Borneo Bulletin Digital

THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2020

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Kane strikes

to keep

Tottenham in

Champions

League chase

Page 30

MADRID (AFP) - Barcelona limped

to a 1 0 win over Athletic Bilbao

early yesterday that sends them

back to the top of La Liga, for 24

hours at least, three points ahead

of Real Madrid.

Only a goal from substitute

Ivan Rakitic in the 71

minute pre-

vented Barca from another stale-

mate after a draw at Sevilla on Fri-

day had allowed Real to go top on

head-to-head.

Madrid will return to the sum-

mit if they beat struggling Real

Mallorca but Barcelona’s victory at

least puts the pressure back on Zin-

edine Zidane’s side, whose upward

momentum is yet to be relected by

the table.

This Barca performance though

was hardly a statement of intent,

devoid of chances, lacking zip and

tinged with frustration rather than

the free-lowing football Quique

Setien was appointed to bring in.

“We knew it was going to be

complicated,” Setien said. “Also be-

cause of the situation there is some

anxiety because there’s less and

less margin for error.

“Sometimes we didn’t play with

that composure and that showed in

the irst half when were more inac-

curate than usual. We gave some

belief and conidence to Athletic.”

Lionel Messi looked particularly

wearied by his team’s display. The

Argentinian was creator-in-chief

again but the dependence on him

was high and he remains one away

from the 700

goal of his career.

Rakitic is likely to be among a

handful of players allowed to leave

this summer. He has not been a

regular this season and this was his

irst Barca goal since the Clasico in

March last year.

“It’s a diicult period but we

have to stick together,” said Rakitic.

“It was an important goal, it was a

tough game, it was hard for us to

open the game up.”

Arthur Melo started, despite re-

ports he could be close to joining

Juventus, and struggled.

Sergio Busquets picked up a

yellow card and will be suspended

against Celta Vigo on Saturday but

that should be a simpler assign-

ment than the ones that come af-

ter against in-form Atletico Madrid

and Villarreal.

Athletic Bilbao stay 10

after

suering their irst defeat since La

Liga returned.

They created the better chanc-

es in the irst half. Inaki Williams,

playing his 150

game in a row,

darted in behind and Yeray Alva-

rez should have scored when free

at the back post but missed from

four yards.

Messi cut a frustrated igure as

he tried to create a spark but his

eorts from distance, including

one chip easily collected, hinted at

desperation too.

In the second half, Messi’s lift-

ed pass found Antoine Griezmann

clear in the area but Unai Simon

was quick to close the space and

Griezmann failed to react.

LONDON (AFP) - Manchester City

striker Sergio Aguero will travel to

Spain for further tests on a knee in-

jury that threatens to his season.

The Argentine aggravated a

problem that had bothered him

for more than a month during the

irst half of City’s 5 0 win over

Burnley recently.

He was seen clutching his left

knee before and after a foul by Ben

Mee that earned City a penalty at

the Etihad Stadium.

After the Premier League clash,

City manager Pep Guardiola admit-

ted Aguero’s campaign may be over.

In an indication that the problem

is serious, City revealed on Tuesday

that they are sending the 32-year-

old to see Ramon Cugat, a doctor

in Barcelona.

“Sergio Aguero suered dam-

age to his left knee in our recent

5 0 win over Burnley,” City said on

their Twitter account.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A 2020 Ryder

Cupspokesmansaid theUS Europe

golf showdown remains scheduled

for September in the wake of a Brit-

ish report saying the event would

be postponed to 2021.

The Guardian

newspaper re-

port said that conirmation of a

postponement is expected next

week for the biennial showdown,

now set for Whistling Straits in

Wisconsin on September 25 27.

The ongoing coronavirus pan-

demic has made it unlikely that

spectators would be allowed at

the event in its current date and

travel restrictions due to the dead-

ly disease could be an issue for

fans travelling from Europe even if

a reduced number were allowed.

The report said the Ryder Cup

would remain in odd-numbered

years after the jump to 2021, which

would push the next European-

based Ryder Cup in Italy to 2023.

An event spokesman told Mil-

waukee radio station WTMJ: “The

2020 Ryder Cup remains as sched-

uled, September 22 27, at Whistling

Straits in Kohler, Wisconsin.

“The PGA of America contin-

ues to closely follow the guid-

ance of federal, state, and local

public health authorities. The

safety and well-being of all is our

highest priority.”

The

Golf Channel

and

Golf-

world

both reported that the PGA

of America had no comment on

the report.

World number one Rory McIl-

roy and fellow four-time ma-

jor champion Brooks Koepka

have both said they would not

want to see the matches played

without spectators.

Ryder Cup says golf showdown

remains set for September

Barcelona grind out Bilbao win to put pressure

back on Madrid

Griezmann’s disappointing night

came to an end when he was re-

placed by Ansu Fati, who headed

over with his irst touch. Riqui Puig

also came on and it was the 20-year-

old’s pass that started the attack

for the goal. Messi crossed to the

back post and Arturo Vidal’s header

should have been cleared by Mikel

Balenziaga. Instead, he gave it back

to Messi, whose reverse pass was

taken on by Rakitic, who bundled

through and inished.

Raul Garcia had an open net late

on after Gerard Pique andMarc-Andre

ter Stegen both evaded a cross but he

failed to connect. Fati struck the post

with a rebound in injury-time.

Earlier, Atletico Madrid contin-

ued their surge towards Champi-

ons League qualiication by win-

ning 1 0 at Levante to climb to

third, thanks to an early own goal

by Bruno Gonzalez.

Barcelona’s Lionel Messi dribbles the ball through Athletic Bilbao’s defence during the La Liga match at the Camp

Nou stadium in Barcelona. PHOTO: AP

Man City’s Aguero in Spain for check on knee injury

“The striker will travel to Barcelo-

na to see Dr Ramon Cugat for further

examination. Everyone at City wishes

Sergio the best with his recovery.”

Cugat, who has known Guardiola

since the manager’s days at Barce-

lona, has previously treated City mid-

ielder Kevin De Bruyne and the club’s

former defender Vincent Kompany.

“The scans I did this morning

have conirmed that I have damaged

my left knee,” Aguero tweeted.

Manchester City’s striker Sergio Aguero sits on the pitch after injuring his

knee during the match against Burnley. PHOTO: AP