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Barcelona beaten at Valencia


Quique Setien suffered his first defeat as Barcelona manager as Valencia claimed their first home win over the Spanish champions since 2007.

The hosts broke the deadlock when Jordi Alba deflected Maxi Gomez's powerful strike past Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

Gomez, who had a first-half penalty saved by Ter Stegen, completed the scoring in the second half.
There were unsavoury scenes before the game as rival fans clashed outside the Mestalla Stadium.

Setien had enjoyed a good start to his Barca reign, guiding the club to victories over Granada in La Liga and UD Ibiza in the Copa del Rey round of 32.

The visitors were quick to gain a stranglehold on possession but were almost non-existent as an attacking force in the first half, with Valencia enjoying the better of the early chances.

Los Che were gifted a golden opportunity to take the lead when Gerard Pique felled Gomez inside the penalty area, but the Uruguayan's spot-kick was superbly palmed to safety by Ter Stegen.

The former Borussia Monchengladbach goalkeeper had to be on his toes moments later to parry another Gomez effort on to the woodwork, before tipping Kevin Gameiro's follow-up past the post at full stretch.

Barcelona started the second half with greater purpose and Ansu Fati almost fashioned an opening after combining well with Lionel Messi, but the teenager could only poke his shot wide of Jaume Domenech's right-hand post.

Messi appeared eager to take matters into his own hands as the second half progressed, dragging a fierce low effort wide of the far post before heading off target from Antoine Griezmann's delivery.

Gomez ended the visitors' hopes of a late revival with 13 minutes remaining, curling into the far corner after Ferran Torres had broken clear down the right wing.

Second-placed Real Madrid can move three points clear of Barcelona at the top of La Liga if they win their game in hand at Real Valladolid on Sunday.

Iheanacho sees Leicester past Brentford in FA Cup


Leicester held off a spirited second-half effort from Championship promotion chasers Brentford to reach the FA Cup fourth round in the final tie to be held at Griffin Park.

Kelechi Iheanacho scored the only goal of the game after just four minutes when he tapped in a cross from full-back James Justin, who had been found by Dennis Praet's superb raking pass.

Leicester were the better team in the first half and Ayoze Perez should have doubled their lead when he was sent clear by Iheanacho but Bees keeper Luke Daniels made a good save to deny him.

However, the hosts came out for the second half with a renewed vigour to their play, and they were unlucky not to equalise on the hour mark when Emiliano Marcondes' cross beat everyone and hit the post.

Foxes keeper Danny Ward was also forced into a fine save to keep out Luka Racic's volley late on before second-half substitute Bryan Mbeumo saw a goal ruled out for offside.

The youthful Bees pressed for an equaliser right up until the final whistle but the Premier League side held firm to book their place in the next round of the FA Cup.

There were emotional scenes at the full-time whistle for the home fans at the end of Griffin Park's final cup tie, with the Bees set to move to the newly built Brentford Community Stadium before the 2020-21 campaign.

The fifth-round draw is live on BBC One during The One Show on Monday 27 January, at around 19:20 GMT.

Williams knocked out of Australian Open in third round


Serena Williams says she made "far too many errors to be a professional athlete" as she was knocked out in the Australian Open third round.

The 38-year-old American lost 6-4 6-7 (2-7) 7-5 to China's 27th seed Wang Qiang.

The defeat means Williams' quest for a 24th Grand Slam singles title goes on.
"I can't play like that. I literally can't do that again. That's unprofessional. It's not cool," Williams said.
The seven-time champion in Melbourne beat 28-year-old Wang in just 44 minutes at the US Open in September when the Chinese player won only one game and 15 points.

That was not reflective of the ability of a player who has been a regular fixture in the world's top 30 over the past 18 months and reached a career high of 12 after her run in New York.

This time, after initially flinching when serving for the match at 5-4 in the second set, she made amends in spectacular fashion.

Wang had the tools to hurt Williams and continued to execute them in a third set in which most observers would have backed her illustrious opponent to go on and win.

After briefly faltering again as Williams rallied, Wang sealed victory on her third match point.
"I honestly didn't think I was going to lose that match," said Williams when asked on her thoughts after levelling at one set all.

Westwood wins Abu Dhabi Championship 


England's Lee Westwood claimed the Abu Dhabi Championship to win titles in four different decades on the European Tour.

Westwood finished on 19 under par, two shots ahead of Tommy Fleetwood, Matthew Fitzpatrick and Victor Perez.

The 46-year-old shot a five-under-par 67 at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club to win the event for the first time.
"I had a little slip at 16 but I hit some good shots coming in," Westwood told Sky Sports. 
"It's been a good week. I am just really happy the way I controlled myself. 
"I wasn't paying attention to other people, I was just trying to control my emotions."
The Englishman's 44th professional win - and his 25th on the European Tour - means he has won European titles in the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and 2020s.

Westwood, who missed out on the 2018 European Ryder Cup team, is back in contention for a place for the 2020 competition at Whistling Straits.

When asked about the prospect of getting in the next Ryder Cup team, he added: "It's just nice proving I can still do it.

from Bola Esho's Blog

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