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Yamal and Rashford score as Barcelona rebounds from clasico loss

Yamal, criticized by some after a lackluster performance against Madrid, put the hosts ahead with a shot from inside the area in the ninth minute after Alejandro Balde’s assist. (Reuters)
Yamal, criticized by some after a lackluster performance against Madrid, put the hosts ahead with a shot from inside the area in the ninth minute after Alejandro Balde’s assist. (Reuters)
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Yamal and Rashford score as Barcelona rebounds from clasico loss

Yamal and Rashford score as Barcelona rebounds from clasico loss
  • Barcelona is five points behind league leader Madrid

MADRID: Lamine Yamal scored early as Barcelona rebounded from its clasico defeat by beating Elche 3-1 at home to regain second place in the Spanish league on Sunday.
Ferran Torres and Marcus Rashford also scored for Barcelona, a week after it lost 2-1 at Real Madrid in the first clasico of the season.
Barcelona is five points behind league leader Madrid, which routed Valencia 4-0 at home on Saturday. Barcelona entered the match in third place, one point behind Villarreal, which defeated Rayo Vallecano 4-0 on Saturday.
Yamal, criticized by some after a lackluster performance against Madrid, put the hosts ahead with a shot from inside the area in the ninth minute after Alejandro Balde’s assist. Torres added to the lead three minutes later after a pass by Fermín López.
Elche hit back with a goal by Rafa Mir in a 42nd-minute breakaway, but Rashford added to Barcelona’s lead with a left-footed shot from a difficult angle in the 61st for his sixth goal of the season at his new club.
Rashford had a 52nd-minute goal disallowed for offside in the buildup, and Mir nearly equalized for the visitors in the 55th with a curling shot that brushed the crossbar with Barcelona goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny beaten. Mir also struck the woodwork with his team down 3-1 in the 68th after a neat save by Szczesny.
Elche, sitting in ninth place, is winless in four consecutive league matches, with three losses.
Barcelona, which had lost three of its previous five matches in all competitions, is still playing at Montjuic stadium while waiting for the proper permits to reopen the renovated Camp Nou.
The loss to Madrid halted a four-game winning streak against its rival.
Playmaker Dani Olmo and striker Robert Lewandowski made their returns from injury for Barcelona, entering the match as second-half substitutes. They hadn’t played for the club since early October.
Other results
Eighth-placed Alaves scored first-half goals to beat Espanyol 2-1 at home and end a two-match winless run. Lucas Boyé, who scored one of the goals, was sent off with a second yellow card in second-half stoppage time. Fifth-placed Espanyol was coming off three straight wins across all tournaments.
Celta Vigo won its fourth match in a row in all competitions by beating 10-man Levante 2-1 on the road thanks to Miguel Romána’s stoppage-time goal. Óscar Mingueza had put the visitors ahead in the 40th and Kevin Arriaga equalized for Levante in the 66th.
Celta moved to 12th place.
Levante — winless in three league matches and coming off elimination in the Copa del Rey — was 17th, just outside the relegation zone.


Erling Haaland double powers Man City to win after Donnarumma mistake, West Ham sink Newcastle

Erling Haaland double powers Man City to win after Donnarumma mistake, West Ham sink Newcastle
Updated 5 sec ago

Erling Haaland double powers Man City to win after Donnarumma mistake, West Ham sink Newcastle

Erling Haaland double powers Man City to win after Donnarumma mistake, West Ham sink Newcastle
LONDON: Erling Haaland’s latest double covered over a bad mistake from Gianluigi Donnarumma in Manchester City’s 3-1 win over Bournemouth that lifted the team into second place in the Premier League on Sunday.
Haaland moved onto 13 goals for the campaign — more than twice any other player — by running clear from passes by the impressive Rayan Cherki to finish one-on-one chances in the 17th and 33rd minutes. Haaland pulled out a robot celebration after the first goal.
Between those goals, Bournemouth equalized after Donnarumma attempted to punch clear an inswinging corner, only to misjudge it and pat the ball down in front of him. US midfielder Tyler Adams swept home the loose ball and Donnarumma was booked for complaining too stridently that he had been fouled.
That mistake will only be a footnote in the latest Haaland show, with the Norway striker making it 26 goals in 16 games for club and country this season. He has scored two goals in each of his last four home appearances in the Premier League.
“I try to help the team to win, that’s my goal,” Haaland said. “By scoring or helping by winning duels, doesn’t matter, as long as we win.”
Locally born left back Nico O’Reilly drove home the third goal in the 60th minute for City, which replaced Bournemouth in second to become the nearest challenger to Arsenal.
Arsenal, seeking a first league title since 2004, beat Burnley 2-0 on Saturday and now holds a six-point lead after 10 games.
Guardiola defends Donnarumma
While Donnarumma has impressed with his shot-stopping since joining from Paris Saint-Germain, a weakness in the Italy international’s game might be his punching from crosses.
In September, Donnarumma punched the ball into his own net when playing for Italy against Israel but that goal was ruled out after it was deemed an opposition player was fouling him.
On Sunday, Bournemouth captain David Brooks initially had a hold of Donnarumma’s left arm but let go before the goalkeeper attempted his punch.
City manager Pep Guardiola said it was “unbelievable” that the goal was allowed to stand.
“There are sometimes things that are difficult to understand why it was not disallowed,” he said.
Long wait over
West Ham’s fans had been waiting eight months for a home win in the Premier League.
They finally got it after their embattled team rallied to beat Newcastle 3-1 for just a second victory this season.
Jacob Murphy’s fourth-minute opener for Newcastle, which came seconds after Jarrod Bowen struck the post at the other end, failed to spark what proved to be a sluggish performance by the visitors.
Instead, West Ham grew more into the game and after Lucas Paqueta equalized in the 35th minute with a long-range shot that crept inside the near post, Newcastle defender Sven Botman stretched to block a cross but only succeeded in turning the ball into his own net in first-half stoppage time.
Substitute Tomas Soucek added a third for West Ham in second-half stoppage time.
West Ham’s last home win was against Leicester on Feb. 27.
The team stayed in the relegation zone but climbed above Nottingham Forest into third-to-last place. Forest was the only team West Ham had previously beaten this season.
West Ham manager Nuno Espirito Santo had collected just one point from his first four games in charge after replacing Graham Potter.

India beat South Africa by 52 runs to lift maiden Women’s World Cup title 

India beat South Africa by 52 runs to lift maiden Women’s World Cup title 
Updated 33 min 32 sec ago

India beat South Africa by 52 runs to lift maiden Women’s World Cup title 

India beat South Africa by 52 runs to lift maiden Women’s World Cup title 
  • Hosts rode half-centuries from Shafali Verma (87) and Deepti Sharma (58) to post 298-7

NAVI MUMBAI: India won their maiden Women’s World Cup title with a 52-run victory over South Africa at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Sunday.

Put into bat, the hosts rode half-centuries from Shafali Verma (87) and Deepti Sharma (58) to post 298-7 even though 350 looked well within their reach at one stage.

Laura Wolvaardt led South Africa’s reply with a captain’s knock of 101 but they were all out for 246 in 45.3 overs.

Sharma claimed 5-39 in a fine all-round display on a memorable night for the hosts. (Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; editing by Pritha Sarkar)


Sabalenka blasts past Paolini in WTA finals opener in Riyadh

Sabalenka blasts past Paolini in WTA finals opener in Riyadh
Updated 02 November 2025

Sabalenka blasts past Paolini in WTA finals opener in Riyadh

Sabalenka blasts past Paolini in WTA finals opener in Riyadh

RIYADH: Aryna Sabalenka kicked off her quest for a maiden WTA Finals title by blasting 11 aces on her way to a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Jasmine Paolini in Riyadh on Sunday.

The world number one was at her serving best, landing a remarkable 81 percent of her first serves in during the 70-minute contest to shoot to the summit of the Stefanie Graf Group.

It was Sabalenka’s 60th win of the season. She trails only Iga Swiatek on the WTA leaderboard for matches won in 2025.

The 27-year-old Belarusian was handed the year-end world number one trophy in a special ceremony in Riyadh on Saturday.

“That felt super special, of course I’m super happy and super proud of the work that has been done and that things are working and I’m getting better and better every day,” said the four-time Grand Slam champion.

“I just hope we’ll keep doing what we’re doing and hopefully we can stay there.”

Sabalenka jumped to 3-0 lead and, despite briefly losing her break advantage, scooped the opening set in just 36 minutes.

She swatted away a pair of break points to hold on to her early lead in the second frame and cruised to the finish line, as Paolini, who is playing singles and doubles this week in Riyadh, ran out of steam.

“She’s a tough opponent, we played a lot and every time it’s a tough battle, doesn’t matter what the score is, I always have to stay focused,” said Sabalenka of the eighth-seeded Italian.

“I think I’m mostly happy with my focus today. I was calm and it felt like everything was in control.”

Meanwhile, Mirra Andreeva, who lost her doubles opener alongside Diana Shnaider, said her mysterious absence from the Tokyo was a misjudgment. If she had played she could have secured the eighth and final singles spot in Riyadh this week.

Andreeva was leapfrogged by Elena Rybakina at the last hurdle in the Race to Riyadh. She missed out despite winning a pair of 1000-level tournaments and reaching two Grand Slam quarter-finals this campaign.

Rybakina came from behind in the standings late in the season, winning Ningbo and reaching the Tokyo semifinals to punch her ticket to Riyadh.

“We just had a talk with our team and we decided to skip the tournament,” the 18-year-old Andreeva told AFP on Sunday.

“In the end, it turned out to be a wrong decision,“

“I guess with experience we’re just learning. This is just my, not even a second full year on the WTA Tour, so I think we’re just going to learn from this, we’re going to get more experience from this and next time I think we’re not going to make that mistake again.”

Stefanie Graf Group action continues at King Saud University Indoor Arena with defending champion Coco Gauff taking on fellow American Jessica Pegula in the second singles match of the day.


South African, Pakistani teams reach Faisalabad to play first ODI in city in 17 years

South African, Pakistani teams reach Faisalabad to play first ODI in city in 17 years
Updated 02 November 2025

South African, Pakistani teams reach Faisalabad to play first ODI in city in 17 years

South African, Pakistani teams reach Faisalabad to play first ODI in city in 17 years
  • Pakistan last played an ODI in Faisalabad in April 2008 where they beat Bangladesh
  • Hosts to play three-match ODI series against visitors South Africa from Nov. 4-8

ISLAMABAD: The national men’s cricket teams of South Africa and Pakistan arrived in the eastern city of Faisalabad on Sunday, as it gears up to host the first One Day International fixture in over 17 years. 

South Africa arrived in Pakistan last month and played a two-match Test series with the hosts that they tied 1-1. Pakistan went on to win the three-match T20I series against the Proteas 2-1 this week. 

The visitors will now play a three-match ODI series against Pakistan from Nov. 4-8 at Faisalabad’s Iqbal Stadium to conclude the tour. 

“The Pakistan and South Africa teams have arrived in Faisalabad,” the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said in a statement. 

“The South Africa team will practice tomorrow [Monday] from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 pm, while the Pakistan team will hold their practice session tomorrow [Monday] evening at 6:00 pm,” it added.

Pakistan last played an ODI in Faisalabad in April 2008, defeating Bangladesh by seven wickets. 

PCB Chief Operating Officer Sumair Ahmed Syed last month said the return of Faisalabad as a cricket venue would be a “special moment.”

“Iqbal Stadium holds a proud place in our cricketing history and we are excited to bring international cricket back to this part of the country,” he said. 

SCHEDULE

Nov. 4: First ODI, Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad

Nov. 6: Second ODI, Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad

Nov. 8: Third ODI, Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad


Dodgers rally past Blue Jays in 11th to win second straight World Series

Dodgers rally past Blue Jays in 11th to win second straight World Series
Updated 27 min 28 sec ago

Dodgers rally past Blue Jays in 11th to win second straight World Series

Dodgers rally past Blue Jays in 11th to win second straight World Series
  • Will Smith hit a home run with two outs in the 11th to send the Los Angeles Dodgers to their second straight World Series championship

TORONTO: Will Smith hit a home run with two outs in the 11th to send the Los Angeles Dodgers to their second straight World Series championship with a 5-4 Game 7 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday night.
Smith’s second homer of the postseason came on a shot to left on a 2-0 slider from Shane Bieber (2-1).
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. led off the home 11th with a double against Yoshinobu Yamamoto (5-1), who started Game 6 on Friday. Guerrero took third on Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s sacrifice. Addison Barger walked. Alejandro Kirk grounded into a season-ending double play.
The Dodgers tied the game at 4 on the first homer of the postseason by Miguel Rojas on a Jeff Hoffman 3-2 slider with one out in the ninth.
In the home ninth, Blake Snell allowed a one-out single and a walk before Yamamoto came in to load the bases with a hit batter before getting a force at home and a flyout to force extra innings.
The Dodgers loaded the bases with one out in the 10th against Seranthony Dominguez but failed to score.
Max Muncy also homered for the Dodgers, who became the first repeat World Series winners since the 1998-2000 New York Yankees.
Toronto’s Ernie Clement had three hits to set a postseason record of 30. He extended his postseason hit streak to 13 games, a franchise record. George Springer added three hits.
Shohei Ohtani, L.A.’s Game 4 starter, allowed Springer’s leadoff single in the third. Springer took second on Nathan Lukes’ sacrifice and moved to third on a wild pitch to Guerrero, who was then walked intentionally. Bichette smashed a first-pitch slider to center for his first homer of the postseason and the Blue Jays jumped out to a 3-0 lead. Ohtani allowed three runs, five hits and two walks with three strikeouts in 2 1/3 innings.
Smith doubled high off the wall in left-center against Max Scherzer to start the fourth and took third on Freddie Freeman’s single. Muncy walked with one out. Center fielder Daulton Varsho made a diving catch on Teoscar Hernandez’s sacrifice fly but Smith scored.
Scherzer allowed one run, four hits and one walk with three strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings.
Toronto’s Chris Bassitt walked Mookie Betts to start the sixth. Muncy singled and was out at second on Hernandez’s bouncer to the mound. Tommy Edman hit a sacrifice fly to center.
Clement led off the home sixth with a single, stole second and scored on Andres Gimenez’s double to center.
Toronto’s Trey Yesavage allowed Muncy’s third homer of the postseason with one out in the eighth on a 1-1 splitter.