DT e-Paper 24 February 2017

Real stunned
by Valencia
• Reuters, Madrid
LA LIGA
Valencia 2-1 Real Madrid
Zaza 4, Orellana 9 Ronaldo 44
Real Madrid suffered a 2-1 defeat at
Valencia as they missed the opportunity
to extend their lead at the
top of La Liga after losing for only
the second time this season.
Simone Zaza gave Valencia the
lead in the fifth minute and Fabian
Orellana added the second in the
ninth. Cristiano Ronaldo headed
Real back into contention just before
halftime.
Real are top on 52 points, one
ahead of Barcelona and three clear
of Sevilla in third, and still have
one game in hand on both of their
title rivals. Real's match at Valencia
was rearranged after the original
fixture was postponed in December
due to the Fifa Club World Cup.
Valencia have endured a nightmare
season filled with dismal results
and upheaval off the pitch,
but they got off to a flying start
when a long pass from goalkeeper
Diego Alves found its way to Zaza,
who swivelled and fired the ball
into the far top corner.
Zaza scored his first goal for his
club in Sunday's 2-0 win over Athletic
Bilbao. He was a thorn in Real's
side, linking up with Nani, Orellana
and Munir El Haddadi. Real
responded with a shot from Toni
Kroos but left themselves exposed
on the break and were another goal
down as Orellana knocked the ball
through Keylor Navas's legs. •
Juventus close in on quarters,
Sevilla edge Leicester
• Reuters, Lisbon
Juventus edged closer to the Champions
League quarter-finals after
second-half goals from substitutes
Marko Pjaca and Dani Alves earned
them a 2-0 away win at 10-man
Porto in a one-sided last 16 first-leg
tie on Wednesday.
Porto's downfall was partly
self-inflicted after left back Alex
Telles received a red card in the
27th minute following two senseless
bookings in the space of 90
seconds, leaving the home side to
play over an hour against the Serie
A leaders with 10 men.
Despite holding Juventus at bay
for 72 minutes, Porto's resolve was
Sports
Leicester City’s Jamie Vardy celebrates scoring against Sevilla during the Champions League Round of 16 first leg at Ramon
Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium on Wednesday
REUTERS
broken when Miguel Layun deflected
Paulo Dybala's pass into the
path of Pjaca who slammed a firsttime
effort past Iker Casillas.
Dani Alves made sure of victory
two minutes later when he controlled
Alex Sandro's cross with his
RESULTS
FC Porto 0-2 Juventus
Pjaca 72, Alves 74
Sevilla 2-1 Leicester City
Sarabia 25, Correa 62 Vardy 73
chest before finishing calmly as Juventus,
who are still in the Italian
Cup, boosted their hopes of a maiden
treble ahead of the second leg in
Turin on March 14.
Juventus were expected to face
a stern test in Portugal, but while
they imposed themselves from the
early stages and controlled the first
half, Porto were content to remain
deep and absorb pressure.
Telles's minute and a half of
madness quashed any lingering
Porto ambition and prompted
coach Nuno Espirito Santo to
withdraw striker Andre Silva in
response.
Meanwhile, Jamie Vardy scored
his first goal in the Champions
League to give Leicester City some
hope of staying in Europe's elite
competition despite a 2-1 loss to
Sevilla in Wednesday's last-16 first
leg. •
21
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2017
Mkhitaryan
secures United
progress
• AFP, Saint-Étienne
EUROPA LEAGUE
DT
Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored but
was then forced off with a hamstring
injury as Manchester United
cruised into the Europa League last
16 with a 1-0 win at St Etienne on
Wednesday.
That completed a 4-0 aggregate
victory in the last 32 tie, although
United finished the match with 10
men after Eric Bailly was dismissed
for two yellow cards.
Despite leading 3-0 from the
first leg at Old Trafford last week,
Mourinho showed how highly he
values success in this competition
by picking a strong starting line-up.
Former Sweden striker Zlatan
Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba were
restored to the starting line-up after
making a decisive contribution
off the bench against Blackburn in
the FA Cup.
There was none of the early
match defensive jitters from United
that had brought a rebuke from
Mourinho following the first leg in
which he accused his players of not
having been focussed enough. •
Saint-Etienne 0-1 Man United
Mkhitaryan 16
(United won 4-0 on aggregate)
Schalke 1-1 PAOK
Schopf 23
Nastasic 25-og
Schalke won 4-1 on aggregate
Fenerbahce 1-1 Krasnodar
Souza 41 Smolov 7
(Krasnodar won 2-1 on aggregate)