LIVERPOOL: Liverpool ended Manchester City’s unbeaten start to the season as Mohamed Salah’s strike 14 minutes from time kickstarted the Reds’ campaign in a 1-0 win at Anfield on Sunday.
Jurgen Klopp’s men are still 10 points behind City and 14 adrift of Premier League leaders Arsenal, but kept their title aspirations alive with just a third league win of the season.
Klopp was sent off in the closing stages as he lost the plot with the officials for refusing to award Salah a free-kick.
But City were also left fuming at referee Anthony Taylor after he disallowed Phil Foden’s strike early in the second half after a VAR review.
For all their achievements under Pep Guardiola, City are still to master Anfield in front of a crowd as Liverpool’s proud unbeaten home league record with fans in attendance dating back to 2017 goes on.
Klopp claimed in his pre-match press conference that no one can compete with the wealth of resources at City’s disposal after adding Haaland to a squad filled with seasoned Premier League winners.
But the Norwegian’s 10-game scoring streak at club level came to an end on an afternoon Liverpool will hope gives their season lift-off.
Liverpool have caused City more problems than anyone else in England over the past five years and belied the form of both sides heading into the game to inflict the champions’ first league defeat since February.
Even in a cagey first 45 minutes, Haaland remained a major threat and will believe he should have opened the scoring before the break.
A lacklustre first half was followed by an explosive second period.
Salah should have opened the scoring when he latched onto Roberto Firmino’s through ball and Ederson made a brilliant save low to his right.
Seconds later the ball was in the Liverpool net as Foden swept home the loose ball after Alisson Becker bravely saved at Haaland’s feet.
However, the goal was ruled out after a VAR check for a foul by Haaland on Fabinho in the build-up.
Guardiola was still furiously remonstrating with the officials on the touchline when the home side missed another huge chance to break the deadlock.
Salah’s cross picked out Jota at the far post, who headed against the post when it seemed easier to score.
Haaland was next to be denied as the game raged from one end to the other as his low effort was palmed away by Alisson.
But it was Liverpool’s star marksman who finally found his range.
Salah bent another effort inches wide after turning Ruben Dias.
But the Egyptian did not spare City at the third time of asking as he outmuscled Joao Cancelo to latch onto Alisson’s long ball and kept his cool to slot past Ederson.
Virgil van Dijk’s dip in form has been one of the key factors in Liverpool’s slow start to the season.
The Dutchman, though, rose to the challenge of stopping Haaland and made one vital intervention to turn Cancelo’s cross away from the City number nine.
Klopp was given his marching orders for coming face-to-face with the assistant referee after Salah appeared to have been hauled back by Bernardo Silva.
But City were also lacking in composure to make their possession count on the field as Liverpool held out.
Salah gives Liverpool lift-off to end Man City’s unbeaten start
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Salah gives Liverpool lift-off to end Man City’s unbeaten start
- Mohamed Salah latched onto Alisson’s long ball and kept his cool to slot past Ederson
- Virgil van Dijk rose to the challenge of stopping City dangerman Erling Haaland
Celtics push Cavs to brink of elimination, Thunder pull level with Mavs
- Jayson Tatum scored 33 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and Jaylen Brown added 27 points
- The Boston Celtics will try to finish off the series at home on Wednesday
LOS ANGELES: The Boston Celtics fought off short-handed Cleveland to take a 3-1 stranglehold in their NBA playoff series Monday as Oklahoma City leveled their series with Dallas.
Jayson Tatum scored 33 points and grabbed 11 rebounds while Jaylen Brown added 27 points for the Celtics, who beat the Cavaliers 109-102 for a 3-1 lead in their best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal.
The Boston Celtics will try to finish off the series at home on Wednesday.
Western Conference top seeds Oklahoma City head home tied 2-2 with the Mavericks after a furious fourth-quarter rally carried them to a 100-96 victory in Dallas.
Oklahoma City trailed most of the night in the face of a stout Dallas defensive effort that included 13 blocked shots.
But the Thunder broke through in the fourth quarter, tying it at 86-86 on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s fadeaway jump shot with 4:02 to play.
Rookie Chet Holmgren followed with a three-pointer that gave the Thunder the lead for good.
Dallas had the deficit down to one point with 10.1 seconds left, but Holmgren and Gilgeous-Alexander each made a pair of free throws and the Thunder closed it out.
“We just stuck to it,” said Gilgeous-Alexander, who scored 22 of his 34 points in the second half.
“We just plugged away, took it possession by possession and eventually the game turned for us.”
Holmgren finished with 18 points and Luguentz Dort had 17 for the Thunder, who made 23 of their 24 free-throws and withstood a triple double of 18 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists from Dallas star Luka Doncic.
P.J. Washington led Dallas with 21 points but star guard Kyrie Irving was held to nine.
Doncic said it wasn’t a defensive breakdown that cost the Mavs but too many mistakes in the “little details.”
He called it “unacceptable” that Dallas made just 12 of their 23 free-throws, and the Mavericks also coughed up 14 turnovers leading to 19 Thunder points.
In Cleveland, the Cavaliers were dealt a blow when Donovan Mitchell, who had averaged more than 35 points over the six prior games, was ruled out with a calf injury, joining starting center Jarrett Allen on the sidelines.
NBA superstar LeBron James, who led the Cavs to their only NBA title back in 2016, was sitting courtside, but with Mitchell absent the Cavs ultimately didn’t have enough firepower.
The Cavs kept the pressure on, taking the lead briefly on Darius Garland’s driving basket early in the third quarter.
But the Celtics quickly reasserted themselves and led by 10 going into the final period.
Cleveland, on the back of 30 points from Garland, pulled within five points three times in the final four minutes, but Brown, fed by Tatum, connected on a three-pointer with 1:09 to play that effectively sealed it.
“It’s a game of runs,” Tatum said after the Celtics — who took control early with a 12-0 scoring run in the first quarter — struggled to put the depleted Cavaliers away.
“It’s not going to be perfect every single time. They’re going to make shots, but it’s our job to figure it out.”
Boston led by as many as 13 in the second quarter but Cleveland, with 11 of their 15 three-pointers in the first half, twice cut the deficit to one point before going into the break down by five.
Brown avoided a flagrant foul call in the second quarter after he fell backwards into Max Strus and grabbed Strus’s ankle as the Cavs player — himself struggling to stay upright — stepped over his head.
Cleveland coach J.B. Bickerstaff was more concerned at the fact that Boston went to the free-throw line 24 times compared to Cleveland’s seven.
“I’ll be honest with you, I was disappointed with the way the whistle blew tonight,” he said. “I don’t think we got an equal opportunity at it tonight from that standpoint.
Garland called the free-throw discrepancy “ridiculous.”
“I’m not one of those guys with the striped shirt, but I know how many times I get hit, I know how many times my teammates get hit, put on the floor. And we can’t reciprocate,” he said.
Pakistan face dangerous Ireland in T20I series decider today
- Buoyed by stellar performances from Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman, Pakistan beat Ireland on Sunday to level series 1-1
- After Ireland series, Pakistan will head to England for four-match T20 series as preparation before T20 World Cup
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will face a dangerous Ireland cricket team today, Tuesday, in the third and final T20 match of the series between the two teams in Dublin, as both sides look to gain momentum with less than a month to go before the World Cup kicks off in June.
The visitors were shocked by minnows Ireland last week when they lost in the series opener on Friday. However, the South Asian country bounced back in the second T20I on Friday, beating Ireland by seven wickets in a match that saw stellar performances from Mohammad Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman, Shaheen Shah Afridi and a late blitz from Azam Khan.
“The third and last T-20 between Pakistan and Ireland will be played at Dublin today,” state-run Radio Pakistan reported. “The match will start at 7:00 p.m. Pakistan Standard Time.”
Pakistan and Ireland are both in Group A of the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 in the West Indies and the USA. They will face each other in the tournament on 16 June, Sunday, in Florida. Ireland have given Pakistan a tough time in the series, losing the second match after taking early breakthroughs and handing skipper Babar Azam’s side an impressive 194-run target.
Pakistan’s bowling attack, considered its main strength which features the likes of Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah and Mohammad Amir, has been in the spotlight for conceding too many runs and failing to trouble the Irish batters much.
Separately, Cricket Ireland on Monday officially confirmed a first men’s tour of Pakistan in August and September in 2025. The series will see both countries play three T20Is and three ODIs against each other. It was part of the Future Tours Programme (FTP) of the ICC scheduled for September 2025.
The decision was finalized after Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi met Cricket Ireland Chairman Brain MacNeice. A statement released by the PCB, however, did not mention any dates and venues for the schedule of the series. It follows in the wake of Ireland Women touring Pakistan, who also played three ODIs and three T20Is in November 2022.
The Pakistan men’s team will head to England for a four-match T20I series after the third T20I against Ireland. Following the England series, with matches scheduled at Headingley (22 May), Birmingham (25 May), Cardiff (28 May), and The Oval, London (30 May), both England and Pakistan will head to the US for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.
England will face Scotland in Barbados on June 4 in their opening match, while Pakistan will launch their campaign against the United States (US) in Dallas on June 6. Pakistan will take on arch-rivals India on June 9 in New York which is set to be one of the most anticipated clashes of the T20 World Cup.
Squads:
Ireland: Paul Stirling (captain), Mark Adair, Ross Adair, Andrew Balbirnie, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Graham Hume, Barry McCarthy, Neil Rock, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Ben White, Craig Young
Pakistan: Babar Azam (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Amir (unavailable for first T20I), Mohammad Rizwan, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Usman Khan
England’s Livingstone leaves IPL to get ‘knee sorted’
- Livingstone played just seven of 12 matches for Punjab, who have been knocked out of the play-off race
- His injury is reportedly not serious but requires rest before England play Pakistan in four T20Is this month
NEW DELHI: England batsman Liam Livingstone has left the Indian Premier League early to get his knee “sorted” ahead of the T20 World Cup in June, the Punjab Kings player said.
Livingstone, 30, played just seven of 12 matches for Punjab, who have been knocked out of the play-off race for this season.
Livingstone, who has been named in England’s provisional squad for the T20 World Cup in the West Indies and the United States, missed two matches early this IPL after he went down on the field.
He later did not make the playing XI but returned to the starting line-up last week.
“IPL done for another year, had to get my knee sorted for the upcoming World Cup,” Livingstone wrote on social media.
“Thanks once again to the Punjab Kings fans for all their love and support. Disappointing season as a team and personally, but as always I loved every minute of playing in the IPL.”
According to ESPNcricinfo, Livingstone’s injury is not serious but requires rest before England play Pakistan in four T20 internationals this month.
Livingstone managed just 11 runs with a highest of 38 not out and returned three wickets with his spin bowling.
Other World Cup-bound England players including Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Moeen Ali, Jos Buttler, Will Jacks, Phil Salt and Reece Topley will begin to return home in the next few days.
‘Ring of Fire’ timepiece marking Fury v. Usyk fight in Saudi Arabia to be auctioned by Sotheby’s for charity
- A piece from the Astronomia Art collection, the “Ring of Fire” watch is a 50-mm rose-gold timepiece, the design and details of which pay tribute to both fighters
RIYADH: A bespoke timepiece created by Jacob & Co. to commemorate the heavyweight boxing clash between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia will be auctioned on Friday.
All proceeds will go to the Make-A-Wish International charity.
A piece from the Astronomia Art collection, the “Ring of Fire” watch is a 50-mm rose-gold timepiece, the design and details of which pay tribute to both fighters.
A figurine of each world heavyweight champion measuring less than 1 cm-high adorns the watch, while the hour and minute dials are represented by the iconic champion belt of the World Boxing Council and its green color is used on the strap.
Sotheby’s will host the auction, on the evening before fight night, which will also feature other coveted boxing-themed items, with the high-value Ring of Fire watch the star attraction.
British WBC title holder Fury takes on Ukrainian WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO champion Usyk in Riyadh on May 18 at the Kingdom Arena in the clash, also called the “Ring of Fire.”
Turki Alalshikh, chairman of the board of directors at the General Entertainment Authority, commissioned Big Time Creative Shop, the GEA’s creative arm, to work alongside luxury watch brand Jacob & Co. to design and craft the timepiece.
“This is an incredible and rare opportunity to own a piece of boxing history. The magnitude of this fight cannot be underestimated,” Alalshikh said.
“It will be spoken about for decades, and the successful bidder will share a special bond with the lead protagonists of this undisputed heavyweight story through the collective ownership of these unique and elegant timepieces.
“We are also pleased to be able to donate all auction proceeds to Make-A-Wish International, so they can help fulfil the wishes of even more children around the world,” he said.
Ever in confident mood, Fury said that the watch would remind the owner of a night of boxing history.
“This watch will forever represent a bit of boxing history and, for me personally, it is going to be a constant reminder of the night I became the first undisputed heavyweight champion of the 21st century,” he said. “This is a rare and incredible timepiece and I hope it can raise lots of cash for an important global cause. I’d also like to thank everyone who has been involved in putting this together,” he said.
His Ukrainian opponent said that he hoped as much money as possible could be raised in auctioning the watch.
“I look forward to the auction and seeing who will be fortunate enough to achieve the winning bid and share with me in owning this masterpiece,” he said.
“I encourage everyone who can to get involved so we see a big donation to help with the good work of Make-A-Wish International. This watch is an excellent allegory of the limited time given to us by God in this world to help others and make it a better place to live.”
Saudi Hockey Federation announces tournament in Western Region to be played in Jeddah
- The tournament will feature six teams comprising 60 players
LONDON: The Saudi Hockey Federation announced on Monday it was organizing the Saudi Arabia Western Region Championship, which will kick off next Friday at the sports hall of Al-Ittihad Club in Jeddah.
The tournament will feature six teams comprising 60 players.
The hockey federation said the championship was part of its plan to develop hockey in the Kingdom and marks the beginning of its series of tournaments for the 2024 season.
The federation said that it would continue to organize similar tournaments, with an aim to expanding them to various regions of the Kingdom, to create a competitive environment for the sport and in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.
