Madrid, May 13 (IANS) There is no rest in La Liga as the end of the season approaches with a round of midweek matches which will have an important say in who finishes second and who is relegated along with Almeria and Granada. Girona’s home game against Villarreal sees the two top scorers in La Liga go head-to-head, with Girona’s attack led by Ukrainian striker Artem Dovbyk, who has 20 goals, facing Villarreal’s 19-goal Alexander Sorloth, who goes into the game after scoring a late winner at home to Sevilla.

Girona have the advantage of 24 hours extra rest after their 2-2 draw away to Alaves on Friday and the game could see them strengthen their grip on second, depending on FC Barcelona’s result at home to Real Sociedad on Monday.

Mallorca’s win at home to Las Palmas keeps them six points clear of the relegation zone with just nine points left to play. A win away to Osasuna would assure their survival for another year, given their better head-to-head goal difference with 18th-placed Cadiz, reports Xinhua.

Real Madrid will share the 36th league title of their history with their supporters ahead of their match at home to Alaves.

Carlo Ancelotti can be expected to make further rotations to his starting 11, while Alaves travel to Madrid after a successful return to the top-flight sees them comfortable and safe in mid-table. The relegation battle will also be in the spotlight on Wednesday when Rayo Vallecano play at home to Granada, while Celta entertain Athletic Club Bilbao and Cadiz have a difficult but must-win visit to Sevilla.

–IANS

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Kolkata, May 13 (IANS) Defending champions Kerala’s quest for retaining the Rajmata Jijabai Trophy at the Senior Women’s National Football Championship came to an end against record 21-time champions, Manipur, here on Monday.

The highly awaited game between the two title favourites took place at the AIFF National Centre of Excellence in Kolkata on Monday. It proved to be a solid outing for Manipur who came into the game on the back of a surprising defeat against Haryana, which saw them finish second in their group.

It was the pace of Dangmei Grace that helped the team break the deadlock in the 35th minute. Right back, Kritina Devi hoofed the ball up the field and Grace used her pace to get to the ball and curl in a cross which was met by a towering header from Sibani Devi to give Manipur the lead.

The first goal left the Kerala defense scrambling as Manipur capitalised on the nerves of the defending champions to double their advantage moments before the half-time whistle. It was once again the star of the game, Dangmei Grace who carved open the right flank with her dashing run and it seemed the defense had no answer. Grace cut the ball into the danger zone with Bala Devi lurking to latch the ball into the back of the net to make it 2-0 in the 45th minute.

The second goal was fatal for the Kerala team as the damage done in the first half was too much to overcome in the second 45 minutes and they booked their place in the final where they will be aiming to lift the trophy for the 22nd time. Manipur will be awaiting the conclusion of the second semifinal between Bengal & Haryana to see who they will be facing in the final on Wednesday.

–IANS

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New Delhi, May 13 (IANS) As holders Manchester City gear up to take on Tottenham Hotspur before turning their attention to West Ham, who they are set to play on Sunday in the final game of the season. West Ham manager David Moyes gave a cheeky take on his team’s chances against City.

Although Arsenal are currently sitting on the top of the Premier League, City have a game in hand which means if both sides are to win their respective remaining games, it will be the Pep Guardiola’s side that will lift the trophy by two points.

“It’d be difficult to stop their Under-14’s from winning the title I think. I’ve said to the players that we will go out and be professional and we’ll do the best we can,” said David Moyes to Sky Sports.

The game against Manchester City will be David Moyes’ last game in charge of the Hammers after the club and the manager decided to part ways this summer. This will not be what Arsenal fans would’ve liked to hear given their only other hope is fellow north London rivals, Tottenham Hotspur, who will host City on May 14 (May 15 as per IST).

A lot of Tottenham’s performance in the game will rely on the result of Liverpool vs Aston Villa as a latter’s loss could result in Tottenham making a late charge for the final UEFA Champions League spot.

If Villa are to win their game, that would confirm Spurs’ elimination from the top four race. It is highly unlikely that Tottenham would want Arsenal to win the league over Manchester City with the two sides having been sworn rivals since Arsenal’s move to North London.

Arsenal defeated Manchester United 0-1 at Old Trafford on Sunday, a stadium where they have heavily struggled in the past. It was the brilliant run by Kai Haverts who squared the ball to Leandro Trossard, who in turn put the ball in the back of the net in the 20th minute to score the only goal of the game to keep the Gunners in the title race.

–IANS

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New Delhi, May 13 (IANS) Another Indian Premier League (IPL) season passes by as the Punjab Kings’ 10-year playoff drought carries on. Tom Moody, the first head coach of the PBKS (formerly known as Kings XI Punjab) blames the team’s struggles on its “inconsistency in leadership”.

These comments stem from the fact that the franchise has appointed 15 different captains in 17 seasons of the IPL.

“I think it is a pretty good indication of why they have their struggles. They have many changes with regards to leadership whether it be on field or off field. There seems to always be that inconsistency when it comes to what direction their leadership is taking both on and off the field. Therefore that inconsistency is naturally going to flow into what happens on the field,” Moody, cricket expert and commentator with official TV broadcaster Star Sports for IPL 2024, told IANS in an exclusive chat.

Moody was the coach during Punjab’s first ever trip to the playoffs in 2008 where they lost in the semifinals against the Chennai Super Kings. He then went on to be the man at the helm for the Sunrisers Hyderabad for 7 seven consecutive seasons from 2013 to 2019 in what can only be considered as a very successful tenure which included five playoff appearances and the title in 2016.

The 58-year-old went on to applaud the youngsters making a name for themselves in the IPL saying that “the future is very bright”. Moody further spoke on how impressed he is with youngsters Riyan Parag and Abhishek Porel in the ongoing edition of the IPL.

“The future is very bright, the IPL always uncovers many domestic players showcase their talents. We’ve seen many grow as the seasons unfold and a good example of that is Riyan Parag at Rajasthan. He has been in the IPL for a number of years, he is still a young player but this year has been a breakout season for him and it sort of put his name on the radar as a future potential Indian player.

“Another example of that is (Abhishek) Porel from the Delhi Capitals, he is another one that has had a really good season. It is great to have a platform like this where not only Indian players but overseas players can showcase their skills in the best T20 tournament in the world,” he signed off.

–IANS

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New Delhi, May 13 (IANS) Both Delhi Capitals and Lucknow Super Giants find themselves on the same boat – having 12 points each in the standings and net run rate in negative. With their playoffs hopes on a sticky wicket, both DC and LSG meet at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Tuesday with an eye to get those two crucial points and keep themselves in contention for a knockouts spot.

LSG will be back in IPL action after a five-day break post a ten-wicket drubbing at the hands of Sunrisers Hyderabad. All the talk from the LSG batters’ inept performance barring 55 not out and an unbeaten 48 from Ayush Badoni and Nicholas Pooran respectively, and the inability of their bowlers to stop a marauding Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma was taken away by team owner Sanjiv Goenka’s dressing down to captain KL Rahul in full public view.

With Goenka being extensively criticised for his conduct towards Rahul and the majority holding a view that such talks should be held privately, it will now be apt for the LSG skipper to draw everyone’s attention by coming out all guns blazing with a coherent performance in all departments to boost their playoffs chances.

For starters, Rahul and Quinton De Kock need to fire in power-play and support the big-hitting acts of Marcus Stoinis, Pooran and Badoni, who knows the venue well due to it being his home ground in domestic cricket circuit.

Without tearaway pacer Mayank Yadav and left-arm fast-bowler Mohsin Khan, LSG look light on the pace-bowling front, which means Yash Thakur and Naveen-ul-Haq have to step up alongside spinners Krunal Pandya and Ravi Bishnoi.

On the other hand, Delhi Capitals are as desperate as LSG to get those two points after a 47-run loss to the Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday gave a hammer blow to their playoffs hopes, with their net run rate down to -0.482.

Even if they beat LSG in their final league game by a big margin on Tuesday, DC would require other games results to swing their way, which means their playoffs hopes are hanging by a slim thread.

The franchise dearly missed its designated captain Rishabh Pant in Sunday’s game due to a slow-over rate suspension, with Axar Patel taking up the leadership mantle and getting a fighting fifty in the process.

But DC would also be ruing over the four dropped catches as well as losing four wickets in power-play to be bowled out for 140, their lowest total in IPL 2024. What should come as a boosting factor for them is that they have won at their home venue whenever they posted above 200 while batting first.

Apart from Pant, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Abishek Porel and Tristan Stubbs have been DC’s chief run-makers. With the ball, Khaleel Ahmed, Rasikh Salam, Mukesh Kumar, Axar and Kuldeep Yadav hold the key for Delhi’s success at a venue where run-fests have been the norm.

Overall, it promises to be a tantalising clash at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, where both teams would be aiming to put their best foot forward, with an eye to give themselves the best and last possible chance of entering the playoffs.

Squads

Delhi Capitals: Rishabh Pant (c), Prithvi Shaw, David Warner, Kuldeep Yadav, Khaleel Ahmed, Axar Patel, Mukesh Kumar, Mitchell Marsh, Anrich Nortje, Pravin Dubey, Vicky Ostwal, Abishek Porel, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Lalit Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Yash Dhull, Tristan Stubbs, Ricky Bhui, Kumar Kushagra, Rasikh Dar, Jhye Richardson, Sumit Kumar, Shai Hope, Lizaad Williams, Swastik Chhikara and Gulbadin Naib.

Lucknow Super Giants: KL Rahul (c), Quinton de Kock, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Marcus Stoinis, Deepak Hooda, Ravi Bishnoi, Naveen-ul-Haq, Krunal Pandya, Kyle Mayers, Devdutt Padikkal, Yudhvir Singh, Prerak Mankad, Yash Thakur, Amit Mishra, Shamar Joseph, Mayank Yadav, Mohsin Khan, K. Gowtham, Arshin Kulkarni, Manimaran Siddharth, Ashton Turner, Matt Henry, and Arshad Khan.

Match starts at 7:30pm on Star Sports (TV) and JioCinema (Digital).

–IANS

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