impact of the superstar, injured a year earlier in action for Brazil, was limited as Al-Hilal defender Ali Al-Bulaihi was red-carded for handball on the edge of the area 10 minutes from time. From the resulting free-kick, Al-Rubaie saved well from Rahimi.

Neymar almost capped his return with a goal but his low shot from the left corner of the area just went past the opposite post. His miss could have been costly as Al-Ain scored their fourth in the 96th minute, Rahimi completing his own hat-trick from the penalty spot, but it was a little too late as Al-Hilal won a classic.

The top eight from the group of 12 progress to the second round of 16 and, on this showing, Al-Hilal are almost there.


India’s Rohit denies ‘mental scars’ from big Adelaide defeat

India’s Rohit denies ‘mental scars’ from big Adelaide defeat
Updated 48 sec ago
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India’s Rohit denies ‘mental scars’ from big Adelaide defeat

India’s Rohit denies ‘mental scars’ from big Adelaide defeat
  • Australia thumped India in Adelaide day-nighter by 10 wickets in resounding victory
  • Rohit blames loss on sub-standard batting, says team has to ‘figure out’ certain things

Adelaide, Australia: Skipper Rohit Sharma vowed that India will rebound against Australia in Brisbane and refuses to believe their heavy defeat in the second Test on Sunday will leave a mental “scar.”
The hosts won the day-nighter in Adelaide by 10 wickets to level the series 1-1 and with less than a week before they meet again at the Gabba, India are racing against the clock to fix what went wrong.
Rohit attributed the demoralizing loss to sub-standard batting, but brushed off the scale of the defeat.
“Firstly, it’s not a (mental) scar, it’s just we’ve lost a Test match,” he said.
“We didn’t play well enough. So it’s important in this short time that we have before the next Test match just to figure out certain things.
“You know, if you want to bat how we want to bat, and if you want to bowl, what lines and what lengths and what kind of fields placement we need to have.
“Those are the things more than anything else. Like I said, it’s still one-all and plenty of things left in this series and definitely a way for us to get back into it.”
India were dismissed for just 180 in the first innings after winning the toss and opting to bat at the Adelaide Oval, then were skittled for 175 in their second knock.
It left Australia needing just 19 runs to win, which they completed inside the first session on day three.
“When you come to Australia I feel the best chance of winning a Test match is by putting runs on the board. And of course, when we won the toss, we elected to bat,” said Rohit.
“We knew that there would be challenges. But in the past, where the conditions have been a little challenging, we’ve batted really well to put runs on the board and then try and put pressure on the opposition.
“That is the disappointing part, that we didn’t bat well enough, you know, probably were 30-40 runs short with the bat in the first innings.”
India also failed to make best use of the new pink ball when Australia had to negotiate almost two hours at dusk on day one.
While Jasprit Bumrah was ever-dangerous, the rest of the attack lacked bite.
“There were opportunities when Australia were batting and we failed to take those chances,” said Rohit.
“And obviously, when you miss those chances, it is never easy, the opposition will always make you pay for it, and that’s what happened.”


Jokic’s 56 points not enough as Nuggets fall to Wizards

Jokic’s 56 points not enough as Nuggets fall to Wizards
Updated 08 December 2024
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Jokic’s 56 points not enough as Nuggets fall to Wizards

Jokic’s 56 points not enough as Nuggets fall to Wizards
  • The Serbian big man added 16 rebounds and eight assists but it was all to no avail as Washington, buoyed by 39 points from Jordan Poole, won for the first time since Oct. 30
  • Ja Morant scored 32 points with nine rebounds and nine assists to lead the Memphis Grizzlies to a 127-121 victory over the reigning champion Celtics

LOS ANGELES: The Washington Wizards withstood a 56-point explosion from Denver star Nikola Jokic to beat the Nuggets 122-113 on Saturday and snap their 16-game NBA losing streak.

Jokic, who won his third NBA Most Valuable Player award last season, posted a career scoring high — surpassing a 53-point performance in Game 4 of the 2023 Western Conference semifinals against Phoenix and a 50-point regular-season best against Sacramento in 2021.

The Serbian big man added 16 rebounds and eight assists but it was all to no avail as Washington, buoyed by 39 points from Jordan Poole, won for the first time since Oct. 30.

Poole made a career-high nine of Washington’s 16 three-pointers while the Nuggets connected on just five of their 24 attempts from beyond the arc.

Justin Champagnie scored 23 points and Jonas Valanciunas added 20 points and 12 rebounds for the Wizards, who were without a string of key players including Kyle Kuzma, Malcolm Brogdon and Saddiq Bey.

Washington seized control early against a Nuggets team without five regulars, including Aaron Gordon, Jamal Murray and Dario Saric who were all ruled out hours before the game.

They outscored the Nuggets 36-29 in the first quarter and led 69-57 at halftime.

Jokic went for broke in the third in a bid to turn things around, connecting on nine of an astonishing 20 shot attempts and scoring 23 points as the Nuggets whittled the deficit to six points going into the final period.

The Wizards pushed their lead back to 13 early in the fourth with Jokic getting some rest on the bench, and Denver couldn’t get the deficit below five points the rest of the way.

“Hearing some MVP chants was kind of cool when the MVP (Jokic) was on the floor,” Poole said of the cheers of Washington fans when he went to the free-throw line in the closing seconds.

Meanwhile, Evan Mobley scored a career-high 41 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the league-leading Cleveland Cavaliers in a dominant 116-102 victory over the Charlotte Hornets.

Mobley set the tone with 23 points in the first quarter, when he made five of his six three-pointers and the Cavs pushed their lead to as many as 22 before taking a 63-52 advantage into halftime.

“He didn’t hit the rim on the threes,” teammate Caris LeVert said of Mobley’s effort. “They were all swishes, like the first four or five... it was definitely a sight to see.”

Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland added 18 points apiece for the Cavs and Jarrett Allen added 11 points and 10 assists as Cleveland improved to 21-3.

In Boston, Ja Morant scored 32 points with nine rebounds and nine assists to lead the Memphis Grizzlies to a 127-121 victory over the reigning champion Celtics.

Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 27 points and grabbed nine rebounds for the Grizzlies, who fended off the Celtics’ fourth-quarter comeback bid.

Boston took the lead for the first time early in the final period, going up 97-94 on Payton Pritchard’s three-pointer.

Memphis regained the lead for good with 8:25 remaining, pulling away after Boston cut the deficit to one on a Jayson Tatum basket with 4:34 to play.

Jrue Holiday scored 23 points to lead six Celtics players to score in double figures. Pritchard and Jaylen Brown scored 22 apiece while Tatum was just shy of a triple-double with 17 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists.

There were several triple-doubles elsewhere, however.

Dallas guard Luka Doncic posted his second triple-double in as many games with 30 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists in the Mavericks’ 125-118 victory over the Raptors in Toronto.

Kyrie Irving added 29 points and Klay Thompson scored 20 as six Mavs players reached double figures to secure a seventh straight victory.

Detroit’s Cade Cunningham scored 29 points with 10 rebounds and a career-high 15 assists as the Pistons beat the New York Knicks 120-111.

Cunningham recorded his fifth triple-double of the season, third-most in the NBA this season behind Jokic’s nine and the seven of LeBron James.

Jalen Brunson scored 31 points and handed out 10 assists to pace the Knicks, who saw a four-game winning streak end.


LA Galaxy strike early, hold off New York Red Bulls 2-1 to win their record 6th MLS Cup championship

LA Galaxy strike early, hold off New York Red Bulls 2-1 to win their record 6th MLS Cup championship
Updated 08 December 2024
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LA Galaxy strike early, hold off New York Red Bulls 2-1 to win their record 6th MLS Cup championship

LA Galaxy strike early, hold off New York Red Bulls 2-1 to win their record 6th MLS Cup championship
  • Greg Vanney: I’m just so proud of this group after the challenges that we (had) and the way they bounced back and competed as a group
  • Galaxy nursed their lead through a scoreless second half to raise their league’s biggest trophy for the first time since 2014

CARSON, California: Joseph Paintsil and Dejan Joveljic scored in the first half, and the LA Galaxy won their record sixth MLS Cup championship with a 2-1 victory over the New York Red Bulls on Saturday.

After striking twice in the first 13 minutes of the final with goals from their star forward, the Galaxy nursed their lead through a scoreless second half to raise their league’s biggest trophy for the first time since 2014.

MLS’ most successful franchise struggled through most of the ensuing decade, even finishing 26th in the 29-team league last year. But the Galaxy turned everything around this season with a high-scoring new lineup that finished second in the Western Conference and then streaked through the playoffs with a playoff-record 18 goals in five games to win another crown.

“I’m just so proud of this group after the challenges that we (had) and the way they bounced back and competed as a group,” Galaxy coach Greg Vanney said. “We spent a lot of energy at the start, but I’m just so proud of these guys. They’ve cemented themselves as legends in this club.”

Sean Nealis scored for the seventh-seeded Red Bulls, whose improbable postseason charge ended one win shy of their first Cup championship. With the league’s youngest roster, New York fell just short of becoming the lowest-seeded team to win MLS’ playoff tournament under first-year German coach Sandro Schwarz.

“I love these guys,” Schwarz said. “Some guys, they are crying. In the big picture, that’s a start. Sometimes when you lose the final, it’s tough, but you use this experience to create the next energy, the next intensity.”

The Galaxy won this title without perhaps their most important player. Riqui Puig, the playmaking midfielder from Barcelona who ran their offense impressively all season long, tore a ligament in his knee last week in the Western Conference final.

Puig watched this game in a suit, but his teammates hadn’t forgotten him: After his replacement, Gaston Brugman, set up LA’s opening goal with a superb pass in the ninth minute, Paintsil held up Puig’s jersey to their roaring fans during the celebration.

“I was really waiting for this moment,” said Paintsil, who scored his 14th goal of an impressive season. “I’m much more, 10 times faster than them, and Gaston saw the space. ... It was really a good thing. We did it for Riqui, and we did it for our family that came, and our supporters.”

Just four minutes later, Joveljic sprinted past four New York defenders and chipped home the 21st goal of his outstanding year as the Galaxy’s striker.

Brugman was named the MLS Cup MVP after a commanding performance in midfield. The Uruguayan hadn’t started a match for the Galaxy since Oct. 5, playing only as a postseason substitute before the final.

Galaxy goalkeeper John McCarthy made four saves to win his second MLS title in three seasons. He was the MVP of the 2022 MLS Cup Final for the Galaxy’s crosstown rival, Los Angeles FC.

Nealis beat McCarthy in the 28th minute when he volleyed from LA’s penalty area.

The second half was lively, but scoreless. Red Bulls captain Emil Forsberg hit the outside of the post in the 72nd minute, while LA’s Gabriel Pec and Galaxy substitute Marco Reus nearly converted chances a few moments later.

The ball got loose in the Galaxy’s penalty area in the third minute of extra time, but two Red Bulls couldn’t finish.

After Galaxy owner Phil Anschutz received the MLS Cup that bears his name because of his steady financial support of the league during its shaky years, Galaxy captain Maya Yoshida carried the trophy onto a stage filled with his teammates for a celebration amid fireworks and confetti.

The Galaxy extended their lead over DC United (4) for the most MLS Cup championships in league history. The Red Bulls remain one of three original MLS franchises never to win the title, along with FC Dallas and the New England Revolution.

Vanney became the fourth coach to win an MLS title with two clubs. He lost three MLS Cup Finals as a Galaxy player, but won it as Toronto’s coach in 2017.

The Galaxy finished 17-0-3 this season at their frequently renamed suburban stadium, where the sellout crowd of 26,812 for the final included several robust cheering sections of Red Bulls supporters hoping to see their New Jersey-based club’s breakthrough.

Just last season, the Galaxy’s own supporters boycotted the team at certain home matches, fed up with years of mismanagement and no progress. But the club famous for employing global stars from David Beckham and Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Robbie Keane and Javier “Chicharito” Hernández swiftly rebuilt itself into a contender this season by spending big to get lesser-known young talents.

The Galaxy signed Pec from Brazil and Paintsil, a Ghanaian playing in Belgium. The duo combined with incumbent Serbian striker Joveljic to form a potent attack that could outscore almost any MLS opponent.

But the Galaxy also relied heavily on Puig, their Catalan catalyst and one of MLS’ best players. Puig stayed in last week’s game after injuring his knee, and he even delivered the decisive pass to Joveljic for the game’s only goal.


Thomas seizes one-shot lead over Sheffler at Hero World Challenge

Thomas seizes one-shot lead over Sheffler at Hero World Challenge
Updated 08 December 2024
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Thomas seizes one-shot lead over Sheffler at Hero World Challenge

Thomas seizes one-shot lead over Sheffler at Hero World Challenge
  • A victory on Sunday wouldn’t count as a 16th US PGA Tour title, but it would be a welcome payoff for Thomas’s recent work

MIAMI: Justin Thomas fired six birdies in a six-under par 66 on Saturday to grab a one-shot lead over world number one Scottie Scheffler heading into the final round of the Tiger Woods-hosted Hero World Challenge golf tournament.
Thomas, who started the day two strokes behind halfway leader Scheffler, started applying pressure with four birdies on the front nine at Albany Golf Club in the Bahamas.
A 47-foot birdie putt at the 14th put him atop the leaderboard at 16-under and he made a three-foot birdie at the 16th to reach 17-under 199 through 54 holes in the unofficial event.
“I’m driving it great,” Thomas said. “I’ve had a lot of confidence with it. I feel like I’ve been able to put myself in some pretty good spots going into the green.
“I’m still not taking advantage of some of them as much as I would like, but that’s golf and we’re always going to say that,” added Thomas, who hasn’t won on the US PGA Tour since he claimed his second PGA Championship title in 2022.
A victory on Sunday wouldn’t count as a 16th US PGA Tour title, but it would be a welcome payoff for Thomas’s recent work.
“I’ve been progressing nicely, been working on all the right things,” he said. “(I) feel like I’ve been seeing signs of improvement, which is what you want and that’s all I can do.”
Scheffler, whose eight titles this year included a second Masters green jacket and Olympic gold, had four birdies and a bogey in his three-under par 69.
His 16-under par total of 200 put him one clear of South Korean Tom Kim, who flirted with a 59 on the way to a 10-under par 62 for 201.
“I think it was decent,” Scheffler said. “I had a stretch at 13, 14, 15 where I felt like I lost a shot or two there, but outside of that I did a lot of really good things today.”
With increased winds making things tougher, Scheffler called Kim’s 10-under round “pretty serious golf.”
Kim opened with four straight birdies and rolled in a 19-foot birdie at the seventh and a 23-footer at the ninth.
That was the start of a three-birdie burst, that included a 39-foot putt at the 10th.
A sub-60 round looked possible after Kim made three more birdies at the 14th, 15th and 16th — rolling in a 22-foot putt from off the green at 16 to keep a sub-60 round in sight.
But he fell back with a double-bogey at the par-three 17th, where his tee shot found the greenside bunker and his second shot hit the slope and rolled back into the trap.
Kim produced one final flourish, however, holing out from a greenside bunker for birdie at 18.
“I felt like I did a lot of smart things,” Kim said. “Obviously I chipped it really good. I putted really well, did a lot of good things to keep my momentum going.”


Root reaches century as England set NZ mammoth 583

Root reaches century as England set NZ mammoth 583
Updated 08 December 2024
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Root reaches century as England set NZ mammoth 583

Root reaches century as England set NZ mammoth 583
WELLINGTON: Joe Root posted his 36th century before England declared on day three of the second Test Sunday, setting an enormous target of 583 for New Zealand to win.
Captain Ben Stokes made the declaration 30 minutes after the resumption, with his team having reached 427-6 in their second innings.
They rapidly added 49 to their overnight score in blustery conditions, allowing time for Root to complete a classy ton, before being dismissed for 106.
Stokes was not out 49 off 42 balls, with the pair having put on 100 for the sixth wicket from just 13.2 overs.
Root reached three figures with a spectacular reverse lap shot which flew over wicketkeeper Tom Blundell’s head off paceman Will O’Rourke.
The 33-year-old was dismissed later in the same over, edging a catch to Blundell, prompting an immediate declaration.
Stokes survived one chance when he blasted a straight drive back at seamer Matt Henry, who couldn’t grasp the ball.
The Black Caps have nearly three days to win the match but their chances are very slim given the historic difficulty of chasing even modest fourth-innings totals on New Zealand soil.
England lead the three-match series after winning the opening Test in Christchurch by eight wickets.