Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/302202
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 27 APRIL 2014 53 FOOTBALL Sport Download the MaltaToday App now Malta - Premier Division Birkirkara - Valletta ........................... 0-2 Malta - First Division Msida SJ - Zejtun C. ........................... 4-2 Birzebbuga SP - Zurrieq .................... 3-5 Malta - Second Division Gharghur - Mdina K. .......................... 4-2 Senglea A. - Fgura U. ........................ 0-0 Marsa - Marsaskala ............................ 2-3 Pembroke A. - Zabbar SP .................... 1-3 Mellieha - Dingli S. ............................ 1-3 Siggiewi - Mqabba ............................ 1-3 Today BOV First Division Centenary Stadium 16:00 Gudja U. - Pieta H 18:00 St. George's - St. Andrews Victor Tedesco Stadium 16:00 Gzira U. - Melita 18:15 Hamrun S. - Lija A. BOV Third Division Charles Abela Stadium 16:00 Santa Lucia - Xghajra T. 18:15 Mtarfa - Ghaxaq Luxol Stadium 16:00 Swieqi U. - Sirens 18:15 Luqa SA - Marsaxlokk Sirens Stadium 16:00 Attard - Ta' Xbiex 18:15 Mgarr U. - Qrendi BOV Women's Under 16 Knock-Out Gharghur Ground 09:00 Hamrun/Pembroke - Raiders/Tarxien 10:00 Mgarr u. - Gozo 11:00 Mosta - Hibernians England - Premier League Southampton - Everton .................... 2-0 Fulham - Hull City............................. 2-2 Stoke City - Tottenham Hotspur ......... 0-1 Swansea City - Aston Villa ................. 4-1 West B. Albion - West Ham United ..... 1-0 Manchester United - Norwich City ..... 4-0 Today 13:00 Sunderland - Cardiff City 15:05 Liverpool - Chelsea 17:10 Crystal Palace - Manchester City Tomorrow 21:00 Arsenal - Newcastle United Italy - Serie A Roma - AC Milan ............................... 2-0 Bologna - Fiorentina ........................ 0-3 Inter - SSC Napoli ............................. 0-0 Today 12:30 Hellas Verona - Catania 15:00 Cagliari - Parma 15:00 Livorno - Lazio 15:00 Sampdoria - ChievoVerona 15:00 Torino - Udinese 20:45 Atalanta - Genoa Tomorrow 20:45 Sassuolo - Juventus Spain - LIGA BBVA Granada - Rayo Vallecano ................. 0-3 Getafe - Malaga................................ 1-0 Real Madrid - Osasuna ...................... 4-0 Real Betis - Real Sociedad ................ Late Today 12:00 Espanyol - almeria 17:00 Valencia - Atletico Madrid 19:00 Athletic Bilbao - Sevilla 21:00 Villarreal - Barcelona Tomorrow 22:00 Celta Vigo - Valladolid Football results DUATHLON Record number of participants for the National Duathlon Championships DUATHLON is a multisport race where an athlete has to make a run which is followed by a cycle and finished with another run. A record number of participants has registered for this race which has seen a steady increase every year in the last years. The Nation- al Championships shall be held on the Standard Distance, cover- ing a run of 8.5KMs, followed by a 38KM cycle and finishing with a 4.2KM run. There shall be an ancillary Sprint distance covering half the length of the course. In the Male category, there should be a strong battle between last year's champion, Fabio Spiteri having to face tough competition by in-form Triathlon Champion Keith Galea and other National Triathlon members such as Gra- ham Borg, Rudolph Agius and David Galea. In the Female category, last year's duathlon and triathlon champion, Michelle Vella-Wood will have to dig deep to fight off the powerful Danica Bonello-Spiteri with Mar- garet Seguna ready to put in her present form to good use. The National Duathlon Cham- pionships are the first of three National Championships organ- ised by the Malta Triathlon Fed- eration in 2014. The others are the Aquathlon Championships (Run- Swim-Run) scheduled for August, and the Grand Final of the Na- tional Triathlon Championships (Swim-Cycle-Run) in October. 'We are thrilled to have yet an- other record number of partici- pants for this race' said Cyprian Dalli, President of the Federation. 'This means that the popularity of multi-sport is on the increase, and that athletes look forward to com- pete in the races organised by the Federation. With the help of our sponsors and partners we are do- ing our best to give our athletes an exciting, safe, and memorable rac- ing experience they deserve. For this race we have teamed up with the online sports venture w w w. trirush.com with whom we are sure to establish a long, healthy and fruitful partnership.' The Malta Triathlon would like to thank the local authorities who cooperated in the build-up of this race, especially the Zebbug Lo- cal Council, Transport Malta, the Traffic Section and the Second District of the Malta Police Force, the sponsors and partners and the many volunteers who assist in the race logistics. The general public is kindly in- vited to attend and cheer the ath- letes during the race, while also being notified that Mdina Road will be closed for traffic during the race, that is Thursday 1 May between 8am and 11am. While apologising for any inconven- ience, the Malta Triathlon Federa- tion expresses its gratitude for all cooperation. Fulham look doomed after late Hull equaliser Inter and Napoli play to a goalless draw A review of Saturday's action in the Barclays Premier League as struggling Fulham drew 2-2 at home to Hull. RELEGATIONBATTLERS Ful- ham blew a two-goal lead as Hull fought back to earn a dramatic 2-2 draw at Craven Cottage. Felix Magath's side were well on course to give their survival hopes a huge boost for what would have been a third win in the past four matches, before a late rally from the FA Cup finalists. Following a nervous first half, Iran midfielder Ashkan Dejagah (55) curled the ball in from the edge of the penalty area and be- fore the visitors could respond, defender Fernando Amorebieta (58) headed in Kieran Richardson's cross to give the Cottagers belief. However, Nikica Jelavic set up an anxious finish when he nodded in a scrambled effort with 15 minutes left and as the clocked ticked down, Hull snatched a dramatic equaliser through Shane Long (87). Saido Berahino's first-half goal, on 11 minutes, proved enough to give West Brom what could be a crucial victory in their own sur- vival bid with a 1-0 win over West Ham at The Hawthorns. The Baggies are five clear of trouble, on 36 points with three matches left, while West Ham sit 14th on 37 points with two games to play. A superb 50-yard strike from Jonjo Shelvey helped Swansea beat Aston Villa 4-1 at the Liberty Stadium to close in on Premier League survival. Wilfried Bony slotted in his 14th league goal of the season to put the hosts ahead on 10 minutes, only for Gabriel Agbonlahor (22) to level from close range from Marc Albrighton's cross. However, former Liverpool mid- fielder Shelvey (26) quickly made it 2-1 when he took down a clearance and, from the centre-circle, sent a looping volley back up over Brad Guzan to net a late contender for goal of the season. Pablo Hernandez (73) wrapped things up in the second half, hav- ing been set up by good work from Shelvey, with Bony rolling in a stoppage-time penalty. Gary Monk's side are 12th, with 39 points and two matches left, while Villa are still looking over their shoulders, now just four points clear. Tottenham recorded a 1-0 win at 10-man Stoke as they looked to make the most of Everton's defeat away to Southampton in the battle for European places. Danny Rose headed in on 33 minutes after good work from Em- manuel Adebayor. Stoke's hopes of getting back into the game suffered a blow when, in the 52nd minute, Ryan Shawcross collected a second yellow card and was sent off by referee Andre Mar- riner for a studs-up challenge on Rose. In Saturday's lunchtime kick-off, Everton saw their hopes of fin- ishing in the Champions League places suffer a potentially fatal blow when they went down 2-0 at Southampton through a brace of comedy own goals. Antolin Alcaraz headed a cross from Rickie Lambert past Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard after just 54 seconds. It got worse for the Toffees - a point behind Arsenal, who host Newcastle on Monday night - when on 31 minutes Seamus Cole- man also turned the ball into his own net. Southampton are in eighth place, having equalled their best ever Premier League tally of 52 points. Ryan Giggs gave the Manchester United board food for thought as he enjoyed a dream debut in the home dugout at Old Trafford. Wayne Rooney and Juan Mata both scored twice as Giggs over- saw a comfortable 4-0 win over Norwich. Giggs assumed temporary con- trol of United on Tuesday follow- ing the sacking of David Moyes. Although the United board are searching for an experienced suc- cessor, Giggs has made no secret of his desire to become full-time manager. And the 40-year-old interim manager did his chances no harm with this display. Once United had put a slightly cumbersome first half behind them, they strolled to victory. And what is more, they did it with the style and panache that has been missing from the men in red for most of the season. INTER Milan and Napoli will go into the final three games of the Serie A season as they were coming into the final four after a goalless draw at the San Siro on Saturday evening. Only the breadth of the post denied Gokhan Inler a late win- ner for the visitors in an even game which saw both sides cre- ate plent y of chances but neither break the deadlock, with Napoli remaining third in the standings and two places above their op- ponents. Inter president Erick Thohir was again left disappointed, fail- ing to see the Nerazzurri win once again on his latest visit to the San Siro, where he has only witnessed two home victories, five draws and one defeat. Only 17 seconds were on the clock when Lorenzo Insigne's cross was lifted just wide of the far post by Jose Callejon. Inter's reply came 10 minutes later when Hernanes' shot from 30 yards was pushed away by Pepe Reina, who then tipped a Mateo Kovacic shot behind for a corner. Callejon missed an even better chance in the 13th minute when Dries Mertens lifted the ball in- vitingly in front of him, but he appeared to be too casual about the chance and placed it wide of Samir Handanovic's post. Early in the second half, Gonzalo Higuain saw his first shot of the evening blocked by Yuto Nagatomo before Mertens' follow-up shot was def lected be- hind. Nagatomo then set up Rodri- go Palacio at the other end, but while he beat Reina to the ball, he could not get enough on his header to turn it in. Nagatomo had Inter's best chance of the evening saved by Reina in the 82nd minute, and immediately the Azzurri launched an attack which creat- ed the best opening of the night overall. Inler's determination, and a bit of luck, saw him break into the penalt y area, but his left-foot shot bounced out to safet y off the inside of the right-hand post. There was a worrying sight for Napoli late on when Higuain was carried away on a stretcher and they will hope to have him fit next weekend for the Coppa Italia final against Fiorentina, the side they lead by eight points with three league games of the season left. In the other match Fiorentina easily defeated Bologna 3-0. First-half goals from Juan Cuad- rado and Josip Ilicic put the Vi- ola on their way to a win which should be enough to clinch them a place in the Europa League next season with three games remaining. Cuadrado's second late on sealed the convincing victory, leaving Bologna potentially three points adrift of safet y this week- end as their relegation plight worsened at the Stadio Dall 'Ara, despite a valiant effort to recover in the second half.