Germany winger Piotr Trochowski scored his second consecutive goal of the week as Hamburg went back to the top of the Bundesliga with a 1-1 draw at home to Schalke 04 on Sunday.
Hoffenheim had briefly knocked Hamburg from top spot on Saturday with a 5-2 win over Hanover, but Hamburg’s draw with Schalke gave Martin Jol’s side the single point needed to go top.
“We are back at the top again, which is pleasing, but with a bit of luck we could have won the game,” Jol said. “It would have been easier if we had scored two goals in the first half and taken our chances. After the break we couldn’t exert any pressure on Schalke, that is something I am not happy about and is something we need to work on.”
PHOTO: AP
Fresh from scoring the winner in Germany’s 1-0 win over Wales in their World Cup qualifier in midweek, Trochowski used his deadly right foot to great effect again when he fired home on 29 minutes. But Schalke 04 leveled just three minutes after the break, when 20-year-old defender Benedikt Hoewedes got on the end of a free-kick from Jefferson Farfan to head past Hamburg goalkeeper Frank Rost.
There was plenty of vocal support from Schalke fans when Royal Blues striker Kevin Kuranyi was substituted on 62 minutes in his first appearance since walking out on Germany the week before during the 2-1 win over Russia.
Hamburg should have taken the lead seconds later when substitute Mladen Petric smashed his shot straight onto the post and could only watch as the ball rebounded to safety.
The draw leaves Hamburg a point clear on 17 points, with Schalke sixth in the table.
German Bundesliga
Team P GD PTS
1 Hamburg 8 3 17
2 TSG Hoffenheim 8 7 16
3 Bayer Leverkusen 8 9 15
4 Hertha Berlin 8 1 14
5 Wolfsburg 8 6 13
6 Schalke 04 8 4 13
7 VfB Stuttgart 8 3 13
8 Borussia Dortmund 8 2 13
9 Cologne 8 -1 13
10 Werder Bremen 8 3 12
11 Bayern Munich 8 3 12
12 Karlsruhe 7 -3 9
13 Hannover 96 8 -7 8
14 VfL Bochum 8 -1 7
15 Arminia Bielefeld 8 -6 6
16 Cottbus 8 -8 5
17 Borussia M’gladbach 8 -9 4
18 Eintracht Frankfurt 7 -6 3
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and partner Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia yesterday advanced to the women’s doubles final at the Australian Open after defeating New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe and Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-3 in their semi-final. Hsieh has won nine Grand Slam doubles titles and has a shot at a 10th tomorrow, when the Latvian-Taiwanese duo are to play Taylor Townsend of the US and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in the championship match at the A$96.5 million (US$61 million) outdoor hard court tournament at Melbourne Park. Townsend and Siniakova eliminated Russian pair Diana Shnaider and Mirra Andreeva 6-7
The San Francisco Giants signed 18-year-old Taiwanese pitcher Yang Nien-hsi (陽念希) to a contract worth a total of US$500,000 (NT $16.39 million). At a press event in Taipei on Wednesday, Jan. 22, the Giants’ Pacific Rim Area scout Evan Hsueh (薛奕煌) presented Yang with a Giants jersey to celebrate the signing. The deal consisted of a contract worth US$450,000 plus a US$50,000 scholarship bonus. Yang, who stands at 188 centimeters tall and weighs 85 kilograms, is of Indigenous Amis descent. With his fastest pitch clocking in at 150 kilometers per hour, Yang had been on Hsueh’s radar since playing in the HuaNan Cup
FINAL WEEK LOOMS: PSG rose to 22nd place to set up another tense challenge against 24th-placed Stuttgart, while Man City require victory against Club Brugge Manchester City are on the brink of a humiliating UEFA Champions League exit after a stunning loss to Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday, while Real Madrid is no longer at risk after routing Salzburg. Man City blew a two-goal lead in a high-stakes clash of super-wealthy underachievers that PSG won 4-2 in Paris, who could still be eliminated alongside the English champions after the final round of games next week. Only the top 24 in the 36-team standings are to advance. Man City, the 2023 champions, are in 25th place, but could squeeze into the knockout playoffs round by beating Club Brugge. “We will
Manchester City have reached do-or-die territory in the UEFA Champions League earlier than expected ahead of what Pep Guardiola has described as a “final” against Club Brugge today. City have disproved the suggestion a new format to Europe’s top club competition would remove any jeopardy for the top clubs as Guardiola stares down the barrel of failing to make the Champions League knockout stages for the first time in his career. The English champions have endured a torrid season both in their English Premier League title defense and on the continent. A run of one win in 13 games, which included Champions League
RSS