BEB Weekend Sports: News!

Hazard Fires Chelsea To FA Cup Glory

Eden Hazard's first-half penalty decided the FA Cup final in Chelsea's favour at Wembley to leave Jose Mourinho and Manchester United empty-handed this season.


Hazard - in a moment which did not bode well for the World Cup meeting between England and Belgium in Russia in June - twisted and tore past Phil Jones before drawing a clumsy foul from the United defender after 22 minutes.

He calmly dispatched the penalty which was to prove to be the decisive moment in a final that was hard fought rather than distinguished.

United, with striker Romelu Lukaku only fit enough for a place on the bench, raised their game after the break.

Alexis Sanchez had a goal ruled out for straying just offside, with referee Michael Oliver using the video assistant referee (VAR) to confirm the call, Chelsea keeper Thibaut Courtois excelled with a succession of fine saves, and Paul Pogba wasted their best chance late on when he missed the target with a free header.

This may well be Antonio Conte's last game as Blues manager and if he leaves, he does so after delivering the FA Cup to follow last season's Premier League title.

Legend Buffon Ends 17-year Juventus Career With Win

Gianluigi Buffon ended his 17-year Juventus career as they crowned a seventh straight Italian title with a 2-1 win over relegated Verona.

The 40-year-old keeper was substituted just after the hour, and was in tears as he embraced his team-mates while the crowd gave him a standing ovation.
He did a lap of honour while the match continued in Turin, accepting gifts and congratulations from fans.

Daniele Rugani and Miralem Pjanic scored for Juve in a comfortable win.

Before kick-off, the Italian was greeted onto the pitch with a banner bearing his face. He then mingled with fans, accepting congratulations and gifts from the Curva Sud.

His team-mates wore the hashtag #un1co on their sleeves, pointing to the social media tributes that have flowed since he confirmed the end of his Juventus career on Thursday.

Froome Beats Yates To Win Thrilling Giro Stage On Monte Zoncolan

Chris Froome held off fellow Briton Simon Yates to win a first ever stage of the Giro d'Italia - a thriller on Monte Zoncolan.

Yates finished six seconds behind Froome and stretched his overall lead over Tom Dumoulin to one minute 24 seconds with the reigning champion holding on impressively to come home fifth.

The infamous Zoncolan is known as the hardest climb in European cycling, and the huge crowds lining its upper slopes were treated to an epic finale.
This was redemption of sorts for Sky's Froome after an injury-hit first two weeks.

Froome's stage win means he leaps up to fifth in the overall standings, but he is still three minutes 10 seconds down on race leader Yates.

Halep Beats Sharapova To Reach Italian Open Final

World number one Simona Halep battled past Maria Sharapova 4-6 6-1 6-4 to set up a repeat of last year's Italian Open final against defending champion Elina Svitolina.

Halep, whose only other title this year came in January, fell behind after an error-strewn first set in which there were nine breaks of serve in total.

The Romanian bounced back to seal victory in two and a half hours.

Earlier, world number four Svitolina overcame Anett Kontaveit 6-4 6-3.

"I'm very proud of myself already that I reached the final," said the 23-year-old Ukrainian, who is aiming to win her third title of the year.

from Bola Esho's Blog