Skip to main content

Virat Kohli is perfect for No. 4 spot: AB de Villiers

India has struggled to find a suitable No.4 ever since Yuvraj Singh retired from cricket from | The Hindu https://ift.tt/gQTYZn4

Bundesliga: Erling Braut Haaland draws a blank as Borussia Dortmund crash at Augsburg

Berlin: Borussia Dortmund crashed to a 2-0 defeat at Augsburg on Saturday as Norway striker Erling Braut Haaland failed to rescue the visitors on his return to Bavaria, where he wrote Bundesliga history in January.

With defending champions Bayern Munich at Hoffenheim on Sunday, last season's runners-up Dortmund blew the chance to build on their impressive 3-0 win over Borussia Moenchengladbach last Saturday when Haaland scored twice in an electric display on the opening weekend of the season.

The 20-year-old has netted 18 goals in 21 games this year for Dortmund and wrote himself into Bundesliga history in January when he became the first player to score a hat-trick off the bench on his German league debut.

Haaland's three goals in 20 minutes sparked a 5-3 fight-back win.

However, the Norwegian hot-shot drew a blank on his return to Augsburg's WWK-Arena with just one clear shot on goal as centre-back Felix Uduokhai powered home a header for the hosts from a free-kick on 40 minutes.

Augsburg's former Schalke playmaker Daniel Caligiuri added to Dortmund's misery by holding off Thomas Meunier to fire home the hosts' second on 54 minutes.

Haaland was booked with a half an hour gone after some pushing and shoving with Augsburg defender Jeffrey Gouweleeuw, who was also shown a yellow card.

Dortmund had three times as many shots on goal and dominated with 80 percent possession, which left their Swiss coach Lucian Favre to admit, "we are very disappointed, it's hard to accept this defeat".

"We have much to do," admitted Favre, with one eye on Wednesday's German Super Cup match against Bayern in Munich.

"We almost completely dominated the game, we started well, but we weren't precise enough and were too hasty in our play.

"Augsburg defended well, we need to be more patient and play more down the flanks."

Schalke crash again

Schalke coach David Wagner is on the verge of being dismissed with his side now 18 games without a win after slumping to a 3-0 defeat at home by Werder Bremen, whose striker Niclas Fellkrug claimed a hat-trick.

Schalke were hammered 8-0 by Bayern last weekend and Bremen profited from some equally woeful defending.

Fullkrug tapped home his first goal on 22 minutes, was left unmarked to head home a free-kick on 37 minutes, then converted a penalty on the hour before Mark Uth scored Schalke's late consolation goal.

There could also be consequences for Schalke centre-back Ozan Kabak who was sent off for a second yellow card late on.

Television cameras also caught Kabak spitting at defender Ludwig Augustinsson after a tackle just before the break, which the referee missed.

"I didn't notice it at the time," said Augustinsson after watching a post-match replay, "but it has nothing to do with football or fair play".

Earlier RB Leipzig were held to a 1-1 draw at Bayer Leverkusen as Emil Forsberg's superb opening goal for the Champions League semi-finalists was cancelled out by a long-range effort from Leverkusen's Kerem Demirbay.

Leverkusen's new signing Patrik Schick, who spent last season on loan at Leipzig, curled in a superb shot from 16 metres out but his stunning strike was ruled offside with 23 minutes left.

Borussia Moenchengladbach had to settle for a point at home to Union Berlin in their 1-1 draw.

Marcus Thuram's headed goal for Gladbach on 56 minutes was cancelled out by an equaliser from Union defender Nico Schlotterbeck, 20, making his Bundesliga appearance for the Berlin-based club, with 11 minutes left.

History was made in Arminia Bielefeld's 1-0 win at Cologne as Joan Simun Edmundsson, 29 came on to score the winner and become the first Faroe Island player to play and score in the Bundesliga.

Newly-promoted Stuttgart romped to a thumping 4-1 win at 10-man Mainz.

Sweden forward Robin Quaison scored early on for Mainz, but Congo winger Silas Wamangituka and Daniel Didavi netted for Stuttgart before Mainz had Moussa Niakhate sent off for a second booking.

The flood gates opened with goals by replacement Mateo Klimowicz and forward Sasa Kalajdzic in the final ten minutes.



from Firstpost Sports Latest News https://ift.tt/3czPIkX

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Past masters of Indian badminton: Meena Shah defied norm to clinch dozen national titles before knee injury cut career short

In the history of women’s badminton in India, there have been three outstanding players who have each had the distinction of bagging the national singles title seven times in a row. The first of these was Meena Shah, who made the national crown her own between 1959 and ’65; the second was Madhumita Goswami-Bisht, who won the title in an unbroken reel of seven from 1984 to ’90, and ended up with ten singles crowns; and the third was Aparna Popat, who made it nine in a row between 1997 and 2005. Stroke artist Ami Ghia-Shah, who reached an unbelievable 15 national singles finals among the 36 summit clashes she managed in a 19-year career, has also been anointed national singles queen on seven occasions, but these were not in consecutive years. Ami won four consecutive titles from 1973 to ’76, and then again in 1979, ’80 and ’83. There is one thing that Aparna, Madhumita and Ami had in common – they have all been slim and trim during their reign at the top. Meena Shah, on the other hand