e_Paper, Wednesday, May 3, 2017

20
WEDNESDAY, MAY 3, 2017
DT
Sports
EPL POINTS TABLE
Teams P W D L GD Pts
Chelsea 34 26 3 5 43 81
Tottenham 34 23 8 3 49 77
Liverpool 35 20 9 6 29 69
Man City 34 19 9 6 28 66
Man Utd 34 17 14 3 26 65
Arsenal 33 18 6 9 22 60
Everton 35 16 10 9 20 58
West Brom 34 12 8 14 -4 44
Southampton 33 11 8 14 -5 41
Bournemouth 35 11 8 16 -13 41
Leicester 34 11 7 16 -12 40
Stoke 35 10 10 15 -13 40
Watford 34 11 7 16 -18 40
Burnley 35 11 6 18 -14 39
West Ham 35 10 9 16 -15 39
Crystal Palace 35 11 5 19 -10 38
Hull 35 9 7 19 -31 34
Swansea 35 9 5 21 -29 32
Middlesbrough 35 5 13 17 -19 28
Sunderland 34 5 6 23 -34 21
Free-scoring Monaco face Juventus wall
• Reuters, Paris
Liverpool's Emre Can scores their first goal against Watford during their EPL match at Vicarage Road on Monday
Monaco have scored plenty of goals
this season and boast one of European
football’s most exciting newcomers
in Kylian Mbappe but that
might not be enough to break down
the defensive wall of Juventus in
the Champions League semi-finals.
Mbappe, 18, has scored 18 goals
in his last 18 competitive games,
including three in the 6-3 aggregate
win over Borussia Dortmund in the
last eight.
The pacy forward provides a
symbol for the rise of a fine counter-attacking
team featuring other
dangerous players such as Colombian
marksman Radamel Falcao.
It takes more than that, however,
to impress Juventus, the tightest
defence in Europe's top club
competition with just two goals
conceded in this campaign.
"Even Barcelona could not score
in two games against them so it
will be complicated for us", Monaco's
Poland defender Kamil Glik
said ahead of today’s first leg in the
principality. The Italian champion,
who advanced to the last four with
an aggregate 3-0 win over Barca,
were held to a 2-2 draw at Atalanta
in a rare defensive mix-up in Serie
A on Friday.
Their pedigree and record for
REUTERS
being impregnable when it matters,
however, suggest Juventus
should be regarded as the favourites.
"Monaco have technical and
tactical qualities as well as talented
young players," Juventus coach
Massimiliano Allegri said.
"They do not have the same history
as Juventus but that does not
mean it will be easy for us to make
it to the final", he added.
While Allegri can rely on a fully-fit
squad, his Monaco counterpart
Leonardo Jardim, criticised for
fielding a B-team in a 5-0 French
Cup semi-final thrashing by Paris
St Germain last week, has a defensive
worry with midfield dynamo
Tiemoue Bakayoko doubtful due to
a broken nose.
Monaco have shone in Europe
and at home this season and their
domestic title hope received a welcome
boost when a nervous PSG
side lost 3-1 at Nice on Sunday,
leaving the club from the French
Riviera three points clear at the top
with a game in hand.
Juventus, meanwhile, are closing
in on a record sixth straight
Serie A title and can turn to their
European history for inspiration,
having won the showcase club
competition twice, in 1985 and
1996. •
Can: Best goal I
have scored
• AFP, Watford
Emre Can admitted his sensational
bicycle kick that secured Liverpool
a crucial 1-0 win over Watford
in their Premier League clash on
Monday was his best ever goal.
The 23-year-old German international
- who took his tally to five
for the season - produced his moment
of magic in time added on in
the first-half.
Victory kept Liverpool in third
place in the table but in terms of
Champions League qualification it
pushed them four points clear of
fifth-placed Manchester United,
who have a game in hand.
The top four only qualify for Europe's
premier club competition.
"I have never scored a goal like
that - maybe when I was younger.
That is the best goal I've ever
scored," Can told Sky Sports.
"I saw the space and I ran behind
and my first thought was that
I wanted to head it, then I didn't
think too much.
"But the most important thing
was three points after knowing
what happened yesterday. It was a
big game for us.
"Everything is in our hands. If
we win the three games we are in
the Champions League. We are
confident. If we perform how we
can perform then we can do it."
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp
was in awe of what he termed the
“spectacular” goal.
"Emre has played really well in
the past few weeks but he could still
play better... However I don't think
he can ever score a better goal than
that," Klopp told Sky Sports. •
Napoli sight
second after
Callejon winner
• AFP, Milan
A first-half winner from Jose Callejon
handed Napoli the points from
a 1-0 win at Inter Milan on Sunday
that closed the gap on Roma in second
to a point. Maurizio Sarri's men
travelled to the San Siro buoyed by
Roma's earlier 3-1 derby defeat to
Lazio that left the capital contender
nine points adrift of Juventus.
By the end of a San Siro sizzler
that saw Stefano Pioli's outplayed
hosts stage a brief, second-half
comeback, Callejon's 43rd minute
opener proved the difference to
a win that put Napoli in firm contention
for the second automatic
Champions League qualifying
place. Roma remain second at nine
points behind Juventus with four
games to play but Luciano Spalletti's
men are now just one point
ahead of Napoli, who remain seven
points ahead of Lazio, in fourth. •
Napoli’s Dries Mertens shoots at goal during their Serie A match against Inter at San Siro on Sunday
REUTERS
SERIE A
Roma 1-3 Lazio
De Rossi 45-P Keita 12, 85, Basta 50
Bologna 4-0 Udinese
Destro 2, 59, Taider 45+2, Danilo 68-og
Caglari 1-0 Pescara
Pedro 23-P
Crotone 1-1 AC Milan
Trotta 8 Paletta 50
Empoli 1-3 Sassuolo
Pucciarelli 24-P Peluso 20,
Matri 34, Duncan 57
Genoa 1-2 Chievo
Pandev 43 Bastien 60, Birsa 70
Palermo 2-0 Fiorentina
Diamanti 32, Aleesami 90
Inter Milan 0-1 Napoli
Callejon 43
POINTS TABLE
Teams P W D L GD Pts
Juventus 34 27 3 4 48 84
Roma 34 24 3 7 44 75
Napoli 34 22 8 4 43 74
Lazio 34 20 7 7 24 67
Atalanta 34 19 7 8 19 64