Frankly outclassed

LONDON, December 22

Chelsea enjoyed a timely return to form to outplay Tottenham Hotspur in a 2-0 away victory in the Premier League as Frank Lampard outwitted his former mentor Jose Mourinho in their managerial battle on Sunday.

Willian struck both goals for Lampard’s side in the first-half as Chelsea consolidated fourth place while Tottenham’s dismal afternoon went from bad to worse as forward Son Heung-min was shown a red card just past the hour mark. Chelsea coach Lampard conjured a game plan that saw his side dominate from start to finish, aided by a woeful home performance.

A stale tale in Real vs Bilbao

Madrid: Real Madrid finished 2019 with growing concerns over its attack and trailing Barcelona by two points as the Spanish league starts its winter break.

Zinedine Zidane will face questions about Madrid’s scoring slump after it was held 0-0 at home by a tame Athletic Bilbao on Sunday. The slip at the Santiago Bernabeu came after drawing 1-1 at Valencia and 0-0 at Barcelona over the past week.

Atalanta embarass AC Milan

Milan: Slovenia international Josip Ilicic scored two terrific goals as Atalanta demolished AC Milan 5-0 in Serie A on Sunday to climb up to fifth and hand the fallen Italian giants their heaviest defeat since 1998.

Lazio notch Super Cup win

Riyadh: Lazio won the Italian Super Cup for a fifth time on Sunday, defeating Cristiano Ronaldo’s Juventus 3-1 in a game played in the Saudi Arabia capital of Riyadh.

Lazio, the only team to have defeated Juve in Serie A this season, were in front through Luis Alberto after 16 minutes. However, Paulo Dybala levelled just before the break after a shot from Ronaldo was parried into his path by Lazio’s goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha. The loss ended Ronaldo’s five-year victorious run in the finals — AFP

UK wants anti-racism efforts to be upped

London: The British government called on football chiefs today to do more to rid the sport of racism, but stopped short of launching a full-scale inquiry demanded by the domestic players’ union following the latest incident in the Chelsea’s 2-0 win away to rivals Tottenham Hotspur. Referee Anthony Taylor halted play during the second-half when Antonio Rudiger complained of hearing monkey noises from spectators. Moments earlier, the Chelsea defender had been involved in a clash with Son Heung-min which saw the South Korean sent off. afp