PARIS: Lyon beat Roma 3-0 to maintain their 100 percent record in Group A of the Women’s Champions League on Wednesday, while Wolfsburg thrashed Galatasaray to pick up their first points.
In Group B, Chelsea came from behind against Celtic to preserve their perfect record and Real Madrid put seven past Twente.
Record eight-time winners Lyon traveled to the Italian capital with both sides level at the top of the group on two wins apiece.
Melchie Dumornay’s first-half brace put the French side firmly in control, her second coming three minutes before the interval via an audacious chip from inside the center circle.
Vanessa Gilles poked in from close range in the 52nd minute to rubber-stamp an authoritative performance by Joe Montemurro’s side.
Wolfsburg, the 2013 and 2014 Champions League winners, started their latest campaign with back-to-back defeats against Lyon and Roma — leaving them third in Group A with no goals scored and in real danger of elimination.
Their 5-0 win in Istanbul keeps them third place, three points behind Roma in second.
“We want to get out of the group by working hard and doing our best for the (three) remaining matches,” said Wolfsburg forward Rebecka Blomqvist.
“We are in a very tough group. But we also have the power to achieve this.”
Defender Joelle Wedemeyer’s 24th-minute header from a corner gave the Germans the lead. Blomqvist tapped in on 63 minutes to double the advantage.
The Swedish striker stroked home a third for the team with 13 minutes remaining and then rounded off her hat-trick six minutes into added time.
Vivien Endemann smashed home a fifth for Wolfsburg in the 97th minute.
“We are very happy with the result,” added Blomqvist. “I am proud to show my best out on the pitch. It’s great to contribute to the team.”
A third successive defeat in three outings leaves the Turks bottom of the table with just one goal scored and 14 conceded.
At Parkhead, Chelsea moved to nine points with a 2-1 victory over winless Celtic.
The hosts took a surprise lead with just over 20 minutes gone when Murphy Agnew raced through and lifted a finish past goalkeeper Zecira Musovic.
It took the English champions only six minutes to respond, first through Maika Hamano in the 28th minute and then Ashley Lawrence tucked home a rebound four minutes later.
Chelsea were unable to kill off the match in the second half but succeeded nonetheless in holding Celtic at arm’s length to see out a narrow victory, despite Aggie Beever-Jones picking up a second yellow card deep in injury time.
Real Madrid strolled past Dutch side Twente with a 7-0 win in Spain.
Signe Bruun opened the scoring in the third minute, before center-half Maria Mendez nodded in her first goal in European football 13 minutes later.
Naomie Feller guided in a third on 50 minutes and Caroline Weir soon after curled an unstoppable free-kick over the wall and into the top corner.
Mendez then doubled her tally in the competition with a second header from a corner three minutes after the hour, before Oihane Hernandez and Carla Camacho completed the rout.
The Spaniards sit second in the group with six points.
Lyon and Chelsea stay perfect in Women’s Champions League
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Lyon and Chelsea stay perfect in Women’s Champions League
Pakistan cricketers arrive in Sri Lanka to take part in T20 series ahead of World Cup
- All-rounders Shadab Khan, Rana Faheem Ashraf and pacers Mohammad Wasim and Salman Mirza arrived in Colombo
- Pakistan are set to play three-match series from Jan. 7-11 ahead of T20I World Cup scheduled to begin from Feb. 7
ISLAMABAD: The first batch of Pakistani cricketers have arrived in Sri Lanka to take part in a three-match T20I series scheduled to be played later this week, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said on Monday as the Green Shirts prepare for the upcoming T20 World Cup.
According to the cricket board, Pakistani all-rounders Shadab Khan and Rana Faheem Ashraf as well as pacers Mohammad Wasim and Salman Mirza arrived in Colombo on Sunday night.
Pakistan Head Coach Mike Hesson, Bowling Coach Ashley Noffke, the fielding coach and other members of the support staff have also arrived in Colombo.
“The remaining players of the national squad and other support staff members will depart from Lahore for Colombo on the afternoon of Jan. 5,” the PCB said in a statement.
Pakistan last week announced its 15-member squad for the Sri Lanka series, with Salman Ali Agha retained as captain to lead the side. Khan was recalled to the squad after recovering from a shoulder injury while uncapped batter Khawaja Nafay has also been selected in the team.
Pakistani star cricketers Haris Rauf, Babar Azam and Shaheen Shah Afridi are not part of the squad. All three were playing for the Big Bash League, with Afridi returning mid-season after suffering an injury.
All three T20Is are scheduled to be played at the Rangiri Dambulla International Cricket Stadium (RDICS) in Dambulla on Jan. 7, 9 and 11.
“The series will provide Pakistan an opportunity to finalize their squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, set to take place in India and Sri Lanka from 7 February to 8 March,” the PCB said last week.
SQUAD:
Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abdul Samad, Abrar Ahmad, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Khawaja Nafay (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Mohammad Wasim Jr., Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan (wk), Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan (wk), Usman Tariq










