Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/248536
51 Sport maltatoday, SUNDAY, 26 JANUARY 2014 FOOTBALL Football results Malta - BOV Premier League Naxxar L. - Balzan ......................... Postp. Tarxien R. - Birkirkara .................... Postp. Golden boy Ronaldo puts Real Madrid top SECONDHALF goals by Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema saw off Granada and fired Real Madrid to the top of the Primera Division for the first time since May 2012. Newly crowned Ballon d'Or winner Ronaldo opened the scoring for the hosts after 57 minutes and then played a part in Benzema's goal, which wrapped up the points 19 minutes later. This was not a vintage performance from Madrid, who were playing their seventh game in January, and they were frustrated for large parts of the game by a tough Granada side who gave them little space to counter-attack until late in the second half. Carlo Ancelotti's side temporarily move two points clear of Atletico Madrid and Barcelona at the league's summit, and although they could be third again by Sunday, the Italian's aim of "going to sleep top of the league" was realised. Before kick-off Ronaldo showed off his glinting Ballon d'Or trophy to the Bernabeu faithful and the former Manchester United man could have given his team the perfect start when he broke free down the left but shot well wide of the far post. Manuel Iturra risked scoring an own goal a short while later as he attempted to clear a deep cross from Dani Carvajal, heading the ball off the crossbar. Gareth Bale hit a wayward shot over the bar, and then right before half-time Ronaldo almost scored a sensational overhead kick but Granada goalkeeper Roberto fisted the ball away. Bale was replaced at half-time by Jese, the Welshman not enjoying the best of afternoons after getting hit in the groin by a tough challenge from Jeison Murillo. Benzema saw a header strike the bar early in the second half, although he had been ruled offside anyway, and Luka Modric, playing in a far more advanced rule than usual, shot over the bar while trying to score a rebound. Ronaldo finally broke the deadlock on 57 minutes, shimmying past two defenders inside the area before blasting into the bottom corner - but Granada's players were furious Modric had not put the ball out of play earlier when Mohamed Fatau went down injured in the middle of the pitch. Ronaldo had an opportunity to double the lead midway through the second half after getting on the end of a through ball by Carvajal, but Roberto was able to block the shot with his thigh. The Portuguese then hit a deflected free-kick off the bar. Although Ronaldo was unable to find a second goal, he will take comfort from the fact it was his flick towards Marcelo which opened up the Granada defence, allowing Benzema to side-foot home when the Brazilian's low cross arrived. Di Maria launched a low shot just wide of the near post before he was substituted, and Isco made his first league appearance in three games, but was unable to add to the goals in his 12 minutes on the pitch. anluigi Buffon, who brought down Miroslav Klose in the area. But Llorente levelled proceedings in the second half to leave Lazio waiting for a first league triumph over Juventus since December 2003. In a tight first half, Juve controlled possession but were hindered when keeper and captain Buffon was beaten to an intricate throughball by Klose, with Candreva keep- England - FA Cup AFC Bournemouth - Liverpool ........... 0-2 Birmingham City - Swansea City ....... 1-2 Bolton W. - Cardiff City ...................... 0-1 Huddersfield Town - Charlton A. ........ 0-1 Manchester C. - Watfor ..................... 4-2 Port Vale - Brighton & Hove Albiom ... 1-3 Rochdale - Sheffield Wednesday ....... 1-2 Southampton - Yeovil Town .............. 2-0 Southend United - Hull City .............. 0-2 Sunderland - Kidderminister H.......... 1-0 Wigan Athletic - Crystal Palace .......... 2-1 Stevenage - Everton ......................... 0-4 Today 14:00 Sheffield United - Fulham 16:30 Chelsea - Stoke City Italy - Serie A SSC Napoli - ChievoVerona................ 1-1 Lazio - Juventus ............................... 1-1 Today 12:30 Hellas Verona - Roma 15:00 Cagliari - AC Milan 15:00 Inter - Catania 15:00 Livorno - Sassuolo 15:00 Parma - Udinese 15:00 Sampdoria - Bologna 15:00 Torino - Atalanta 20:45 Fiorentina - Genoa Spain - Primera Division Real Madrid - Granada ...................... 2-0 Valladolid - Villareal ......................... 1-0 Valencia - Espanyol .......................... 2-2 Sevilla - Levante .............................. Late Today 12:00 Almeria - Getafe 17:00 Osasuna - Athletic Bilbao 19:00 Rayo Vallecano - Atletico Madrid 21:00 Barcelona - Malaga Cristiano Ronaldo shows off his Ballon d'Or trophy to the adoring Bernabeu faithful before Real Madrid's 2-0 win over Granada Llorente salvages point for 10-man Bianconeri FERNANDO Llorente was Juventus' saviour as the Serie A leaders came from a goal down with 10 men to salvage a 1-1 draw at Lazio on Saturday evening. The Serie A leaders - who had lost in the same stadium to Roma in the Coppa Italia on Tuesday - appeared to be heading for their first league defeat since October when Antonio Candreva notched from the penalty spot following the dismissal of Gi- Today BOV Premier League Victor Tedesco Stadium 14:00 Qormi - Mosta 16:15 Valletta - Rabat A. National Stadium 14:00 Vittoriosa S. - Sliema W. 16:00 Floriana - Hibernians Tomorrow 18:00 Naxxar L. - Balzan 20:00 Tarxien R. - Birkirkara BOV first Division Centenary Stadium Birzebbuga SP - Lija A. Zejtun C. - Hamrun S. BOV Second Division Charles Abela Stadium 14:00 Mqabba - San Gwann 16:15 Siggiewi - Mdina K. Luxol stadium 14:00 Kirkop U. - Marsaskala 16:15 Marsa - Dingli S. Sirens stadium 14:00 Mellieha - Senglea A. 16:16 Gharghur - Zabbar SP Women's Under-16 League Gharghur ground 09:00 Hibernians - Kirkop U. 10:00 Hamrum S. - Gozo 11:00 Raiders (Luxol) - Mosta ing his cool to open the scoring from 12 yards. The second half continued in a similar fashion, and the champions deservedly equalised when a well-worked move was finished by Llorente's fine header. The draw ends Juve's 12-match winning league run, while Lazio have now won two and drawn two league matches since Edy Reja returned as coach earlier in January. German - Bundesliga I. Borossia Dortmund - Augsburg ......... 2-2 Freiburg - Bayer Leverkusen ............. 3-2 Nurnberg - Hoffenheim .................... 4-0 VfB Stuttgart - Mainz 05 .................... 1-2 Wolfsburg - Hannover 96 .................. 1-3 Eintracht Frankfurt - Hertha Berlin..... 1-0 Today 15:30 Werder Bremen - Braunschweig 17:30 Hamburger SV - Schalke 04 France - Ligue 1 Guingamp - Paris Saint Germain ....... 1-1 Ajaccio - Sochaux ............................ 1-1 Montpellier - Nice ............................ 3-1 Nantes - Reims................................. 0-0 Toulouse - Bastia ................................Postp. Valenciennes - Lorient ..................... 1-1 Today 14:00 Lyon - Evian Thonon Gaillard 17:00 Bordeaux - Saint Etienne 21:00 Monaco - Marseille