BUNDESLIGA
Kane scores yet again
Harry Kane on Friday scored yet again to lead Bayern Munich to the top of the table with a 1-0 win against Cologne. No other player has ever scored 18 goals in the first 12 rounds of the Bundesliga, while Kane also became the first English player to reach 18 goals in a single Bundesliga season, overtaking the 17 scored by Jadon Sancho for Borussia Dortmund (2019-2020) and Kevin Keegan for Hamburger SV (1978-1979).
Photo: Reuters
LA LIGA
Alaves get rare win
Deportivo Alaves on Friday got just the second win in their past 10 league games, with forwards Samu Omorodion and Abde Rebbach playing starring roles in a 3-1 triumph at home against Granada. “We knew this was an important game and we’ve played brilliantly, both the 11 starters and the subs as well,” Omorodion told broadcaster Movistar. Granada scored a consolation goal in the 86th minute via a Myrto Uzuni penalty.
LIGUE 1
Dembele stunner lifts PSG
Ousmane Dembele on Friday scored his first Paris Saint-Germain goal in stunning fashion as the reigning champions crushed AS Monaco 5-2 to cement their lead at the top of the table. With 70 minutes gone and the score 3-1, Dembele showed great agility to control a quickly-taken free-kick sent over the top by Ruiz and then advanced into the box to finish emphatically past Philipp Koehn.
INTERNATIONAL
Hernandez backs revamp
A revamped calendar with a single international break could resolve travel time and injury issues faced by many players, Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez said on Friday. A high load of matches between clubs and national teams has caused many injuries, Xavi told reporters. “I think FIFA are already considering it ... one of the solutions would be nine months in the club and two months in the national team, and from there a month of vacation,” he said. “This way at least so many trips would be avoided.”
PREMIER LEAGUE
Pilots advise VAR officials
British Airways pilots have been enlisted to help improve the communication of league officials during Video Assistant Referee (VAR) reviews, the Times reported on Friday. In a presentation to top-flight officials, pilots Chris Heaven and Pete Nataraj stressed the need for clarity and accuracy in communication, with minimal syllables and no informal language, the newspaper reported. The 45-minute presentation addressed the similarity of the roles of pilot and referee, and the importance of filtering out the white noise to focus with complete clarity. A full review of VAR procedures was ordered after Liverpool’s Luis Diaz had a goal wrongly disallowed in a 2-1 loss to Tottenham Hotspur in September after miscommunication between VAR officials and the on-field referee. The audio of the incident was met with severe criticism of the decisionmaking process and the language used, with the officials using phrases such as “well done boys” and “cheers, mate.”
“Please love us. Please cheer us on. We have been working hard. Do not give up on us.” Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien’s heartfelt plea echoed across the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s (WBSC) Premier12 tournament after a historic victory. Rather than boasting, Chen was making an earnest appeal after leading Taiwan to a 4-0 victory over Japan to claim their first major international baseball title at the senior level. Chen’s decisive three-run homer in the fifth inning and his Premier12 leading .632 batting average secured him the Premier12’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) title. He was also named one of the tournament’s outstanding defensive players
WELL-AGED: Although the youngest team in the tournament, Taiwan featured several veteran stars, including Sunday’s home-run hero Chen Chieh-hsien “I will never forget today,” veteran Taiwanese pitcher Chen Kuan-yu said after Taiwan on Sunday night blanked Japan to secure their first ever gold in the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s (WBSC) Premier12 championship. Chen, who at 34 is the oldest member on the team, said Taiwan “made every difficult step to come to today’s victory. I will never forget today.” Taiwan made history when they won their first gold medal of the Premier12 tournament, beating Japan in a 4-0 shutout victory in the final at the Tokyo Dome. It was a jaw-dropping victory for many baseball commentators who went into the game with
Nikola Jokic on Saturday scored 34 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to spark the Denver Nuggets over the Los Angeles Lakers 127-102, continuing their dominance of the NBA rivalry, while Scotty Pippen Jr scored a career-best 30 points to lead the Memphis Grizzlies past the Chicago Bulls, 142-131. The Nuggets won for the 13th time in the past 14 contests against the Lakers, including ousting the Lakers in the playoffs the past two seasons. Serbian star Jokic failed to achieve his sixth consecutive triple-double, managing only eight assists, but his effort was plenty as Michael Porter Jr added 24 points and 11
Major League Baseball (MLB) star Shohei Ohtani wants his former interpreter to hand over hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of baseball cards he says were fraudulently bought using his money. The Los Angeles Dodgers star is also requesting Ippei Mizuhara, who previously pleaded guilty to bank and tax fraud for stealing nearly US$17 million from the unsuspecting athlete, return signed collectible baseball cards depicting Ohtani that were in Mizuhara’s “unauthorized and wrongful possession,” court documents filed on Tuesday said. The legal filing alleges Mizuhara accessed Ohtani’s bank account beginning in about November 2021, changing his security protocols so that he
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