13-05-2022

FRIdAY, MAY 13, 2022
9
Atletico Madrid secured qualification for the Champions League on Wednesday as a 2-0 victory away
at Elche guaranteed their place in La Liga's top four.
Photo : Internet
Atletico seal Champions League qualification
after win over Elche
MADRID : Atletico Madrid secured
qualification for the Champions
League on Wednesday as a 2-0
victory away at Elche guaranteed
their place in La Liga's top four.
Matheus Cunha and Rodrigo De
Paul were both on target as Atletico
pulled six points clear of Real Betis
in fifth, with two games left to play.
Atletico also have the superior headto-head
record over Betis.
Sevilla, though, failed to make sure
of their top-four spot as the team's
poor end to the season had earlier
continued with a goalless draw at
home to struggling Mallorca.
Atletico look likely now to finish
third and although the defence of
their league title has been hugely
disappointing - they are 14 points
behind Real Madrid - Diego
Simeone's side have at least avoided
missing out on the Champions
League, which for a while seemed a
very real possibility.
"I'm happy for the players," said
Simeone. "It's been an up and down
season, with a Champions League
when we competed very well and a
La Liga where we haven't been able
to maintain our consistency.
"It's not what we imagined but we
have achieved the objective - the
Champions League for another year,
which is very important for the
club."
In December, Atletico lost four
league games in a row for the first
time ever under Simeone, before
defeat by Levante, who sat bottom of
the table, prompted crisis talks
between coach and players in
February.
But five consecutive victories in
March proved crucial and while
there has been another dip in recent
weeks, Atletico have done just
enough to seal Champions League
qualification for a 10th consecutive
year.
Cunha gave Atleti the lead in the
28th minute as Antoine Griezmann
picked out Renan Lodi's run down
the left and Cunha was in the right
place to divert in the cross to the
near post.
The visitors made it two shortly after
the hour, De Paul finishing off a
superb move after a slick exchange
with Lodi, who had again broken
through the Elche defence.
Atletico play at home on Sunday to
Sevilla, whose stalemate against
Mallorca at the Ramon Sanchez
Pizjuan should only delay their
qualification given they sit five
points clear of Betis, with two games
left to play.
Sevilla will need only one more point
to guarantee they finish ahead of
Betis, as they also have the better
head-to-head with their city rivals.
But Julen Lopetegui's side do have
two tricky last games, with Sunday's
trip to the Wanda Metropolitano
coming before a final match at home
to Athletic Bilbao.
And even if they get over the line,
Sevilla are ending what was once a
promising campaign with a
whimper, after just three wins now
in their last 12 in all competitions.
There were whistles from the home
fans while Mallorca were hardly
satisfied with a draw either. They
stay 18th, two points adrift of safety,
with Cadiz ahead of them playing a
game in hand away at Real Sociedad
on Thursday.
Sevilla had the better chances
overall but Mallorca were far from
overwhelmed and could have taken
the lead on the break when Vedat
Muriqi's header had to be clawed
away by Bono.
Anthony Martial went close for
Sevilla in the second half but their
best chance came in injury-time as
Youssef En-Nesyri connected well
with a header, only for Mallorca
goalkeeper Manolo Reina to make
an excellent save.
Bangladesh
hockey team
emerge group
champions
Agrani Bank Limited
SC notch win in BCL
DHAKA : Agrani Bank
Limited Sporting Club, came
from behind, beat
Fakirerpool Young Men's
Club by 3-2 goals in the
Bashundhara
Group
Bangladesh Championship
League (BCL) held on
Wednesday at Birshreshtha
Shaheed Sepoy Mohammad
Mostafa Kamal Stadium in
the city's Kamalapur.
In the day's match, Musa
put Fakirerpool ahead in the
15th minute while Sabbir
restored the parity for
Agrani Bank in the 37th
minute of the match.
After the breather,
Fakirerpool again took the
lead when Shanto scored the
second goal in the 80th
minute of the match.
Shanto of Fakirerpool
however made the hara-kiri
as he scored a suicidal goal
in the dying moment of the
match.
Bangladesh win
three silver medals,
one bronze last day
DHAKA : Bangladesh archery
team failed to fulfill the
expectation as the archers
won three more silver and one
bronze medal on the fourth
and last day of the Asia Cup
World Ranking tournament
stage-2 that concluded on
Wednesday in Sulaymaniyah,
Iraq. In the day's recurve
women's team event,
Bangladesh archery team
featuring Nasrin Akter, Diya
Siddique and Beauty Roy won
silver after losing to superior
India by 4-5 set points in the
final.
While in the recurve men's
team event, Bangladesh
archery team featuring
Ruman Sana, Mohammad
Hakim Ahmed Rubel and
Abdur Rahman Alif secured
silver after losing to India by 1-
5 set points in the final.
In the recure men's
individual event, ace archer
Ruman Sana failed to fulfill
the expectation as he lost to his
Indian rival Mrinal Chouhan
by 2-6 sets points in the final
and had to content with silver.
While in the women's
individual event, promising
archer Diya Siddique won
bronze medal after beating
her compatriot Beauty Roy by
7-1 set points in the bronze
deciding match.
Haaland will make Man City even
more prolific, says Guardiola
WOLVERHAMPTON : Erling Haaland's
arrival at Manchester City will make the
English champions an even more ruthless
attacking force, said Pep Guardiola after
seeing his side thrash Wolves 5-1 on
Wednesday.
Haaland's o51 million ($63 million, 60
million euro) signing ends City's search for a
recognised striker to replace the departed
Sergio Aguero.
However, there was little need for a
forward at Molineux as Kevin De Bruyne
scored four goals, including a hat-trick inside
24 minutes.
Raheem Sterling rounded off the scoring
as City took their tally in the last five Premier
League games to 22 goals.
Guardiola, though, was still not satisfied by
a number of missed chances with goal
difference potentially still a decisive factor in
the title race.
City are three points clear of Liverpool at
the top of the table and seven goals better off
with two games to go.
"Definitely he could help us score more,"
said Guardiola when asked how many his
side would have scored with Haaland up
front.
"Big congratulations to the club. It
is a signing for the next years. We are
very pleased he decided to come to
join us.
"Next season we will work together, we will
help him to settle quickly in Manchester. I'm
sure he is going to adapt quickly to the way
we want to play."
Erling Haaland's arrival at Manchester City will make the English champions
an even more ruthless attacking force, said Pep Guardiola after seeing his side
thrash Wolves 5-1 on Wednesday.
Photo : Internet
We want to bring maiden Olympic medal for
Bangladesh through gymnastics: Mamun
DHAKA : Bangladesh Gymnastics
Federation's (BGF) president Sheikh
Bashir Ahmed Mamun was one of those
85 sports personalities who received
prestigious national sports award.
In presence (virtual) of Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina those 85 sports
personalities received the award for their
outstanding contribution in country's
sports.
Mamun, a dedicated sports organizer
was over the moon after receiving
highest title of the sports, stating that he
is happy and proud of what he had
achieved.
Although Mamun started his national
level career as a cricket organizer, he
later took charge of the BGF. He is
currently serving the federation as its
president. He is also acting as the vice
president of the Bangladesh Olympic
Association (BOA).
In an exclusive interview with BSS,
Mamun expressed his determination to
bring the first Olympic medal for
Bangladesh through gymnastics.
As expected Bangladesh national hockey team emerged Pool B champions
in the Asian Games qualifier when the edged past Singapore by a solitary
goal held on Thursday in Bangkok, Thailand.
Photo : Internet
GD-890/22 (6 x 3)
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DHAKA : As expected
Bangladesh national hockey
team emerged Pool B
champions in the Asian
Games qualifier when the
edged past Singapore by a
solitary goal held on
Thursday in Bangkok,
Thailand.
In the day's match,
Rakibul Hasan scored the
all-important goal for
Bangladesh hockey team,
who earlier confirmed their
spot of semifinal beating Sri
Lanka in their second
match. Bangladesh took the
lead in the second quarter
through a field goal and the
boys in red and green
maintained it till the final
whistle.
Singapore, however,
created some scoring
opportunities but failed to
convert any of those into
goal.
Earlier, Bangladesh got off
to a winning start in the
tournament as they beat
Indonesia by 3-1 goals in
their pool B opening match
and confirmed their Asian
Games participation after
defeating Sri Lanka also by
the same identical margin in
the tournament's second
match.
Bangladesh hockey team:
Biplob Kujur, Abu Sayeed
Nippon, Khorshedur
Rahman, Farhd Ahmed
Shitul, Ashraful Islam,
Sohanur Rahman Sabuz,
Mehedi Hasan, Rezaul
Karim Babu, Sarwar
Hossain, Roman Sarkar,
Naim Uddin, Fazle Hossain
Rabbi, Prince Lal Samanta,
Rasel Mahmud Jimmy,
Milon Hossain, Rakibul
Hasan, Arshad Hossain and
Pushkor Khisha Mimo.
GD-885/22 (8 X 4)