Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/975483
maltatoday SUNDAY 29 APRIL 2018 Sports 52 FOOTBALL TENNIS Wasteful Liverpool held to goalless draw as Stoke keep survival hopes alive DUSAN Tadic scored twice to hand Southampton a Premier League survival lifeline with a nervy 2-1 win over Bournemouth at St Mary's. Victories for Crystal Palace and rock-bottom West Brom also blew the relegation battle wide open, while Stoke grabbed a potentially crucial point against Liverpool at Anfield. Mark Hughes' Saints started the day four points from safety and in desperate need of three points against their south-coast rivals to realistically keep alive hopes of pre- serving their top-flight status. Tadic blasted his side into the lead on 25 minutes on the end of a quick break by Mario Lamina before Josh King equalised for the Cherries in stoppage time at the end of the first half. But Tadic struck again in the 54th minute when he sent a cool finish past Asmir Begovic, before his side clung on through a torrid final few minutes. Needing a win to maintain their stay of execution, West Brom con- tinued their fine run under Dar- ren Moore with by taking all three points at Newcastle. Matt Phillips scored the only goal of the game in the 29th minute and Jay Rodriguez could have extended the Baggies' lead but the home side hit the woodwork twice through Kenedy and Dwight Gayle. Crystal Palace all but sealed their own safety with an emphatic 5-0 win over Leicester which piled more pressure on under-fire Foxes boss Claude Puel. Wilfried Zaha set up the rout with his eighth goal of the season in the 17th minute before turning provid- er to set up James McArthur for the Eagles' second just before the break. Marc Albrighton was sent off in the 56th minute for bringing down Zaha and Roy Hodgson's men took full advantage with three goals in the final 10 minutes from Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Patrick van Aanholt and a late Christian Benteke pen- alty. Stoke also gave themselves a shout at survival although they were left disappointed not to take more from a goalless draw against Liverpool at Anfield. Mohamed Salah looked out of sorts after his midweek heroics against Roma as Jurgen Klopp's men continued to make hard work of ensuring another top- four finish, with Stoke defender Erik Pieters outstanding. The home side had a shout for handball by Pieters waved away late on, while Stoke could have won it at the death when Ryan Shawcross fired inches wide. Huddersfield find themselves back in the relegation dogfight after a disappointing 2-0 home defeat to Everton, for whom Cenk Tosun and Idrissa Gueye scored a goal in each half. And Sean Dyche's Burnley must wait a little longer to confirm a place in next season's Europa League after they were held to a goalless draw at home by Brighton. Nadal thrashes Goffin to set up Barca final with teenager Tsitsipas R AFAEL Nadal booked a place in the Barcelona Open final by breezing past David Goffin 6-4 6-0 yesterday with his 18th suc- cessive claycourt win and 400th overall on the surface. World number one Nadal will meet Greek teenager Stefanos Tsitsipas in today's showpiece when he will target a record-ex- tending 11th title in Barcelona a week after claiming the Monte Carlo Masters for the 11th time. Nadal has won every final he has played in Barcelona. The Mallorcan got off to a slow start in the semi-final on the Rafael Nadal Court as he surrendered his service in the opening game and 10th-ranked Goffin held to take a 2-0 lead. Nadal immediately broke back to level and the home favourite broke again in the 10th to take the first set. The Spaniard came into his own in the second while Gof- fin, who had to play three sets against Roberto Bautista Agut in the last quarter-final on Fri- day, began to wilt. The Belgian finally came out fighting in the sixth game but eventually succumbed to clay- court specialist Nadal, sur- rendering serve for the third time in the set by firing a shot beyond the baseline, ending a match lasting one hour 22 min- utes. Greek 19-year-old Tsitsipas stormed into his first ATP final by beating Spain's world num- ber 11 Pablo Carreno Busta 7-5 6-3. Tsitsipas had pulled off the biggest win of his career on Friday before by stunning last year's finalist and world num- ber seven Dominic Thiem in straight sets and was the under- dog against Carreno Busta, who is ranked 52 places above him. The youngster got off to a f ly- ing start as he broke his oppo- nent in the second game and marched into a 4-1 lead. The Spaniard hit back with a break to level at 5-5 but wasted a chance to break again and lost his serve to concede the set. Tsitsipas, ranked 63rd, broke the 27-year-old for a third time to pull 4-2 ahead in the second and eventually served out the match, collapsing to the ground in elation as he won on his sec- ond match point when Carreno Busta hit beyond the baseline. Tsitsipas becomes the first Greek player to reach an ATP final since 1973 when Nicholas Kalogeropoulos made the final of the now defunct Des Moines Open. Rafael Nadal celebrates