Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/809226
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 2 APRIL 2017 51 Sport FOOTBALL Maltese girls collect first point after holding Albania MALTA ..........................0 ALBANIA ......................0 THE Malta women's team collect- ed their first point in Group B of the preliminary round of the FIFA Women's World Cup after holding hosts Albania to a goalless stale- mate at the Elbasan Arena yester- day afternoon. Albania, who had launched their commitments with a hard-earned 3-2 win over debutants Kosovo, enjoyed more possession but the Maltese girls maintained their tactical shape throughout and also mustered a few scoring chances. Ylenia Carabott and Emma Xuereb went close but the best op- portunity fell to Dorianne Theu- ma. The Malta captain was un- lucky not to break the stalemate as her drive, 13 minutes into the sec- ond half, came off the woodwork. Mark Gatt, the Malta women's coach, kept faith with the same players who started the 1-0 defeat to Greece in their opening Group B match last Thursday. Greece maintained their perfect start after trouncing Kosovo 6-0. The Greeks lead the table with six points, two ahead of Albania with Malta third on one point. The mini-tournament concludes on Tuesday with Greece facing Al- bania in a clash for top spot while Malta will be looking to claim their first win when meeting Kos- ovo. Both matches kick off at 2pm. In the preliminary round, the five group winners and the runner-up with the best record against the sides first and third in their section progress to the group phase of the 2019 Women's World Cup, to be held in France who qualify automatically as hosts. MALTA: Janice Xuereb, Ann-Ma- rie Said, Kim Parnis (35 Alishia Sultana), Stephania Farrugia, Do- rianne Theuma (88 Raina Giusti), Ylenia Carabott, Rachel Cuschie- ri, Shona Zammit, Jade Flask, Charlene Zammit, Emma Xuereb (56 Martina Borg). ALBANIA: Marigona Zagi, Deni- sa Proto (82 Suada Jashari), Albi- na Rrahmani, Arbiona Bajraktari, Geldona Morina, Furtuna Velaj (88 Dafina Memedov), Saranda Hashani, Lucie Gjini, Ezmiralda Franja (74 Lavdie Begolli), Qen- dresa Krasniqi, Megi Doci. Referee: Lorraine Clark (Scot- land). Newcastle miss chance to go back top with Wednesday defeat NEWCASTLE United missed the chance to return to the top of the Championship after they were beaten 2-1 by play-off hopefuls Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday. Newcastle's defeat means leaders Brighton & Hove Albion, who had beaten Queens Park Rangers 2-1 on Friday, remain two points clear at the top of England's second-tier league with five games remaining. Both the top two, though, remain overwhelming favourites for auto- matic promotion to the Premier League. Rafael Benitez's Newcastle al- most opened the scoring in stun- ning fashion when Jonjo Shelvey hit the bar from the halfway line at the end of a breathless first half. Against the run of play, Tom Lees then opened the scoring for Wednesday with a powerful head- er after the break before Steven Fletcher doubled the lead with an outstanding header. Shelvey did pull a goal back in the 88th minute, taking advantage after Aleksandar Mitrovic's effort was spilled by Keiren Westwood but Wednesday held on. Newcastle have 84 points, two fewer than Brighton, while Wednesday climb back into the play-off places in sixth place with 69 points. Huddersfield Town, in third with 74 points, lost 2-0 to Nottingham Forest while fourth-placed Read- ing, a point behind, conceded six first-half goals in a crushing 7-1 defeat at Norwich City. Leeds United, in fifth with 72 points, eased past Preston North End 3-0. Bayern crush Dortmund 4-1 with Lewandowski double BAYERN Munich outclassed Borussia Dortmund 4-1 on Sat- urday with top scorer Robert Le- wandowski netting twice to pro- tect their 10-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga, as they charge towards a record-extending fifth straight league title. The showpiece encounter, broadcast to more than 200 countries, turned out to be a one-sided affair, with Lewan- dowski taking his league tally to 26 goals in a flawless dress rehearsal ahead of next week's Champions League quarter-fi- nal against Real Madrid. Bayern are on 68 points, 10 ahead of RB Leipzig, 1-0 winners against Bayer Leverkusen, with six matches left in the campaign. The Ruhr valley club are stuck in fourth on 50 points, one be- hind Hoffenheim, who lost 2-1 at Hamburg SV. The Bavarians got off to an ex- plosive start and were 2-0 up af- ter only 10 minutes with 34-year- old Franck Ribery completing a dazzling move that wrongfooted the entire Dortmund defence twice in the fourth minute. Poland striker Lewandowski doubled their lead, whipping in a free kick past Oliver Buerki six minutes later but a missile from Raphael Guerreiro in the 20th gave the visitors hope. The 33-year-old winger finally got his goal four minutes after the restart, firing an unstoppa- ble left-footed shot past Buerki to give Bayern a two-goal cush- ion once more. Lewandowski was then brought down by the keeper and the 28-year-old scored from the spot for his second of the even- ing to move one goal ahead of Dortmund's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the Bundesliga scorers' list. The Bayern forward, however, had to be taken off late in the game with what looked like a shoulder injury. "I asked him what was wrong and he said it was the shoulder," Robben told reporters. "Let's hope it is nothing bad. We need him on Wednesday." RB Leipzig scored a stoppage- time goal through substitute Yussuf Poulsen to snatch a 1-0 victory over Bayer Leverkusen but ended the game with 10 men after captain Willi Orban was sent off. Schalke 04 scored twice in each half to crush strugglers VfL Wolfsburg 4-1 and climb up to 10th on 37 points. The result left Wolfsburg, the 2009 Bundesliga champions, in 14th place, a point above the relega- tion playoff spot.