Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/385963
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 24 SEPTEMBER 2014 Sport 23 Answers to the MaltaToday crossword will be published next Wednesday WEATHER: Partly to rather cloudy becoming mostly cloudy with the possibility of some isolated showers which may be thundery during the night VISIBILITY: Good WIND: East to Northeast force 4 to 5 locally force 5 to 6 at first, becoming force 2 to 3 and veering South to Southwest. Overnight becoming South force 3 to 4 locally force 4 to 5. SEA: Slight SWELL: Slight becoming moderate to rough, and becoming rough overnight A B C D E F G H 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 White to play and mate in four moves A B C D E F G H 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Last week's solution Sudoku rules are extremely easy: Fill all empty squares so that the numbers 1 to 9 appear once in each row, column and 9x9 box. FAIR 31 º C / 24 º C UV INDEX: 7 Today's Weather Chess Sudoku Pursuits OPINION Across 3. Wealthy (8) 9. Terminate at a premature stage (5) 10. Supplement (3) 11. Policeman (3) 12. Kill (11) 14. Simpleton (5) 16. Dull sound (4) 17. Slides (5) 19. Republic in W Europe (6) 20. Part of verb to do (3) 22. Sloping letter (6) 23. Seashore (5) 25. Manager (4) 26. Theme (5) 28. Beneath the ground (11) 30. Tool for making holes in leather (3) 31. Involuntary muscular contraction (3) 32. Piles (5) 33. Knockout punch (8) Down 1. Infatuated (4) 2. Dispersal (7) 4. Extremely hungry (8) 5. Reptile (6) 6. Peculiar (9) 7. Lukewarm (5) 8. Fatigued (5) 13. Short dagger (8) 15. Resolution (8) 18. With skill (9) 21. Depict in words (8) 24. Tenth month of the year (7) 25. Indian religious leader (6) 26. Castle water pits (5) 27. Instruct (5) 29. Flat circular plate (4) IT'S an old saying, but a true one indeed as Liverpool, Spurs, Everton and Manchester United fans will tell you after last weekend. Arsenal fans found themselves laughing this weekend after all their rivals dropped points, including Chelsea who at last looked a tad vulnerable against Man- chester City during their 1-1 draw which raised a crucial talking point for later. Chelsea started the season on impressive form, winning all their opening games, but in typical Mour- inho fashion, a fault against the Champions helped at least keep the gap from expanding. His post match interview in my eyes summed his over all plan up wonderfully. He ar- gued that before the game his team were two points clear, while the sin- gle point at Manchester City ensured they went three points clear, so he viewed it as a point gained rather than two dropped. Optimism is key, but he also admitted City deserved something from the tight encounter. At 1-0 Chelsea looked to be cruis- ing against the ten men, but bring on none other than Frank Lampard to really put a cat amongst the pigeons. A telepathic pass from James Milner clocked the classical Lampard run who did well to finish and keep him- self from celebrating. He was literally lost for words, where Jose Mourinho was lost for love. He commented af- ter saying that the moment a player leaves his club, the history stays in the past and the magic of the mo- ment does not disturb him. He also claims not to have a relationship with his former players, including Ronaldo who is subject of transfer speculation linking him to his old boss, or his former club Manchester United. Mourinho's view on Lampard is the only professional answer to give. Lampard is no longer a Chelsea player, and despite the fans' applause for him which is a fantastic mark of respect, Lamps is a "super profes- sional" according to Jose and is there to do his job, and not let the big mo- ments get to him. He was pleased to have gained the draw, but biting his lips due to the circumstances. The table, after just five games, can't be read into, however early match form goes a long way, espe- cially for the smaller teams who look to capitalise on the slippery form of the bigger clubs. West Ham's 3-1 win over Liverpool is a case of bagging an unlikely three points, affording them to look ahead to next weekend's clash against Manchester United in a dif- ferent frame of mind. Both Liverpool and United's form has been awful so far and they might find themselves struggling to keep up with Chelsea before too long and Manchester United's 5-3 defeat to Leicester raised plenty of eyebrows. Louis van Gaal was hoping to bag his first back to back pair of victories, and after going 3-1 up that seemed the likely outcome. One fan however, who cunningly put 50p on Leicester to win 5-3 must be pinching himself after cashing in on £700. All United needed to do was keep possession, and that is the key for van Gaal's main tactical play. He needs his team in possession to ensure goals are flowing, and while it worked wonderfully for the Netherlands, United's second half proved there is plenty of room for improvement, and not even Rooney's rallying call could help plug the holes. The man- ner of the goals conceded was a bit too naive from United, and once the ball is lost in the middle of the pitch as Blackett and Mata found out, the defence is left on thin ice. West Ham will watch the replays with wide eyes and United need to learn from their silly mistakes. #Moyesout! At this point in time, van Gaal's transfer policy is being questioned due to the fact that Manchester United have the front of a Ferrari, but the back end of an old Fiat Uno. The jokes are piling in at Old Trafford with fans now even joking that Moyes should have never been sacked after all the protests. This time last year Manchester United had two points more, and had only spent £27.5 mil- lion on Fellaini (I use only there as a comparative reference, Fellaini is not worth more than £5 million) Louis van Gaal has spent £157 mil- lion and I have seen less sighs on the faces of Liverpool's homeless than on his face. Things are worse than any- one imagined in terms of the table, but as I said earlier that is a poor ref- erence tool. At Leicester at least they did look sharp and capable of scoring goals, but now everyone knows just how to break a very fragile defence. It is time to show some strenght at the back, and not by hurling play- ers to the ground as Blackett did at Leicester! Mark Strijbosch The bigger they are Bxc6+ Qd77 Nfxe6 Nf6 Qh5+ Nxh5 Bxd7# Nfxe6 Nf6 Qh5+ Nxh5 Bxc6+ Qd7 Bxd7# Ryan Giggs and Louis van Gaal