Sports

Perhaps Cristiano Ronaldo wasn’t aware that Real Madrid’s match against Malmo was mostly meaningless.

More likely, he just didn’t care — especially with a record in reach.

Whatever the case, Ronaldo scored four goals and set up two others Tuesday as Madrid routed Malmo 8-0, making him the first player with 10 goals or more in the group stage of the Champions League.

The Portuguese striker reached 11 goals in six games, surpassing the nine scored by Luiz Adriano with Shakhtar Donetsk last season. Ronaldo also scored nine times in the 2013-14 season group stage.

Madrid had already secured first place in Group A, but the convincing victory helped ease the pressure on coach Rafa Benitez and club President Florentino Perez.

Meanwhile, Ronaldo’s former club Manchester United was relegated to the Europa League after getting beaten 3-2 by Wolfsburg, as the German side advanced to the round of 16 for the first time.

The loss, coupled with PSV Eindhoven’s 2-1 home victory over CSKA Moscow, dropped United to third place in Group B.

Wolfsburg won the group and PSV also advanced.

Atletico Madrid won Group C by beating Benfica 2-1 to leapfrog the Portuguese host, who took second.

In Group D, Manchester City scored three late goals in a five-minute span to beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 4-2 and finish top for the first time. Juventus, last season’s runner-up, wasted a chance to finish first with a 1-0 loss at Sevilla, although still advanced.

Group A

Ronaldo’s exploits overshadowed a hat trick by Karim Benzema at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

It was the second straight game in which Benzema scored at least two goals after a brace in the team’s 4-1 win over Getafe in the Spanish league on Saturday. Those were his first goals since being implicated in a blackmail case in relation to an alleged extortion scam over a sex tape featuring his French national teammate Mathieu Valbuena.

“We are very satisfied and happy for all of the Madrid fans who didn’t lose faith in this team,” said Benitez, who was in command of Liverpool when it routed Besiktas in 2007. “This is football, things change week after week. It’s important for us to keep winning.” 

Mateo Kovacic also scored for Madrid.

Also, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Lucas set each other up for goals as Paris Saint-Germain beat Shakhtar Donetsk 2-0.

PSG was already guaranteed to finish second behind Madrid.

Madrid advanced with 16 points and PSG with 13. Shakhtar finished third with three points and dropped into the Europa League while Malmo came last, also with three points but with only one goal scored and 21 conceded.

Group B

Central defender Naldo scored a brace as Wolfsburg advanced to the knockout stage for the first time when it beat three-time winner Manchester United 3-2. United dropped to third place in the group when PSV Eindhoven came from behind to beat CSKA Moscow 2-1 and join Wolfsburg in the round of 16.

Wolfsburg won the group with 12 points and PSV finished with 10, two more than United, who will now have to play in the Europa League. CSKA finished last with four points.

PSV advanced for the first time since 2006. Veteran defender Sergei Ignashevic converted a 76th-minute penalty to give CSKA the lead, but PSV captain Luuk de Jong equalized just two minutes later, and midfielder Davy Proepper’s low shot sealed the win in the 86th minute.

In Wolfsburg, Anthony Martial put United ahead in the 10th minute, but Naldo volleyed in the equaliser in the 14th minute. Vieirinha regained the lead for Wolfsburg in the 29th minute, before an own goal by Joshua Guilavogui in the 82nd minute tied the score. But two minutes later Naldo scored his second with a header to seal Wolfsburg’s victory.

Group C

Luciano Vietto scored one goal and set up another as Atletico Madrid won 2-1 at Benfica to win the group.

Playing at the same stadium where it lost the 2014 final, Diego Simeone’s side avenged a 2-1 loss to Benfica from earlier this season.

Vietto passed for midfielder Saul Niguez to convert Atletico’s aggressive start into a goal after half an hour, before he added a strike of his own early in the second half.

Benfica substitute Kostas Mitroglou halved the difference in the 75th minute.

Galatasaray was held to 1-1 at home by Astana in the other Group C match. The Turkish side finished third and will join the Europa League.

Atletico finished with 13 points, Benfica with 10, Galatasaray with five and Astana with four.

Group D

Raheem Sterling netted in the 80th and 81st minutes and Wilfried Bony scored in the 85th minute to spark Manchester City’s late turnaround in a 4-2 win over Borussia Moenchengladbach

To qualify in first place, City also needed Juventus to lose in Sevilla and last season’s runner-up was beaten 1-0.

Sevilla secured a berth in the Europa League as Fernando Llorente scored against his former team.

On the two previous occasions City reached the knockout stage, it was runner-up in the group and drew Barcelona both times. The English club is likely to get an easier draw in the last 16 this time.

City finished with 12 points, Juventus with 11, Sevilla with six and ‘Gladbach with five.

TOKYO — Lionel Messi is the most famous of a variety of characters at the Club World Cup which includes Auckland City’s part-timers, former Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari and bunny-hopping Congolese goalkeeper Robert Kidiaba.

Messi’s Barcelona are runaway favourites to win the somewhat quirky tournament which, as much as anything, serves as reminder of the chasm which separates club football in Europe from the rest of the world.

The Catalans head a field which also includes South American champions River Plate, CONCACAF’s America, African champions TP Mazembe, Scolari’s Guangzhou Evergrande, the champions of Asia, and Oceania’s Auckland City.

Sanfrecce Hiroshima, who qualified as champions of host nation Japan, complete the line-up.

The tournament, successor to the sometimes volatile games in the Intercontinental Cup, is largely unloved and ignored in Europe, yet regarded as the pinnacle for teams in other parts of the world.

South American sides, in particular, spend months preparing and are invariably followed by thousands of fans who travel halfway around the world.

“My feeling is that even though they’re finals, the European teams feel that they’re going to end up winning,” said River Plate midfielder Lucho Gonzalez.

“When they start out feeling relaxed they often end up having a tougher test than they expected. For us, though, these kinds of games are like touching the sky.”

Modern football

The dynamics of modern football means that the top South American players will be playing against, rather than for, their region’s representatives.

While European champions Barcelona will be fielding Brazilian Neymar, Uruguayan Luis Suarez and Argentine Messi in a dream strikeforce, River Plate will have to make do with mainly journeymen professionals.

River Plate’s team is fairly typical of South American club football where, for many players, a career in Russia, Ukraine, the Middle East or Australia can be preferable to staying in the ramshackle domestic game.

River have three types of players in their squad — youngsters still hoping to move abroad, veterans who have returned home to play out their careers and those who are not good enough to make the move.

Their nickname, the “Millionaires”, is especially ironic given that their entire squad is worth less than Neymar or Messi alone.

Despite this, River, who have enjoyed a stunning revival under former Argentina midfielder Marcelo Gallardo, are still seen as the main challengers to Barcelona.

Sanfrecce Hiroshima and Auckland City, a team largely made-up of part-time professionals who last year reached the semifinals and took South American champions San Lorenzo to extra-time, kick-off the tournament on Thursday.

The winners will progress to the quarter-finals — of which there are two — where they will face TP Mazembe in Osaka on Sunday with River Plate awaiting in the semifinals.

Bouncing Kidiaba

Mazembe, from Democratic Republic of Congo, became the first African team to reach the final in 2010 when they stunned Brazil’s Internacional.

Their most easily identifiable player is Kidiaba, who celebrates goals by bouncing around his goalmouth on his back-side.

In the other quarter-final, also on Sunday, America face Guangzhou where Scolari is attempting to revive a career which has been blighted by Brazil’s 7-1 defeat by Germany at the World Cup on home soil last year.

The winners of that match meet Barcelona in the semifinal. Scolari, an old hand in knockout games, would like nothing more than a chance to try and knock the European champions out of their stride with some of his well-documented spoiling tactics.

Winning the Asian Champions League has already helped Scolari put his awful 2014 behind him.

“I’d like to summarise my answer in one sentence: the winners are those who will not give up,” the man known as Big Phil said after Guangzhou beat Al Ahli over two legs to win the Asian trophy.

“My next target is the Club World Cup, and why not? Because I have such a great team, great players and a great club and so, of course, we can realise that dream.”

Jose Mourinho’s job could be on the line when Chelsea host Porto in the Champions League on Wednesday, and Alex Ferguson has urged the Londoners not to jettison their manager even if the result goes against them.

Woefully out-of-form Chelsea have already lost 11 matches in all competitions this season, but need only a draw against Porto to qualify for the knockout stages.

Former Manchester United great Ferguson said Russian owner Roman Abramovich must ignore the criticism the club are receiving and keep faith in Mourinho.

“He has sacked so many coaches in the last 10 years that I am sure he has learned by it,” Ferguson was quoted as saying by the Daily Telegraph.

“He has to trust and have confidence Jose can turn it around. There is no point in sacking one of the best coaches of all time, he’s won the European Cup twice, he’s won the league in each country he’s managed in, he’s won the big trophies.

“It would be foolish to take that step to sack him. That would be bad management,” added Ferguson.

Defeat on Wednesday and a consequent drop into the Europa League for Chelsea would certainly test Abramovich’s patience.

After a 1-0 home defeat by promoted Bournemouth on Saturday, Mourinho said for the first time that finishing in the top four of the Premier League to qualify for next season’s Champions League was looking unlikely.

Chelsea, who are 14th in the Premier League with only four wins from 15 matches, are likely to have captain John Terry back after injury.

With Dynamo Kiev expected to win at home to Maccabi Tel Aviv, who have lost all five group matches so far, a draw for Porto would eliminate the Portuguese side unless the Ukrainians fail to win.

It was at Porto that Mourinho made his reputation, winning the 2003 UEFA Cup and the 2004 Champions League.

Although the Chelsea fans have remained supportive, the stadium is likely to be tense, at least until their team make a breakthrough.

“It’s difficult for us to score,” said Mourinho after the Bournemouth game. “Scoring goals is a lot about individuals.”

Spain forward Diego Costa netted their only goal in the previous three Premier League games but he has been lacklustre and did not start either of the last two matches, with Eden Hazard playing as the main striker.

Porto, who beat Chelsea 2-1 on matchday two, had hoped to tie up qualification in the previous round of games but slumped to a 2-0 home defeat by Kiev.

They are second in the Portuguese League, two points behind Sporting Lisbon, after coming from behind at the weekend to beat Pacos de Ferreira 2-1 with goals by Jesus Corona and Miguel Layun who is on loan from Premier League Watford. 

Arsenal will put one of the best Champions League records on the line when they face Olympiakos Piraeus in a showdown for second spot in Group F on Wednesday.

As well as competing in the tournament for the 18th season in a row, the London club have qualified for the second stage in each of the past 15 campaigns.

That run is in jeopardy, not so much due to a 5-1 hammering by group winners Bayern Munich but because Arsenal were beaten in their opening two games including a shock 3-2 defeat at home to Olympiakos.

Now they must reverse that scoreline or improve on it to preserve their proud record under Arsene Wenger, who will be missing seven players including Alexis Sanchez, Santi Cazorla, Mikel Arteta and Jack Wilshere.

Wenger was particularly pleased with Saturday’s 3-1 win at home to Sunderland, a victory that lifted Arsenal to second place in the Premier League.

“For our confidence it was vital,” the French coach told reporters. “I was very nervous because I knew it was a very important game for our season.

“It is better to prepare for the [Olympiakos] game knowing we have won. The one positive thing is we know exactly what to do.

“Most of the time when we have been to Olympiakos we have not had a lot to do because we had already qualified. This time it is the opposite,” added Wenger.

It is Arsenal’s fourth visit in seven seasons and each time the game has come on matchday six.

Defining moment

For Olympiakos the match is being billed by local media as a defining moment in a breakthrough year for Portuguese coach Marco Silva.

The 38-year-old has led the Greeks to 12 successive Super League victories since the season kicked off as they chase a host of club records.

Silva has also won widespread praise for the European performances.

Greece midfielder Kostas Fortounis, one of the outstanding players for Olympiakos this season, is relishing the game with Arsenal.

“This is a showdown, no doubt about it, out of which only one team can claim qualification to the next stage,” he said after the 4-3 win at Panthrakikos at the weekend, a result that gave them a 10-point lead at the top of the Super League.

Olympiakos are relatively injury-free but Silva must decide whether to include fit-again Argentine midfielder Esteban Cambiasso in place of Luka Milivojevic or Pajtim Kasami.

Brown Ideye, who spent last season at West Bromwich Albion, will come back into the attack after being rested at the weekend.

Bayer Leverkusen’s place in the Champions League is hanging by a thread going into its home game against Barcelona, and Omer Toprak admits his side only has a slim chance of qualification for the knockout stages.

Leverkusen has to secure a famous win if it is to progress to the knockout stages, with three outcomes still possible — qualification, a third-place finish and Europa League spot or complete elimination from continental football.

The Bundesliga side is third in Group E on five points, level with Roma, which has a superior head-to-head record. BATE, which travels to the Italian capital in the group’s other match, is also still in contention on four points.

Bayern Munich look to finish their Champions League group-stage campaign with a flourish against Dinamo Zagreb.

There is little to play for in Wednesday’s Group F clash at the Stadion Maksimir with Bundesliga champions Bayern guaranteed top spot, while Dinamo are consigned to a fourth-placed finish and elimination from Europe for this season.

However, Bayern will be keen to make an impression after finding themselves in the unfamiliar position of having to bounce back from defeat following an abject showing at Borussia Park on Saturday.

AMMAN — Faisali will be aiming to take the lead atop the 64th Jordan Professional Football League standings when week 10 kicks off Wednesday.

The former champs will play Baqa’a, who are having one of their worst seasons and are now last with no wins. Faisali beat Hussein Irbid to maintain second place on points behind titleholders Wihdat, who were held 0-0 with Ramtha and next play Jazira.

Jazira are now 8th after a 2-0 win over That Ras, who dropped to 10th and next play 9th placed Kufrsoum, who were held to a 0-0 draw by Sarih.

Shabab Urdun are up to 3rd after they beat Baqa’a 1-0. They next play Ahli, who were held to a 1-1 draw by Asala and maintained 5th place.

Ramtha who dropped to 9th next play Asala, while Hussein Irbid play Sarih. 

So far this season, Jordan Cup titleholders Faisali beat Wihdat 1-0 to win the 33rd Super Cup. Apart from conceding the Super Cup, Wihdat were also knockout the Jordan Cup this season.

Wihdat have been league champions for the past two consecutive years. Faisali finished at a disappointing 7th place in the league last year as runner-up and third places went to Jazira and Ramtha.

League Standings
(Last week’s position in parenthesis) 

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina — Charlotte moved within half a game of the NBA Southeast Division lead with a 104-84 win over Detroit on Monday while division leader Miami was beaten at home by Washington.

Cody Zeller scored 20 points for the Hornets, who have won seven of nine to climb up the standings.

Miami’s Chris Bosh was ejected as the Heat was defeated by Detroit, costing the Florida team the overall lead in the Eastern Conference, which was taken by idle Cleveland.

In another key result, Dallas survived a withering finish by New York to beat the Knicks on their home court.

Charlotte’s Marvin Williams scored 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Kemba Walker had 14 points and nine rebounds for the Hornets, who won the rebound tally 57-41 despite the absence of injured centre Al Jefferson.

The Pistons, who had won their previous four games, were led by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s 16 points.

Washington’s John Wall scored 26 points one night after leaving a game with a sore knee, leading the Wizards to a 114-103 win at Miami.

Gary Neal added 21 including a debated 3-pointer with just over a minute left, with Miami claiming Bradley Beal had travelled on the play. Neal’s three put the Wizards up by five points and effectively sealed the result.

Bosh was ejected soon after for arguing calls and non-calls; the second ejection of his 13-year career.

Dwyane Wade led Miami with 26 points.

Dallas survived a comeback attempt sparked by Kristaps Porzingis and won 104-97 at New York.

Porzingis finished with 28 points in his first matchup with Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki, the German great he has been compared to for his perimeter shooting skills by a 7-footer. Nowitzki scored 25 points.

The Latvian rookie made consecutive 3-pointers as the Knicks cut what had been a 23-point deficit to 101-97 with 43 seconds left, then blocked Deron Williams’ shot. But Carmelo Anthony was called for an offensive foul as the Knicks were trying to get the ball to Porzingis for another shot, and Nowitzki followed with a free throw before Williams made two more to close it out.

Los Angeles’ DeAndre Jordan had 20 points and 12 rebounds to lift the Clippers to a 110-106 win at Minnesota and their fifth victory in six games.

The Clippers trailed 98-95 with a minute to play, but Jordan threw down an alley-oop and then blocked a shot. Blake Griffin scored on a layup for a 99-98 lead with 25 seconds to play. The Clippers won a free throw shooting contest to close it out.

Griffin had 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Chris Paul made a surprise return to the line-up after missing the previous two games with a rib injury.

Los Angeles went 26 for 29 at the free throw line and even Jordan was 4 of 6.

Karl-Anthony Towns had 18 points on 7-for-9 shooting, including 3 of 3 from 3-point range for the Timberwolves.

Phoenix came from 16 points down in the fourth quarter to stun Chicago and win 103-101.

Mirza Teletovic scored 21 points, including a follow basket with 0.3 seconds left, to cap the victory.

Brandon Knight had 17 of his 21 points in the fourth to snap a four-game skid. The Suns outscored Chicago 42-24 in the final period.

Pau Gasol scored 22 points to lead the Bulls.

San Antonio dismantled hapless Philadelphia 119-69, providing a sobering experience for new 76ers executive Jerry Colangelo sitting courtside.

Milwaukee’s Greg Monroe sank a layup to the Bucks ahead with seconds left and John Henson swatted away a potential game-winning shot, securing a 90-88 win against Portland.

Boston won 111-93 at struggling New Orleans, led by 22 points from Isaiah Thomas.

Toronto ended a three-game losing trot with a 102-93 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers, with Kyle Lowry scoring 27 points.

The Golden State Warriors improved to 22-0 on Sunday with a 114-98 victory over the Brooklyn Nets, with guard Stephen Curry scoring 11 of his 28 points in the final 2:10 of the third quarter.

The Warriors opened the game with a 25-8 lead and held a 15-point lead with 1:49 remaining in the first half, but Curry went on his scoring spree after Golden State faced a trio of five-point deficits.

His timely spree featured a mix of aggressive moves and effective perimeter play.

“It’s pretty purposeful just trying to see if I can get some room and figure out a way to impact the game,” Curry said.

“Things started to click. We were down three at the time or something like that, so we just needed a little life. We like to close quarters out strong, and we were obviously able to do that, get a nice lead and not look back from there.”

A minute after Shane Larkin’s three-pointer gave the Nets a 75-70 lead, Curry hit a driving bank shot for a 76-76 deadlock.

On the next possession, Curry gave the Warriors the lead for good with an uncontested three-pointer.

He finished the quarter by finding centre Festus Ezeli for an alley-oop dunk before converting a three-point play and knocking down a three-pointer with 1.9 seconds left for an 87-80 edge.

“It’s a show,” Golden State reserve forward Marreese Speights said of Curry’s performances. “We’re just like fans on the bench enjoying the show every time he gets going.”

“When he needed to, he stepped up and put the dagger in us. He’s a great player,” said Brooklyn coach Lionel Hollins.

The Warriors did not look back, seizing control early in the fourth due to their reserves.

Curry and backcourt mate Klay Thompson sat for the first six minutes as the Warriors took a 106-89 lead, getting their first 19 points of the quarter from the second unit.

Curry and Thompson returned but neither player was needed on the second night of a back-to-back.

While Curry helped the Warriors finish off the win, Thompson got it started. He scored 12 of his 21 points when Golden State appeared on its way to a runaway in the opening quarter. Forward Draymond Green finished with 22 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.

“We got stops and got out and ran,” Green said. “Once we run, it’s tough to stop us, and 30 [Curry] was 30 (Curry).”

Ezeli scored 12 points and guard Leandro Barbosa contributed eight of his eleven early in the fourth.

Golden State shot 51 per cent and made 14 of 33 3-pointers while getting a standing ovation from most of the fans at Barclays Center after the final buzzer. The Warriors posted their 26th consecutive regular-season victory dating to April 9 and 12th road win of the season.

The Nets (5-15) started the Sunday game as a duplicate of Friday’s ugly loss to the New York Knicks. After falling behind 17 in the opening quarter, Brooklyn scored the final 12 points of the first half, getting within 57-54 on a three-pointer by forward Joe Johnson in the final seconds.

Forward Thaddeus Young led the Nets with 25 points, with two of his baskets giving the Nets leads of 66-61 and 68-63 a few minutes before Curry’s flurry.

“We’ve got to calm the flame down,” Young said. “Once he starts to get going, starts to get in his rhythm, it’s hard to stop the whole team. They’re a good team. They wouldn’t be 22-0 if they weren’t a good team.”

TORONTO — Golden State had to work hard to win 112-109 at Toronto on Saturday and extend their NBA record season start to 21-0, led by Stephen Curry’s nine 3-pointers and 44 points.

The Warriors’ superb start to the campaign has obscured some other strong early-season form by the likes of San Antonio, which improved to 17-4 with a similarly tight win against Boston.

Golden State are already nine-and-a-half games clear atop the Pacific Division ahead of the Los Angeles Clippers, who had a narrow win against Orlando, while the pick of the Eastern Conference games saw Charlotte secure a creditable win at Chicago.

Curry was 14 for 24 from the field and 9 for 15 from beyond the arc, while Klay Thompson scored 26 points for the Warriors.

Kyle Lowry made six 3-pointers and scored a career-high 41 points for the Raptors.

San Antonio improved their home record to 11-0 by defeating Boston 108-105.

LaMarcus Aldridge scored 17 points, and Boris Diaw added 16 for the Spurs.

Isaiah Thomas had 23 points for the Celtics, who missed their last chance when the ball went out of bounds on an attempted full-court inbound pass.

Orlando’s five-game winning streak came to an end in Los Angeles, losing 102-101 at the Clippers.

Jamal Crawford scored 16 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter, while Blake Griffin had 28 points and 13 rebounds as Los Angeles won in the absence of injured guards Chris Paul and J.J. Redick.

Reserve Victor Oladipo scored a season-high 24 points for the Magic, who blew all of a 12-point lead early in the fourth.

Charlotte’s Nicolas Batum scored 12 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter go guide the Hornets to a 102-96 win at Chicago.

Chicago and Charlotte were tied 94-94 before Zeller made two free throws and Walker hit a jumper with 28.9 seconds remaining. Those two players finished with 17 points each for the Hornets, who played their first road game in 18 days.

Jimmy Butler scored 25 points for the Bulls while Pau Gasol scored 13 points in his 1,000th career regular-season game.

Cleveland gave a weary LeBron James the night off against his old team and paid the penalty as Miami beat the Cavaliers 99-84.

Dwyane Wade and Tyler Johnson scored 19 points apiece for the Heat, who held Cleveland to 36 per cent shooting and sent the Cavaliers to their third straight loss.

Richard Jefferson started in place of James and led Cleveland with 16 points. James had played all the previous 19 games this season.

Utah’s Derrick Favours scored a career-high 35 points as the Jazz rallied to win 122-119 in overtime against Indiana.

Milwaukee used a 21-4 run in the third quarter to pull away from New York and went on to beat the Knicks 106-91, with Michael Carter-Williams scoring 20 points.

Houston’s James Harden scored 31 points to lead the Rockets past Sacramento 120-113 and to a third straight win.

Portland came from 17 points down in the third quarter to win 109-103 at Minnesota, with Damian Lillard overcoming a slow start to finish with 19 points.

Denver’s Danilo Gallinari scored 24 points, including the go-ahead slam dunk with under a minute remaining, to boost the Nuggets to a 108-105 win against hapless Philadelphia.

LONDON — Not long ago Chelsea losing to Bournemouth in the Premier League would have been inconceivable. Actually impossible.

For much of the 21st century Chelsea have been collecting every major trophy in European football, while Bournemouth have fought to stay in business or avoid dropping out of England’s professionals leagues.

No wonder then that Bournemouth’s 1-0 victory at Stamford Bridge on Saturday was acclaimed by manager Eddie Howe as “the best individual result in the club’s history”. Not since 2001 had Chelsea lost to a Premier League newcomer.

Yet on another level it was not so unexpected for the 125-year-old team from the south coast to pull off this upset. It’s been that kind of a season when the pressure has mounted on Jose Mourinho as Chelsea have gone from winning the Premier League by eight points to losing on Saturday for an eighth time in the 15-game-old title defence.

Once Chelsea and Bournemouth were three divisions apart. Now just two points split them in the topflight as they both hover above the relegation zone. Chelsea, four-time Premier League winners in the last decade, is approaching the midway point of the season an alarming 17 points behind surprise leader Leicester, who were themselves fighting relegation for much of last season.

This wasn’t a subdued Chelsea performance although waves of attacks were thwarted as goalkeeper Artur Boruc blocked shots from Pedro Rodriguez, Oscar, Branislav Ivanovic and Eden Hazard. But returning striker Diego Costa, a second-half substitute, never caused Boruc any problems.

And against the run of play, Bournemouth’s goal came in the 82nd minute when Chelsea failed to clear a corner and Glenn Murray sent a diving header in the net less than two minutes after coming on as a substitute.

“We tried to impose ourselves on Chelsea,” Howe said. “I thought we were very good with the ball. We broke well and counter-attacked well a couple of times and gave them problems and we defended well.”

The landmark result was achieved despite nine first-team players featuring on Bournemouth’s injury list.

“It gives the players some reward for how hard they’ve worked,” said Howe, a former Bournemouth player who went around town with buckets collecting cash to keep the club afloat during the late 1990s.

“We’ve been hit with a lot of things, the injuries and some dominant performances that haven’t won games and it’s been tough, but the players have kept going.”

Mourinho was left bemoaning the referee’s decision not to award a penalty before Bournemouth’s goal when Simon Francis handled, although he did acknowledge some of Chelsea’s shortcomings.

“In the first half we were a bit passive and didn’t press enough,” Mourinho said. “We were not intense enough with the ball, without the ball to create problems to our opponents. In the second half we did that. We created problems... I’m really disappointed with this result. Not so disappointed with the performance because especially in the second half the performance was good.”

When Mourinho first took charge of Chelsea in 2004, Bournemouth were languishing in the third tier of English football. When the self-styled “Special One” was winning the Italian and Champions League titles with Inter Milan from 2008 to 2010, Bournemouth were scrapping away at the bottom of the fourth tier.

“We’ve got the Special One,” Bournemouth’s visiting fans chanted Saturday about the 38-year-old Howe, who is regarded as one of the brightest emerging managers in English football.

Howe steered Bournemouth into the topflight for the first time by winning the League Championship in May.

While Chelsea have enjoyed hundreds of millions of dollars of investment from billionaire Roman Abramovich in the last 12 years, Bournemouth have only benefited from more modest Russian investment from Maxim Demin since 2011.

Bournemouth came close to dropping out of the four professional leagues in 2009 before embarking on a remarkable rise. Chicago-based PEAK6 Investments last month bought a quarter of the team, which plays in a stadium with a capacity of less than 12,000.

“The boys are gaining belief every week and I think it showed,” Murray said after Bournemouth climbed a point outside the relegation zone.

AQABA — Jordan’s Deif Allah Awwad (Male, 1:11:08h) and Hanoia Hasaballah (Female, 1:24:50h) on Friday were crowned champions of the 11th edition of the Ayla Red Sea Half Marathon with the participation of more than 2,000 runners from around the world.

Hani Mulqi, chief commissioner of the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority, deputised for HH Prince Firas Bin Raad, chairman of Run  Jordan and patron of the event which witnessed participation from the US, Germany, Hungry, Great Britain, Egypt, Sudan, France, Japan, Argentina, Philippines and Morocco in all race categories: The 21km Half Marathon, 10km Fun Run and 4.2km Children’s Race. 

Lina Al Kurd, general manager of Run Jordan, told The Jordan Times that it was an amazing turnout.

“We thank all those who are making the marathon a success with special thanks to all sponsors, media and volunteers. This year’s event was under the slogan “Run for a Cause” to highlight an important aspect of all Run Jordan events that twenty per cent of the ticket sales go to charity,” she said.

“We are happy to see this number of fans of the marathon taking part and the best of all we saw families participating in all categories of the event. Next year, we are planning more events to suit everyone,” she added.

Ghazi Farouq, Run Jordan board member, said that students were the main focus this year.

“We had a long list of schools and university students taking part in the event and this is what made this year’s event so special and we thank Ayla for sponsoring the students and orphans to take part in the event,” he said.

The race witnessed heavy participation of runners from Jordan governorates.

“The start was a bit windy and dusty which was annoying a bit for us but we did well and finished the race and this is an achievement for us,” Zarqa resident, Hlail Fayez ,who took part in the 10km said. 

Ahmad Hweitat from Ma’an expressed his happiness in being able to do something to help those in need through sports.

“This is our chance to make a difference in our society and through running we can contribute in doing good things for others,” he said.

“It was well organised but as usual we faced some fans blocking the way, but we know it is because they are excited like us,” he added.

This year Run Jordan established cooperation agreements with two major NGO’s in the city of Aqaba namely: The Friends of Autism Society; which helps to support autistic children and their families in the southern region of the Kingdom, and the Bride of the South Orphan Society; which offers counselling and educational support for orphans.

Results

21km

Male 

Deif Allah Awwad1:11:08h 

Stephen Shelande 1:12:19h  

Bashar Rahel 1:13:52h

Female 

Hanoia Hasaballah 1:24:50h

Heidi Shelander1:33:14h 

Samah Al Najjar1:34:51h

Wheelchair 21km

Male 

Ali Sawalmeh1:20:49h 

Belal Abu Mansi1:50:46h 

Raed Kasaema2:18:56h

Visual Impaired 21km

Male

Abdelraoof Khateeb 1:30:49h 

10km

Male

Ahmad Samoor32:10m 

Hamzah Al oshosh32:52m 

Haitham Abu Jarad32:58m

Female

Sojood Al Khutaba41:24m 

Sabreah Al Moradat41:46m 

Hanan Al Moradat46:27m

Wheelchair 10km

Male

Ali Sawalmeh44:48m 

Ahmad Mahasneh1:28:19 h

Visually impaired 10km

Male

Nabeel Magableh36:51m 

Moath Tarefi1:09:22h

Children’s race

Male

Obada Abu Aqel15:30m

Mohammad Abu Amera15:42m

Mohammad Hamadah15:50m

Female

Naseba Aloshaebat15:52m

Ibtesam Al Katba15:52m

Hanan Al Oshosh16:00m

AMMAN — The 11th Ayla Red Sea Half Marathon kicks off on Friday with the participation of thousands of local, regional and international runners.

The event held under the theme “Run for a Cause”, is accredited by the  International Association of Athletics Federations  and consists of three categories: 21km Half Marathon, 10km Fun Run and 4.2km Children’s Race. 

Lina Al Kurd, deputy general manager of Run Jordan told The Jordan Times that the preparations for the biggest event in Aqaba are complete. 

“We have finalised the route for all three races and coordinated all efforts of those involved in the organisation of the event. We are expecting huge crowds from around the world to take part in the event considered the most popular running event at the end of the year,” she said.

 “We have selected a new theme for this year’s event which focuses on doing something good and this will be a kind of support to charities who are working in helping those who need help,” she added.

Run Jordan has established agreements with two major NGO’s in the city of Aqaba namely: The Friends of Autism Society, which helps to support autistic children and their families in the southern region of the Kingdom and the Bride of the South Orphan Society, which offers counselling and educational support for orphans.

According to Kurd, the starting point for the 21km race will be the InterContinental Hotel and the end at Thawra Plaza. The 10km and 4.2km events will start from Ayla towards Thawra Plaza.

“We are also focusing on supporting tourism in the Kingdom as the weather in Aqaba in December is really nice and fit to spend a couple of days there with the family and this is what families usually do. They take advantage of what Aqaba weather has to offer at the end of the year and we are happy that many people are encouraged to support tourism,” she said. 

Last year, Ra’fat Zboun was crowned champion of the 21km race of the men’s category after clocking 1h9m30s, followed by Ayman Suradi (1h11m33s) and Bashar Raheel (1h12m2s).

In the 21km women’s category Sudan’s Hanouya Hasballah came first in 1h16m 24s, followed by Razam Muqbel (1h36m48s) and Samah Najjar (1h38m6s).

In the 21km Wheelchair category, Ali Sawalmeh clocked 1h16m24s, followed by Bilal Bersameh (1h42m49s) and Raed Qasaymeh (2h12m29s).

In the 21km Visually Impaired category Suhail Nashash clocked 1h25m31s, followed by Abed Raouf (1h30m5s).