Besiktas close in on last 16 after Monaco draw

ISTANBUL - Turkey's Besiktas edged closer to a place in the Champions League last 16 after a pulsating 1-1 home draw with Monaco left them top of Group G with 10 points from four games on Wednesday.

Following Porto's 3-1 win over RB Leipzig in the later game, Besiktas need one point from their last two matches, at home to Porto followed by a visit to Leipzig, to reach the knockout stages for the first time.

Second-placed Porto have six points ahead of Champions League debutants Leipzig on four while French champions Monaco, last season's semi-finalists, are propping up the group on two points and have only a slim chance of avoiding an early exit.

Roared on by their fervent fans in the Turkish capital, Besiktas pinned Monaco back from the start but the visitors missed the best two chances before they scored against the run of play on the stroke of halftime.

Rony Lopez silenced the Besiktas faithful when he beat Fabri with a superb curling shot from 20 metres after the home team's keeper had denied Monaco's Portuguese striker and Belgian midfielder Youri Tielemans.

Besiktas were rewarded for their pressure in the 54th minute as Monaco left back Jorge hauled down Ricardo Quaresma in the penalty area and Cenk Tosun powered his spot-kick past Danijel Subasic.

Monaco nearly regained the lead in the 75th minute when Oguzhan Ozyakup cleared an Andrea Raggi header off the line with the visitors looking dangerous whenever they came forward.

Both sides threw caution to the wind in the last 10 minutes but neither were able to find a winner, with Monaco striker Balde Keita squandering two good opportunities.

The result extended Besiktas's unbeaten home run in European competition to 12 games, although they fell short of racking up a fifth successive win.

(Writing by Zoran Milosavljevic in Belgrade,; Editing by Ed Osmond)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Five-star Manchester City edge thriller with Monaco

MANCHESTER, England - Manchester City came out on top in an epic Champions League battle against Monaco as late goals by John Stones and Leroy Sane secured a 5-3 victory in a last 16 first-leg thriller on Tuesday that had goals galore and a missed penalty.

City took the lead through Raheem Sterling but were then playing catch-up as Monaco drew level thanks to Radamel Falcao's header and then went ahead with a powerful finish from 18-year-old Kylian Mbappe five minutes before halftime.

South American poachers Sergio Aguero for City and Falcao, who also missed a penalty, then traded blows with Aguero equalizing for 2-2 and then 3-3 after Falcao's exquisite chip gave Monaco the lead for the second time at The Etihad.

City, however, then pulled clear as Stones tapped in at the far post and Sane rolled the ball into an empty net to give City a two-goal advantage ahead of the return on March 15.

City manager Pep Guardiola had called Monaco "killers" in the box before the game and while they showed just why they are European football's most deadly assassins, they were embarrassingly fragile at times at the back.

They were behind after 26 minutes when Sterling tapped home after Sane dazzled down the left and teed up the England winger.

ROUTE BACK

Monaco were handed a route back into the match after 32 minutes following an error by City's Willy Caballero, the first of the night's goalkeeping blunders.

He gave the ball away with a poor clearance and the visitors worked it to Fabinho whose devilish cross was headed home by former Manchester United and Chelsea striker Falcao, who has found his best form again since returning to France.

City were denied a penalty by Spanish referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz when Aguero appeared to be upended by keeper Danijel Subasic before Monaco grabbed the lead through Mbappe.

The 18-year-old was released through the middle and lashed his finish into the top corner past Caballero.

The visitors should have extended their advantage soon after the restart but Falcao's tame penalty was saved after Nicolas Otamendi had been penalized for catching the Colombian as he tried to convert Benjamin Mendy's cross.

City swiftly made Monaco pay as Aguero ended a six-game goal-drought thanks to a Subasic howler. Sterling slid the ball through and the Argentine fired straight at the keeper but it squirmed out of his hands into the net after 58 minutes.

Parity was short-lived, however, as Falcao turned City defender Stones before lifting an exquisite chip over the stranded Caballero to make it 3-2 to the principality club.

Aguero levelled once more when he volleyed home from 12 metres after a corner and City took the lead when Kevin De Bruyne's set-piece was turned in by Stones at the far post.

The final twist in one of the most entertaining encounters in the competition's recent history came when Aguero rolled the ball into the path of Sane who tapped into an empty net.

(Writing by Toby Davis; editing by Ken Ferris)

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LIGUE 1: Clinical Cavani leads PSG, Monaco hit seven at Metz

PARIS, France -- Edinson Cavani was at his clinical best on Saturday with a first-half brace as Paris Saint-Germain eased to a 2-0 victory over Bordeaux, while Monaco thrashed Metz 7-0 to return to the top of Ligue 1.

The oft-maligned Cavani struck twice in the first half-hour at the Parc des Princes as PSG built on their midweek Champions League win away to Ludogorets in Bulgaria and got back on track domestically.

Paris had come into the weekend in fourth spot in the table having lost at Toulouse last time out, their second defeat in just seven league matches under new coach Unai Emery.

"It's possible this was our best match of the season, but in the second half we could have scored a third goal to make things easier and boost our confidence," said Emery, who welcomed the return of the club's ultras after a six-year ban.

"The atmosphere was good. It is more positive for the team and shows it's special to play at the Parc des Princes."

Cavani has extra responsibility as the spearhead of the champions' attack since the departure of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but he came in for huge criticism for an erratic display in last month's Champions League draw with Arsenal, despite opening the scoring that night.

And yet with his brace on a bright autumn afternoon in the French capital, the Uruguayan has now scored nine times in PSG's subsequent five matches in all competitions.

Cavani got the breakthrough inside three minutes, attacking an Angel Di Maria cross from the left at the near post and heading past Cedric Carrasso in the Bordeaux goal.

Carrasso was kept busy, tipping a Thomas Meunier shot around the post as PSG came forward in search of a second goal.

They duly doubled their lead on the half-hour mark as Layvin Kurzawa's low ball in from the left was deftly back-heeled in by Cavani.

It was the former Napoli striker's eighth goal of the season in Ligue 1 and his 13th altogether for club and country since the campaign began.

- Monaco rampant -

Monaco, who snatched a late point against Bayer Leverkusen in Europe midweek, pummelled 10-man Metz as first-half goals from Thomas Lemar, Valere Germain and Bernardo Silva put Leonardo Jardim's visitors in complete control.

Cheick Doukoure's dismissal on the hour left Metz even more vulnerable and Monaco took full advantage with Fabinho scoring from the penalty spot and Guido Carrillo netting his first two goals this term.

Gabriel Boschilia completed the rout, Monaco's biggest away league win in club history, as the principality outfit moved two points clear of erstwhile leaders Nice, who host Lorient on Sunday, with PSG another point further back.

"At 3-0 the match was over. Metz kept on trying to score so they left us lots of space, and with good counter-attacks and a solid team effort we were able to score seven goals," beamed Jardim.

"We've had a very good month of September in both the league and Champions League. But there is still a long way to go in the season."

Lille climbed off the foot of the table as Eder scored for the first time since his winning goal in the Euro 2016 final, the Portugal striker converting a second-half penalty in a 1-0 victory over Nancy.

Dijon fought back to earn a 3-3 draw at home to Montpellier despite a hat-trick from Chad international Casimir Ninga, while Mariusz Stepinski's winner alleviated some of the pressure on Nantes coach Rene Girard following a 1-0 victory over Bastia.

Caen beat Toulouse 1-0 in Normandy, with the big game of the weekend seeing Lyon entertain sworn enemies Saint-Etienne in the Rhone-Alpes derby on Sunday evening.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Mercedes may meet their match in Monaco

MONACO - After dominating the first five races of the Formula One season, with four successive one-two finishes, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg may not have it all their own way on the streets of Monaco on Sunday.

If the sound of Mercedes' rivals clutching at straws has become more audible, unlike the cars, a flutter on a different winner could still be a better bet than many placed in the imposing casino this weekend.

"I think Monte Carlo will be one of the few opportunities to challenge Mercedes, especially for Red Bull," Ferrari's Fernando Alonso told reporters after Spain where Hamilton chalked up his fourth win in a row for the German manufacturer with team mate Rosberg second.

"On the corners they (Red Bull) are very fast and on the straights they seem to lose a lot of lap time. In Monte Carlo there are no straights so maybe Red Bull could challenge Mercedes there. We'll see," said Alonso.

Alonso has won twice in Monaco, once for Renault and once for McLaren, and would become the first driver to win the most glamorous race on the calendar with three separate teams.

Monaco, with its narrow streets ringed by unforgiving metal fences, may be a processional race with little overtaking but it can never be predictable. The fickle weather, and the ever-present risk of safety cars and collisions, sees to that.

However Ferrari, the most glamorous team, have not threaded their way to victory in the year's most alluring race since Michael Schumacher's triumph in 2001.

TOUGHEST RACE

Red Bull, with Australian Daniel Ricciardo and quadruple champion Sebastian Vettel third and fourth at the previous race in Spain, look to be picking up speed.

"They are still the benchmark," recognised Mercedes motorsport head Toto Wolff.

"The power unit (in Monaco) is not so important," said the Austrian. "Monaco is always different and I guess there is a team that has clearly an advantage at the moment and probably on a street circuit like Monaco everything can be different."

History backs that up: On the last three occasions that a team has started a season with five straight wins - Ferrari in 2004 and Williams in 1996 and 1992 - the run has bust in Monaco.

This year, it may just be Hamilton's rather than Mercedes' winning streak that comes to an end as the championship-leading Briton chases his fifth in a row.

Rosberg won from pole last year and grew up in the principality.

The German knows every kerb and corner, every turn and twist, from his boyhood journey from home to school and is determined to use that familiarity to good effect after falling three points behind his team mate in Spain.

"To re-gain the advantage at my home race would be fantastic, so I'll be pushing harder than ever to make that happen," he said.

It is also a favourite of the Briton, also a Monaco resident and winner with McLaren in 2008 when he took the championship.

"I honestly never expected I'd win four consecutive Grands Prix in my career and I'd love to continue that run here," said Hamilton.

Red Bull have won Monaco three times in four years, twice with now departed Australian Mark Webber whose successor and compatriot Daniel Ricciardo is raring to go.

If racing around Monaco is, as Brazilian triple champion Nelson Piquet once observed, like cycling around your living room then Ricciardo is up for it.

"When I was a kid I used to love riding my little bike around inside the house. It was more fun, there were more obstacles and a bit more danger. That really is what this is like," he said.

The new V6 turbo hybrid engines, with more torque and wheelspin, also threaten to liven things up with drivers likely to be more on the ragged edge than ever.

"I think Monaco will be a very, very difficult race," commented Brazilian Felipe Massa.

"We drive with the car a lot more sideways. The torque we have from the engine is maybe double what we had last year, and the grip from the tyre is not very high, so Monaco will be a very easy race to crash," added the Williams driver.

"I think it will be the toughest race of the season."

(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Patrick Johnston)

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