January 2025 – TotalSportek

Heung Min Shines As Spurs Win

SINSHEIM, Germany: Tottenham Hotspur captain Son Heung Min struck in each half to help his side to a 3-2 win at Hoffenheim in Europa League action on Tuesday.

The victory boosted Tottenham’s chances of finishing in the top eight, as they currently sit sixth with 14 points heading into next week’s final group stage match.

Spurs midfielder James Maddison opened the scoring in the third minute with a powerful finish from a long pass before Heung Min doubled their lead after 22 minutes.

Hoffenheim slowly came back into the game, with striker Andrej Kramaric missing a golden opportunity when his header hit the crossbar.

After a VAR review, the referee however withdrew both the card and the penalty.

The home team’s hard work paid off in the 68th minute when Anton Stach received a cross following a quick counterattack to shoot home.

Heung Ming restored a two-goal lead with a flicked shot from a difficult angle in the 77th minute before Hoffenheim’s David Mokwa headed in Kramaric’s cross four minutes from time.

In other matches, a late goal from Troy Parrott gave AZ Alkmaar a crucial 1-0 home win over AS Roma while Olympiacos won 1-0 at Porto thanks to a late goal from Ayoub El Kaabi.

The German club were awarded a penalty after the hour mark when Spurs goalkeeper Brandon Austin was shown a yellow card for a collision with a Hoffenheim player.

Ancelotti Impressed By Mbappe’s Performance

MADRID: Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti was delighted with Kylian Mbappe’s display as the France forward struck twice in a 4-1 win over Las Palmas that lifted the champions to the top of La Liga.

The Italian manager said he never doubted the 26-year-old’s ability to play as the main striker even though Mbappe had a slow start in Madrid since arriving from Paris Saint-Germain.

“Mbappe is the best center forward in the world, there is no doubt about his ability to play in that position.

“He is a great striker who is very good in the middle (of attack), compared to the wings, because that way he can exploit his unique runs, with speed and technique,” said Ancelotti.

After a tough week that saw Real suffer a stifling 5-2 loss to Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup and a 5-2 extra-time win over Celta Vigo to reach the quarter-finals of the King of Spain’s Cup, Real were shocked with a 25-second goal by Las Palmas.

However, with Mbappe’s help, they recovered and took advantage of Atletico Madrid’s 1-0 defeat at Leganes on Saturday to return to the top of the league.

Real are now top of La Liga on 46 points, two ahead of neighbors Madrid, with Barcelona in third seven points behind after being tied 1-1 by Getafe.

Barcelona Wins Spanish Super Cup

JEDDAH: Barcelona came back from an early deficit to thrash Real Madrid 5-2 in the Spanish Super Cup final.

Hansi Flick’s side scored four goals in the first half and saw their goalkeeper sent off as they extended their record to a 15th title in the competition.

Lamine Yamal, Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Alejandro Balde found the target before the break, after French striker Kylian Mbappe put Real ahead in the fifth minute.

Raphinha completed Barca’s win in the second half as Rodrygo scored Real’s second.

It was Barcelona’s first trophy in more than a year, after failing to win any titles last season.

“The main goal of big clubs is to win titles, that’s why they work hard. But now we have to prove it in the next game.

“Real made a lot of mistakes, and we knew how to exploit them to dominate the game,” said Flick, who won his first trophy as Barcelona manager.

Barca denied Real from winning their third title of the season, after they won the European Super Cup against Atalanta and beat Mexican club Pachuca for the Intercontinental Cup last month.

“In the first half we didn’t play football, we made long passes and that wasn’t the plan.

“I told the players they can die, but not the way we played in the first half,” Real coach Carlo Ancelotti said.

Ronaldo Blasts His First Goal Of The Year

RIYADH: Cristiano Ronaldo opened his scoring account for the year 2025 with a penalty kick in a 3-1 win with Al-Nassr early this morning.

The 39-year-old veteran striker and his teammates enjoyed a winter break and returned to action in the Saudi Pro League (SPL) as they look to close the gap on league leaders Al-Ittihad.

It took only 42 minutes for the former Real Madrid and Manchester United striker to score in his first match after the break.

Their opponents Al-Akhdoud, however, surprised them by taking the lead after six minutes before Al-Nassr responded through former Liverpool winger Sadio Mane, who then scored the third goal.

After Mane’s equaliser, Al-Nassr were awarded a penalty and Ronaldo calmly finished it, putting his team in front.

The Portuguese striker fired a powerful shot into the right corner of the goal before celebrating with his teammates.

By scoring that goal, it was the 24th consecutive year that Ronaldo has scored in professional football since his first in 2002.

Ronaldo was recently reported to have asked Al-Nassr to sign Casemiro from Manchester United in what is seen as a critical factor in determining his future.

The Portuguese icon is in the final six months of his £175 million-a-year contract with the SPL club and is considering a move to another club.

He and Casemiro won 12 trophies together at Real Madrid, including four Champions Leagues and two La Ligas, while they also teamed up at Manchester United under Erik ten Hag.

Milan Won Italian Super Cup

RIYADH: An extra-time goal from Tammy Abraham completed AC Milan’s comeback to win the Italian Super Cup after beating Inter Milan 3-2 in Riyadh.

Inter, who led by two goals early in the game, were denied the Super Cup for the fourth time in a row, allowing Milan to equal Inter’s eight titles in the competition.

The victory at the King Saud University Stadium saw new Milan manager Serge Conceicao lift the trophy in just his second match with the Serie A club.

Lautaro Martinez opened the scoring for Inter in the first half, followed by Mehdi Taremi’s goal two minutes after the break.

Conceicao brought on Rafael Leao who won a free kick and was converted by Theo Hernandez. Christian Pulisic equalised with 10 minutes remaining.

The match looked set to be decided on penalties but Abraham surprised Inter with the winning goal in extra time.

Arsenal Players Hit By Virus – Arteta

LONDON: Mikel Arteta revealed Arsenal’s preparations ahead of their 3-1 win at Brentford were affected by a virus that hit his squad.

Several Arsenal star players fell ill ahead of a crucial Premier League clash early this morning.

Germany striker Kai Havertz was sent home with a virus, while England midfielder Declan Rice was only able to come off the bench in the second half.

Martin Odegaard was reported to be struggling with the virus ahead of kick-off and although he was fit to start the match, the Arsenal captain made a mistake that led to Bryan Mbeumo’s opening goal and was substituted in the second half.

But the Gunners made a stunning comeback at the GTech Community Stadium as they defied the pandemic to return to the title race.

Goals from Gabriel Jesus, Mikel Merino and Gabriel Martinelli ensured Arsenal did not slip up.

“It affects the players on and off the pitch,” Arteta said after his team moved up to second place and closed the gap to six points behind leaders Liverpool, who have played a game less.

“It’s not too serious. But it’s not an ideal situation. In terms of symptoms, with Kai it’s very clear. He doesn’t feel well at all. He has very clear symptoms so stay away from him, put him in the car and go back to London.

“These things happen. During this period, there are always things that haunt you, infections, viruses, so I try to postpone the starting lineup as late as possible because you wake up in the morning and unfortunately receive surprises like this.”

Arteta hopes the virus will have subsided for his side’s visit to Brighton on Saturday.