189@80330 ARAT 06-05-2021 p16-3 - ARAB TIMES

Seattle Mariners closing pitcher Robert Dugger throws against the Baltimore Orioles during the ninth inning of a baseball game in Seattle. The Mariners won 5-2. (AP)

? See Page 14

ARAB TIMES, THURSDAY, MAY 6, 2021

16

Sports

Latest sports scores at --

Man City reach first CL final

PSG out

MANCHESTER, England, May 5, (AP): By the time Riyad Mahrez completed the counterattack that sealed Manchester City's spot in a first Champions League final, it looked so effortless overcoming a Paris Saint-Germain lineup that lost their cool and composure.

"Then they lost their nerve and started to kick us and it was good," Mahrez said.

It was the Paris-born winger who netted twice before PSG had Angel Di Maria sent off. City won 2-0 to eliminate last season's finalists 4-1 on aggregate on Tuesday.

SOCCER

"They had the red card," Mahrez said, "and after, it was more comfortable for us." It's been anything but comfortable for City getting a shot at lifting European football's top prize for the first time despite 13 years of lavish investment. Even reaching this semifinal required a fight in court to overturn a ban from this season's Champions League for breaching UEFA's financial rules.

And they are only two weeks since the Abu Dhabi-owned team exposed themselves to fresh sanctions for joining a brief, ill-fated bid to split to help form a breakaway European Super League.

Now City could win the competition they tried to leave .

"Of course, we've invested money in the last decade since Sheikh Mansour took over the club, but it's not just about this," City manager Pep Guardiola said. "If you want to think it's just about money, it's OK. But

PSG's Neymar, (left), challenges Manchester City's Fernandinho during the Champions League semifinal second leg soccer match between Manchester City and Paris Saint Germain at the Etihad stadium, in Manchester. (AP)

there is a lot of incredible things behind the scenes." It's not just City that have endured frustration in their quest to win the biggest prize in European football. Guardiola, a Champions League winner as

Barcelona coach in 2009 and 2011, has been waiting a decade to return to the final. He fell short three times with Bayern Munich and has taken until his fifth season at City to even reach the semifinals.

"To reach the Champions league final is so difficult," Guardiola said. "It's the toughest one, but we did it." City is now accustomed to success ? sitting on the brink of its third Premier League title in four seasons after

already collecting the League Cup last month. But its only continental title came with the now-defunct European Cup Winners' Cup in 1970.

"This club needed the final, these players needed the final," City defender Kyle Walker said. "For these players to

not be in a Champions League final is a disappointment every year." PSG missed out on a second shot at lifting a first European Cup after losing last season's final to Bayern Munich, and Mauricio Pochettino's lineup are even struggling to defend the French title.

Mavs move up to No. 5 spot in West

Bucks clinch playoff spot

MILWAUKEE, May 5, (AP): Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 36 points and the Milwaukee Bucks used a fourth-quarter rally to beat the Brooklyn Nets for the second time in three days, winning 124-118 on Tuesday night.

Milwaukee blew a 10-point lead in the second half and trailed 103-97 with 10 minutes left, but it responded with an 18-1 run to clinch a fifth straight playoff appearance.

Brooklyn cut the margin to four with 1:02 left, but Antetokounmpo sank a pair of free throws and Jrue Holiday made a steal in the final minute to seal the victory.

Kyrie Irving scored 38 points for the Nets, and Kevin Durant had 32.

Khris Middleton and Holiday each had 23 points for Milwaukee. Antetokounmpo also grabbed 12 rebounds, and Donte DiVincenzo finished with 10 points and 15 boards.

The Bucks' fourth-quarter comeback followed their 117-114 Sunday afternoon victory over the Nets, also in Milwaukee. Antetokounmpo scored 49 points in that one as the Bucks withstood Durant's 42-point performance.

The Nets lost their third straight for the second time this season. Brooklyn also lost three in a row from Feb. 5-9, but followed that up by reeling off eight consecutive victories for its longest winning streak of the season.

Brooklyn (43-23) fell 1? games behind Philadelphia (44-21) in the race for the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Milwaukee

(41-24) is third in the East, three behind Philadelphia and 1? behind Brooklyn.

The Bucks own a 5-1 combined record against Brooklyn and Philadelphia. The Bucks went 4-0 against those teams over the last two weeks, though all four of those games were in Milwaukee.

Milwaukee swept its three regularseason games with Philadelphia, which wasn't at full strength for any of those matchups. During this two-game miniseries with Milwaukee, the Nets had Durant and Irving in the lineup but were missing James Harden, who hasn't played since April 5 due to a right hamstring strain.

BASKETBALL

Durant, Harden and Irving have played together for the Nets in just seven games this season.

Mavericks 127, Heat 113 In Miami, Tim Hardaway Jr. spent many nights as a kid shooting on the Miami Heat court, a perk that came with his father being a star guard for the team. Clearly, it still feels like home. Hardaway Jr. made 10 3-pointers and scored 36 points, Luka Doncic added 23 points and the Dallas Mavericks moved up to the No. 5 spot in the Western Conference by topping the short-handed Heat 127-113 . Hardaway Jr., back in an arena where his father Tim Hardaway's jer-

Dallas Mavericks forward Tim Hardaway Jr (11) drives up against Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo (13) during the first half of an NBA basketball

game in Miami. (AP)

sey sways from the rafters as a Heat legend, shot 13 of 24 from the field, 10 of 18 from 3-point land.

Doncic had 12 rebounds and eight assists for the Mavericks, Jalen Brunson scored 19 points and Josh Richardson scored 17 for Dallas (3728). The Mavs are tied with the Los Angeles Lakers record-wise, but hold the tiebreaker.

Hardaway Jr. tied the Mavericks record for 3's in a game, plus became the third player to ever make that many in a game against Miami.

Duncan Robinson and Goran Dragic each scored 19 for Miami, which remained No. 6 in the Eastern Conference. The Heat played without Jimmy Butler, ruled out about two hours before the game with flu-like symptoms - not anything related to the coronavirus, the team said.

Hornets 102, Pistons 99 In Detroit, LaMelo Ball scored 23 points, including two free throws with 5.8 seconds left, and the Charlotte Hornets took another step toward the postseason with a 102-99 victory over the Detroit Pistons . Detroit trailed by two when rookie Killian Hayes was fouled with 9.4 seconds remaining, but he made just one of two free throws. Ball made his free throws at the other end, and Hayes missed a last-second 3-pointer. Hamidou Diallo scored a careerhigh 35 points for Detroit. The Hornets are in eighth place in the Eastern Conference and are in solid shape to make it at least to the play-in round. They are two games behind seventh-place Boston. Charlotte was without Miles Bridges, who was out because of health and safety protocols.

Kings 103, Thunder 99 In Oklahoma City, Buddy Hield had 18 points and 11 rebounds to help the Sacramento Kings beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 103-99 for their third straight win. It was the seventh double-double of Hield's five-year career. He made just 5 of 16 shots, but he fell one rebound short of his career high. Terence Davis scored 18 points and Delon Wright had 13 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists for the Kings, who have won six of nine and still hope to qualify for the play-in tournament by reaching the No. 10 spot in the Western Conference standings. Sacramento began the night four games behind San Antonio for 10th place. The Kings have seven games remaining.

Phoenix Suns' Mikal Bridges (25) shoots over Cleveland Cavaliers' Dean Wade (32) in the first half of an NBA basketball game in

Cleveland. (AP)

NBA Results/Standings

WASHINGTON, May 5, (AP): NBA

results and standings on Tuesday.

Phoenix 134 Cleveland OT 118

Charlotte 102 Detroit

99

Milwaukee 124 Brooklyn

118

Dallas

127 Miami

113

New Orleans 108 Golden State 103

Sacramento 103 Oklahoma City 99

LA Clippers 105 Toronto

100

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division

W L Pct GB

x-Philadelphia 44 21 .677

-

x-Brooklyn

43 23 .652 1-1/2

New York

37 28 .569

7

Boston

34 31 .523 10

Toronto

27 39 .409 17-1/2

Southeast Division

W L Pct GB

Atlanta

36 30 .545

-

Miami

35 31 .530

1

Charlotte

32 33 .492 3-1/2

Washington 30 35 .462 5-1/2

Orlando

21 44 .323 14-1/2

Central Division

W L Pct GB

x-Milwaukee 41 24 .631

-

Indiana

30 34 .469 10-1/2

Chicago

26 39 .400 15

Cleveland

21 44 .323 20

Detroit

19 47 .288 22-1/2

Western Conference

Southwest Division

W L Pct GB

Dallas

37 28 .569

-

Memphis

32 32 .500 4-1/2

San Antonio 31 33 .484 5-1/2

New Orleans 30 36 .455 7-1/2

Houston

16 49 .246 21

Northwest Division

W L Pct GB

x-Utah

47 18 .723

-

x-Denver

43 22 .662

4

Portland

36 29 .554 11

Oklahoma City 21 45 .318 26-1/2

Minnesota

20 45 .308 27

Pacific Division

W L Pct GB

x-Phoenix

47 18 .723

-

x-LA Clippers 44 22 .667 3-1/2

LA Lakers

37 28 .569 10

Golden State 33 33 .500 14-1/2

Sacramento 28 37 .431 19

x denotes clinched playoff spot

Manchester City's Riyad Mahrez scores their side's second goal of the game against Paris Saint-Germain during the Champions League semifinal second leg soccer match at the Etihad Stadium, Manchester, England.

(AP)

FIFA president gets legal win

Only home fans allowed

for final 2 rounds in EPL

LONDON, May 5, (AP): Only home

fans will be allowed into games when

the Premier League welcomes back

spectators to stadiums for the final two

rounds of the season.

Supporters will return in a reduced

capacity from

May 17, subject

to the British

government eas-

ing lockdown

restrictions as

planned, and the

Premier League

has rearranged

its schedule to

ensure each of

its 20 teams plays at least

Lehmann

one game at

home in front of fans.

The league said away supporters

would not get tickets for those matches

"due to varying operational challeng-

es" and to maximize the opportunity

for home fans to attend.

"This marks a key step towards full

stadiums, including away fans, from

the start of the 2021-22 season," the

league said in a statement.

In a big legal win for FIFA president Gianni Infantino, a special prosecutor investigating his meetings with Switzerland's former attorney general has been removed from the case, a federal court said .

The Swiss federal criminal court said it upheld a complaint by Infantino to have prosecutor Stefan Keller recused from his investigation. It did not shut down the investigation.

Former Germany goalkeeper Jens Lehmann was removed from Bundesliga club Hertha Berlin's supervisory board on Wednesday after sending a message to a Black former player that suggested he was only working as a TV commentator because of his race.

SOCCER

Dennis Aogo published a screenshot of Lehmann's WhatsApp message asking whether Aogo was "actually your quota Black person." Aogo, a former Germany player, was working for broadcaster Sky covering the Champions League semifinal game between Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday.

The African soccer confederation under new president Patrice Motsepe has banned 20 of its 54 member countries from using their stadiums to host international games because they don't meet "minimum requirements" in a move that potentially throws next month's World Cup qualifiers into disarray.

THE FIRST ENGLISH LANGUAGE DAILY IN FREE KUWAIT

Published by: Arab Times Publishing House

Editor-in-Chief

Editorial Office:

Telephone: 24813566 & 24849144

Advertising: Tel: 55633481

Annual Subscriptions:

AHMED AL JARALLAH

Airport Road, Shuwaikh P.O. Box 2270, 13023 Safat, Kuwait

Fax: 24818267 E-mail: arabtimes@

Fax: 24911307 E-mail: advt@

Individuals KD 45/- Companies and Official Departments KD 75 Airmail charges extra for overseas

Tel: 24849144 Fax: 24839487

 ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download