Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/758493
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 4 DECEMBER 2016 Sport 52 THE home side took a 53rd-minute lead thanks to a Luis Suarez header and had chances through Neymar and Lionel Messi to extend their advantage. But Ramos punished them in the final moments to silence the Nou Camp and extend Real's unbeaten run to 33 games in all competi- tions. For all the hype it had been a low- quality match, and one which cer- tainly now gives Madrid the edge in this season's title race. Both sides had early claims for a penalty turned down. First, Lucas Vazquez appeared to be bundled over by Javier Mascherano before Sergi Roberto felt his hooked cross had been charged down by the arm of Ramos. Isco was the first player to be booked for a foul on Neymar before Messi sent a fairly tame free-kick straight into the midriff of Real goalkeeper Keylor Navas, who had barely anything else to do in the first half. Mascherano charged down a volley from Karim Benzema after Vazquez had the beating of Sergi Roberto down the left before Cris- tiano Ronaldo tried to stamp his influence on the game. First he advanced into the box after Luka Modric sent him clear on the counter-attack, but Gerard Pique narrowed his angle to shoot and Marc-Andre Ter Stegen saved comfortably at his near post in the 37th minute. Seconds later the Portuguese star nutmegged Mascherano but toe- poked a shot straight at Ter Stegen under pressure from Jordi Alba on the cover. Barcelona screamed for a pen- alty again when Dani Carvajal ap- peared to block a cross from the left with his arm, but a disappointing first half finished goalless. The Nou Camp erupted seven minutes into the second half when Neymar swung a free-kick into the area and Suarez found room to head past Navas from six yards for his ninth LaLiga goal of the season. Alba did well to muscle Benzema out of possession when a chance to shoot seemed to have opened up for the Frenchman, while substi- tute Andres Iniesta quickly exerted his influence after coming on with an hour played. First he picked out Neymar on the left of the box, and the Brazilian stepped inside Carvajal but blazed over. Then Iniesta hit the side-net- ting himself as Carvajal deflected his effort wide. Iniesta's next notable contribu- tion was an eye-of-the-needle pass to Messi breaking right to left across the edge of the box with eight minutes to go, but the Argen- tinian screwed his shot wide as he tried to angle an effort across Na- vas. Those missed chances came back to haunt Barca, Ramos head- ing powerfully past Ter Stegen as Modric's inswinging free-kick from the left found him in space. It was a poorly defended set-piece from the hosts, with three Real players lurking unmarked. Remarkably Barcelona almost snatched the lead back late on as Casemiro headed clear off the line to keep out a looping header from Suarez to ensure the score finished level. FOOTBALL Ramos strikes late as Real Madrid snatch Clasico draw A last-gasp Sergio Ramos header secured a 1-1 draw for Real Madrid against Barcelona in El Clasico to maintain their six-point lead at the top of LaLiga. AC Milan deal likely to be postponed to end-February SILVIO Berlusconi and the Chinese investors seeking to buy Italian soccer club AC Mi- lan are discussing the possibil- ity of postponing the closing of the deal to the end of February. It has been reported that Berlusconi's holding company Fininvest could ask for a fur- ther 100 million euros (84.12 million pounds) from the Chi- nese consortium in exchange for the delay and that a final decision would be made in the next few days. The investors, backed by Haixia Capital and entrepre- neur Yonghong Li, signed an accord in August to gain full control of the Serie A team, through investment vehicle Si- no-Europe Sports Investment Management Changxing (SES). On Saturday Berlusconi said approvals from the Chinese government for the final 420 million euro payment could delay the closing, initially ex- pected for Dec. 13, and that he was prepared to postpone it by up to six weeks. The group has already paid 100 million euros in two sepa- rate tranches to Berlusconi's family holding company. "In today's meeting, the fi- nancial aspects and the tim- ings (were discussed) in view of the finalisation of the opera- tion," said a joint Fininvest and SES statement on Friday. The note gave no indica- tion of the delay but add- ed that Fininvest and SES had scheduled a meeting next week for "the analysis of all necessary details." Silvio Berlusconi Sergio Ramos celebrates