DT e-Paper 27 February 2017

Sports
21
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2017
DT
Mandzukic
inspires Juve to
easy Empoli win
• AFP, Milan
Mario Mandzukic overcame a
wasteful first half to inspire Juventus
to a 2-0 home win over Empoli
that edged the Turin giants closer
to a record sixth straight Serie A
title.
Juventus, claiming their 22nd
win in 26 games, moved 10 points
clear of closest challengers Roma
ahead of their visit to Inter Milan
later yesterday.
Napoli remain third but are now
12 points off the pace after a shock
2-0 defeat at home to Atalanta virtually
ended their hopes of challenging
for a long-awaited scudetto.
SERIE A
Napoli 0-2 Atalanta
Caldara 28, 70
Juventus 2-0 Empoli
Skorupski 52-og, Sandro 65
A Roma defeat at the San Siro
would deliver a significant blow to
their scudetto hopes, but Juventus
coach Massimiliano Allegri said
nothing is won yet.
"Absolutely not," he said when
asked if Juve had one hand on the
title. "Roma could be seven points
behind us by tomorrow, we still
have a lot of games to play, Napoli
could get to 90 points and Roma 95.
"We need to win a lot of games
and tonight, against Empoli, wasn't
so simple. It took us until the second
half to break the deadlock."
Juventus are also challenging
for a third consecutive league and
cup double and Allegri underlined
those ambitions by resting several
players for tomorrow’s semi-final
first leg with Napoli.
The 'keeper's gloves went to
Brazilian Norberto Neto after Gianluigi
Buffon was rested, while
Dani Alves and Daniele Rugani
stepped in for veteran defenders
Andrea Barzagli and Giorgio Chiellini,
both on the bench. •
DAY’S WATCH
FOOTBALL
STAR SPORTS SELECT HD 1
2:00 AM
Premier League 2016/17
Leicester City v Liverpool
SONY ESPN
2:00 AM
Serie A TIM 2016/17
Fiorentina v Torino
TENNIS
SONY ESPN
4:00 PM
ATP World Tour 500 2017
Dubai Open Day 1, Session 1
9:00 PM
Dubai Open Day 1, Session 2
Chelsea striker Diego Costa scores their third goal against Swansea during their English Premier League match at Stamford Bridge in London on Saturday
Chelsea's title pedigree key for Conte
• AFP, London
Antonio Conte believes Chelsea's
experience of winning the Premier
League two years ago will prove decisive
as they attempt to maintain
their stranglehold on the title race.
A 3-1 victory over Swansea on
Saturday gave Conte's side an
11-point lead as they head into the
final third of the season, with the
pressure resting firmly on the chasing
pack.
The Premier League trophy
will be heading back to Stamford
Bridge if the Blues avoid any major
slips during the final weeks and
the Chelsea boss is convinced his
players have shown they can hold
their nerve after lifting the trophy
during Jose Mourinho's reign.
"It's not easy to keep the concentration
for the whole championship.
But I have a lot of players
who played and won in the past,"
Conte said.
"They know very well the way
that we must continue to try to
keep at the top of the table, to try
and win the title.
"For this reason, I'm lucky. I'm
lucky to have a lot of players who,
in the past, won a lot.
"If, sometimes, I can see some
of them relaxing, it's right for me
to try and help them be focused for
every moment.
"But honestly, it wasn't necessary
for me to keep the concentration
and focus of the players."
Chelsea appeared in danger of
dropping points when Fernando
Llorente cancelled out Cesc Fabregas's
19th minute opening goal,
but Pedro and Diego Costa scored
in the final 18 minutes to secure
the win.
Conte was pleased with the way
his side stuck to their task and added:
"I have a team that until now
has deserved to stay at the top of
the table. This is right to say now.
"We are playing good football,
with good intensity, scoring a lot of
goals.
"Trust me, I'm very happy above
all for my players. They are deserving
of this. Every day I see them
during the training sessions, the
commitment and behaviour." •
Lewandowski treble lifts Bayern
• AFP, Berlin
Robert Lewandowski netted a hattrick
as Bundesliga leaders Bayern
Munich handed Hamburg an
8-0 thrashing at the Allianz Arena
on Saturday in Carlo Ancelotti's
1000th match as a coach.
Kingsley Coman came off the
bench to score twice while Arturo
Vidal, David Alaba and Arjen Robben
were also on target as Bayern
got back to winning ways after last
weekend's 1-1 draw at Hertha Berlin.
They stay five points clear of second-placed
RB Leipzig, who were
3-1 winners at home to Cologne.
For struggling Hamburg there
was a depressing predictability
about the outcome of their trip to
BUNDESLIGA
Bayern Munich 8-0 Hamburg
Vidal 17, Lewandowski 24-P,
42, 54, Alaba 56, Coman 65,
69, Robben 87
Leverkusen 0-2 Mainz 05
Bell 3, Öztunali 11
SV Darmstadt 98 1-2 FC Augsburg
Heller 47 Verhaegh 55-P, Bobadilla 85
SC Freiburg 0-3 Dortmund
Papastathopoulos 13,
Aubameyang 55, 70
RB Leipzig 3-1 Cologne
Forsberg 5, Maroh 34-og,
Werner 65 Osako 53
Hertha Berlin 2-0 Frankfurt
Ibisevic 52, Daria 83
Chelsea 3-1 Swansea
Fabregas 19, Pedro 72, Costa 84 Llorente 45
Crystal Palace 1-0 Middlesbrough
Van Aanholt 34
Everton 2-0 Sunderland
Gueye 40, Lukaku 80
EPL
AFP
Hull 1-1 Burnley
Huddlestone 72-P Keane 76
Watford 1-1 West Ham
Deeney 3-P Ayew 73
West Brom 2-1 Bournemouth
Dawson 10, McAuley 22 King 5-P
Bavaria - they had conceded 36
goals in losing their previous six
away league meetings with Bayern.
That run included two 5-0 defeats,
a 6-0 loss, one 8-0 drubbing
and a 9-2 humiliation in March
2013. Vidal opened the scoring and a
Lewandowski penalty doubled Bayern's
lead just past the midway point
in the first half, with the Pole making
it 3-0 just before the break after a
Douglas Costa shot had been saved.
Lewandowski completed his
fifth hat-trick since the start of
last season by finishing from a
Robben assist early in the second
half for his 19th league goal of the
campaign. He then combined with
Thomas Mueller to set up Alaba for
the fifth goal. •