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Villa boost top five bid, Southampton beaten at Leicester

LONDON: Unai Emery vowed Aston Villa will fight until the end for a place in the Champions League after boosting their bid with a 1-0 win against Fulham on Saturday. Emery’s side are back in the hunt to finish in the Premier League’s top five thanks to Youri Tielemans’ 12th-minute header at Villa Park. Seventh-placed Villa extended their unbeaten run on home turf to 20 games in all competitions, lifting them level with sixth-placed Nottingham Forest and fifth-placed Chelsea on 60 points. After bouncing back from their dismal FA Cup semifinal loss to Crystal Palace last weekend, Villa will hope their rivals falter over the weekend as the top five race heads for a dramatic climax. “If we weren’t winning today, forget it completely,” Emery said. “Today, we got more or less to be close to Europe. Wow, fantastic, brilliant.

Atletico held at Alaves in dry Liga draw

VITORIA, Spain: Atletico Madrid were held to a dull 0-0 draw at relegation-battling Alaves on Saturday in La Liga. Diego Simeone’s side have little to play for in the final weeks of the season, sitting third with Champions League qualification virtually assured and leaders Barcelona nine points ahead of them. Alaves, however, moved provisionally 16th, three points clear of the relegation zone with an important point against their illustrious visitors. Julian Alvarez was sent off in the only moment to get pulses racing in the first half when he connected high on Argentine compatriot Facundo Garces’ leg, but the referee downgraded his red card to yellow after a VAR review. Simeone took off his son Giuliano and Antoine Griezmann as he looked for more energy, bringing on Samuel Lino and regular super-sub Alexander Sorloth. Antonio Sivera saved a Lino long-range effort, Atletico’s first shot on target, with around 20 minutes remaining as what had been a soporific battle burst belatedly into life. Jan Oblak made a superb low stop to thwart Kike Garcia from close range as Eduardo Caudet’s hosts almost found a way through. Sivera clawed out a Clement Lenglet effort and Angel Correa could not convert at the end of a swift counter-attack as Atletico threatened but could not find a winner. “Neither side could get the upper hand, either in possession or in attack, there were no shots in the first half — the game was played in the middle of the pitch without any danger,” admitted Simeone, who turned his attention to the Club World Cup this summer. “We’ve earned (qualification) on our merit...

Norris wins wet Miami sprint to trim Piastri’s lead by a point

MIAMI: Lando Norris won a crash-strewn and wet-to-dry Miami Grand Prix sprint race in a McLaren one-two on Saturday to cut teammate Oscar Piastri’s Formula One lead to nine points. Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, winner of the season’s first sprint in China, finished third with the safety car leading the closing laps before peeling off at the end.

Chile footballer Vidal cleared of suspicion in sexual assault case

SANTIAGO: Chilean football star Arturo Vidal has been cleared of suspicion of sexual assault, prosecutors said Saturday, adding that the complaint made by a woman over a party at a Santiago night club had been dismissed. The woman accused Vidal, 37, and other players from his first-division Colo Colo side of sexual assault at a club, where the footballers were celebrating a birthday on November 4. “We were able to reconstitute the events of that day and, ultimately, there is no evidence to support charges,” prosecutor Felipe Cembrano said in a video sent to the media. Other unnamed members of Vidal’s team remain under investigation, however. Former Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Juventus and Inter Milan midfielder Vidal returned last year to Colo Colo, where he started his career at 17. He was part of the so-called “Golden Generation” that led Chile to victory in the 2015 Copa America.

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Sexual assault Sport News

Villa boost top five bid, Southampton beaten at Leicester

Atletico held at Alaves in dry Liga draw

Norris wins wet Miami sprint to trim Piastri’s lead by a point

Chile footballer Vidal cleared of suspicion in sexual assault case

Spanish court overturns footballer Dani Alves’ rape conviction on appeal

Former Ireland international and Fulham captain hails ‘amazingly brave’ fellow accusers of Mohamed Al Fayed

#MeToo and French cinema: Are we at a tipping point?