Category: Sports

Galatasaray scored the opener in the 20th minute as Turkish midfielder Emre Kilinc finished in a one-on-one position at Trabzon’s Medical Park Stadium.

Trabzonspor’s Edgar failed a back pass to goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir as Kilinc intercepted the ball to score.

In the 33rd minute, Galatasaray doubled the lead as Kilinc scored again.

Trabzonspor goalkeeper Cakir left his goal to tackle Galatasaray’s Kerem Akturkoglu, but Cakir was unable to catch the ball. Halil Dervisoglu made a quick one-touch pass to Kilinc, who was roaming free around the penalty spot to make it 2-0 for the Lions.

Home team Trabzonspor did not give up, as in the 41st minute the Black Sea club’s Danish forward Andreas Cornelius scored a close range goal.

Slovakian star Marek Hamsik crossed from left to find his teammate Anastasios Bakasetas in the box. Bakasetas headed the ball to Cornelius as the Danish player beat Lions goalie Fernando Muslera.

Galatasaray led the first half 2-1 but Trabzonspor equalized in the 62nd minute.

Hamsik skipped a Galatasaray defender and passed the ball inside. Nigerian winger Anthony Nwakaeme, who was unmarked in the area, controlled the ball and took his time to score with a right-footed strike, 2-2.

Galatasaray displayed a disappointing performance as the Lions could not secure the lead.

So the match of the week ended as a 2-2 draw as points were shared.

Second-placed Trabzonspor have 10 points in four matches in the Super Lig led by Besiktas, who earned 10 points as well.

Besiktas topped the standings by goal average.

Similar to Besiktas and Trabzonspor, Fenerbahce and Ittifak Holding Konyaspor got 10 points in four games.

Fifth-placed Galatasaray have 8 points to chase the top four in the league table.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Verstappen and Hamilton were wheel-to-wheel, but they collided while turning a bend.

Verstappen’s back right tire touched Hamilton’s left rear wheel, and the car fell on to the top of the Mercedes. The duo went off the circuit and both drivers had to leave the race.

Following the accident, they quit the vehicles unhurt.

Ricciardo won the 53-lap race at Autodromo Nazionale Monza with the time of 1:21:54.365.

His teammate Lando Norris finished second as he was 1.7 seconds behind, while Mercedes’ Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas came third.

After the incident, stewards handed Verstappen “a three-place grid penalty for the Russian Grand Prix.” It was ruled that he was “predominantly to blame” for the collision.

The next round in the Formula One 2021 season will be held in Russia’s Sochi Autodrom on Sept. 26.

Top 5 drivers in 2021 season

1. Max Verstappen (Netherlands): 226.5 points

2. Lewis Hamilton (Great Britain): 221.5

3. Valtteri Bottas (Finland): 141

4. Lando Norris (Great Britain): 132

5. Sergio Perez (Mexico): 118

Source: Anadolu Agency

Formula 1 fever will hit Italy on Sunday as Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton are in fierce competition.

Round 14 of the 2021 Formula One World Championship will be run at Italy’s Autodromo Nazionale Monza over 53 laps.

The qualifying laps of the Monza Circuit, which is approximately 5.7 kilometers (3.5 miles), will start Saturday at 1300 GMT with the race itself set for the same hour on Sunday.

Red Bull-Honda’s Verstappen dominated the races with seven wins, including in Italy, Monaco, France, two Austrian Grands Prix, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

Mercedes team’s British driver Hamilton has four wins (Bahrain, Portugal, Spain, and Great Britain), while Sergio Perez from Red Bull-Honda and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon have one win each.

Perez claimed a win in Azerbaijan, while Ocon tasted a victory in Hungary.

Having a dreamlike season, the 23-year-old Verstappen is yet to take the podium in Monza, his best was the fifth spot in 2018.

Meanwhile, Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen will miss this race after testing positive for the coronavirus and Robert Kubica from Poland will replace the Finnish driver.

The team said Raikkonen has not yet been cleared for a return to racing as he is still isolating at home.

The top five list of the drivers and constructors are as follows:

Driver standings

1. Max Verstappen (Netherlands): 224.5 points

2. Lewis Hamilton (Great Britain): 221.5

3. Valtteri Bottas (Finland): 123

4. Lando Norris (Great Britain): 114

5. Sergio Perez (Mexico): 108

Constructor standings

1. Mercedes 344.5

2. Red Bull: 332.5

3. Ferrari: 181.5

4. McLaren: 170

5. Alpine: 90

Anadolu Agency

Displacing the legendary Pele, Lionel Messi took the crown of all-time leading goal scorer in South American confederation (CONMEBOL) men’s history with his latest hat-trick against Bolivia.

Argentina on Thursday beat Bolivia 3-0, with Messi responsible for all three goals, in the CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifiers at Antonio Vespucio Liberti Stadium, Argentina.

The Argentinian icon now tops the men’s top scorer list with 79 goals, beating out the previous record holder, Brazil’s Pele with 77 goals.

Messi currently shares the 5th spot in the list of all-time top international men’s goal scorers with Godfrey Chitalu of Zambia with 79 goals, while Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo tops the list with 111 goals.

Argentina took the number two spot with 18 points in the 2022 CONMEBOL World Cup Qualification group table, while Brazil tops the chart with 24 points.

Anadolu Agency

A French Ligue 1 match between OGC Nice and Olympique Marseille will be replayed without spectators, Ligue 1 announced Thursday.

Ligue 1 said the LFP’s Disciplinary Committee met Wednesday concerning an incident that occurred during a match between both teams on Aug. 22.

“After reading the investigation report in the presence of the two clubs, the Commission decided to give the match a replay, behind closed doors at a neutral venue on a date to be determined. In addition, two penalty points were imposed on OGC Nice, one of which is suspended,” it said.

Ligue 1 added that Marseille defender Alvaro Gonzalez received a two-match suspension and teammate Dimitri Payet was handed a one-match ban.

The referee stopped the Week 3 match in the 75th minute after fans stormed the pitch in response to Payet’s throwing a bottle into the crowd after being hit by the object.

Source: Anadolu Agency

A total of 863 people involved in Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics were infected by coronavirus, the organizers said on Wednesday.

According to Japan’s public broadcaster NHK, 547 of those who contracted the virus were involved in Olympics, while 316 others in Paralympics. They tested positive for COVID-19 before, during and after the games.

The committee began to release positive case numbers on July 1, when the coronavirus regulations for the games first took effect.

The figure includes 41 athletes, 50 media members, and 29 committee officials. Some 254 of the infected arrived in Japan from abroad.

Tokyo hosted the Olympics and Paralympics this summer, featuring nearly 15,000 athletes. Fans were barred as an emergency was imposed in Tokyo due to rising infections.

Rigorous health measures, including a bio-secure bubble, were taken to stem the spread of the virus among athletes, officials and locals.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The 2021 CEV EuroVolley women’s All-Star team were revealed on Thursday as champions Italy had the highest number of players after two million votes were cast by fans.

A video on the EuroVolley website showed that the champions Italy dominated this year’s European volleyball championship All-Star lineup as five “Azzurre” (Blue) players were selected for the tournament’s best team.

Alessia Orro (setter), Anna Danesi (middle blocker), Miriam Sylla (outside hitter), Elena Pietrini (outside hitter), and Monica De Gennaro (libero) were the Italian players who were named for the 2021 EuroVolley All-Star team.

Serbian opposite hitter Tijana Boskovic and Turkish middle blocker Eda Erdem Dundar joined the Italian players in the All-Star team.

Meanwhile, Italian national Paola Egonu, the 2021 EuroVolley MVP (Most Valuable Player), missed a place in the team.

Italy became the 2021 champions after a 3-1 victory against EuroVolley hosts Serbia on Sept. 4.

Dundar-led Turkey beat the Netherlands 3-0 to bag a bronze medal.

Source: Anadolu Agency