arabnews.com - Bivol takes Beterbiev’s light-heavyweight crown in Riyadh classic

Bivol takes Beterbiev’s light-heavyweight crown in Riyadh classic

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia: Dmitry Bivol dethroned Artur Beterbiev as undisputed light-heavyweight champion in a thrilling contest in Riyadh in the early hours of Sunday. Four months after their first classic encounter, 34-year-old Bivol won a majority points decision against his Russian compatriot, six years his senior. It was Beterbiev’s first defeat in 22 pro fights but Bivol was a worthy winner after two judges gave him the decision by 116-112 and 115-113 with the third seeing it as a 114-114 draw. “I didn’t have as much pressure like last time. I just wanted to work from the first round until the end of the 12th.

Olmo helps Barcelona grind out win at Las Palmas and keep La Liga league

BARCELONA, Spain: Dani Olmo scored after coming off the bench to help Barcelona win 2-0 at Las Palmas on Saturday and stay top of the Spanish league. Lamine Yamal linked up with Olmo to find a seam in the hosts’ defense in the 62nd minute. Olmo took Yamal’s threaded pass, shifted the ball to his left foot to open an angle around a defender, and fired the ball in off the underside of the bar. While Olmo went on at halftime, Ferran Torres only played the final minutes and drilled in a second goal from angle in stoppage time. Barcelona avenged a shock home loss to the Canary Islands club in November as it ensured it will spend another week atop the standings. The team coached by Hansi Flick is one point ahead of Atletico Madrid, which won 3-0 at Valencia earlier on Saturday.

Ittihad stroll past Hilal in top of the table showdown

JEDDAH: Al-Ittihad took a big step toward the Saudi Pro League (SPL) title on Saturday with a 4-1 win over Al-Hilal in the long-awaited top of the table clash. The victory in Jeddah puts the Tigers seven points clear of their Riyadh rivals with 13 games of the season remaining. The defeat means that Al-Hilal, who strolled to a record 19th championship in 2024, have won just once in their last five games and are struggling to keep pace with Ittihad who have tasted victory in 15 of their last 17 league games. Despite the convincing defeat that came in the end, Al-Hilal took the lead midway through the first half. João Cancelo whipped over a wicked ball from the right and there was Marcos Leonardo to poke it home at the near post for a real poacher’s goal.

Japan’s Forever Young wins $20m Saudi Cup

RIYADH: Japan’s Forever Young hunted down Hong Kong racing royalty Romantic Warrior to land the world’s richest race, the $20 million Saudi Cup in Riyadh on Saturday.

Pakistan coach says fast bowlers key in India clash

DUBAI: Pakistan coach Aaqib Javed on Saturday said his fast bowlers are “match-winners” and will pull out something special against arch-rivals India in their pivotal Champions Trophy clash.

Arsenal lose to West Ham to dent Premier League title challenge and have another player sent off

LONDON: Arsenal’s Premier League title challenge was dented by an unexpected 1-0 home loss to West Ham on Saturday that featured a fifth red card of the season for Mikel Arteta’s team. Second-place Arsenal squandered a chance to trim the gap to Liverpool to five points as Jarrod Bowen’s first-half header secured a win for West Ham, which arrived at Emirates Stadium with just one victory in their last eight games. There was worse to come for Arsenal, with left back Myles Lewis-Skelly handed a red card following a video review for his foul as the last man.

Patrik Schick scores for Leverkusen to send his coach Xabi Alonso a message before Bayern games

BERLIN: Patrik Schick showed Bayer Leverkusen what it was missing against Bayern Munich last week by scoring in a 2-0 win at Holstein Kiel in the Bundesliga on Saturday. Schick, who was omitted by Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso in the top-of-the-table clash with Bayern, got Leverkusen off the mark in the ninth minute in Kiel after Amine Adli did well against two Kiel defenders to set him up. It was Schick’s 15th league goal of the season. Alonso’s decision to only send Schick on late in stoppage time against Bayern raised eyebrows as his team had dominated without scoring for the previous 90 minutes and more with both Schick and fellow striker Victor Boniface watching from the substitutes’ bench. That 0-0 draw kept Bayern eight points clear with 12 rounds left to play. Florian Wirtz played Adli in to make it 2-0 before the break in Kiel, where Leverkusen’s win narrowed the gap to five points before Bayern host Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday. Leverkusen face Bayern again over two games in the last 16 of the Champions League on March 5 and 11.

'Soft' Man Utd have to survive this season, says Amorim

LIVERPOOL: Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim described his side as "soft" despite fighting back from 2-0 down to salvage a 2-2 draw at Everton on Saturday. United looked destined for a ninth defeat in 13 Premier League games when goals from Beto and Abdoulaye Doucoure gave Everton a deserved half-time lead. However, captain Bruno Fernandes inspired a fightback from the visitors to at least prevent another defeat for Amorim's men. Fernandes curled in a free-kick with United's first shot on target on 72 minutes. Manuel Ugarte levelled shortly afterwards after another Fernandes set-piece delivery was only partially cleared. United, though, were fortunate to escape Goodison Park with a point as Everton had a penalty controversially ruled out after a VAR review in stoppage time. The Red Devils remain down in 15th, but are 13 points clear of the bottom three and should be safe from the embarrassment of relegation. "The worst part is that we are losing the ball without pressure and we are not doing what we need to do. We were soft", said Amorim, who has taken just 15 points from a possible 45 since taking charge in November. "In this moment, we need to focus on day-by-day.

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Bivol takes Beterbiev’s light-heavyweight crown in Riyadh classic

Olmo helps Barcelona grind out win at Las Palmas and keep La Liga league

Ittihad stroll past Hilal in top of the table showdown

Japan’s Forever Young wins $20m Saudi Cup

Pakistan coach says fast bowlers key in India clash

Arsenal lose to West Ham to dent Premier League title challenge and have another player sent off

Patrik Schick scores for Leverkusen to send his coach Xabi Alonso a message before Bayern games

'Soft' Man Utd have to survive this season, says Amorim