MOTOGP
george martin took the pole
Pramac Racing’s Jorge Martin set a lap record yesterday and reached his second pole position of the season at the Japanese Grand Prix, joining championship leader Francesco Bagnaia and last year’s winner Jack Miller on the front row with the Spaniard. Martin secured his spot on the timesheets by improving on Brad Binder’s Friday mark with a time of 1 minute, 43,198 seconds. “I feel strong and setting a record in Motegi is always special. I really enjoy this track, so I’m really happy,” said Martin.
Football
Barcelona won with a suicide goal
Sergio Ramos’s own goal gave Barcelona a narrow 1-0 win over Sevilla in La Liga on Friday, taking the Catalans to the top of the table ahead of the weekend’s remaining games. Experienced centre-back Ramos deflected Lamine Yamal’s header into his own net in the 76th minute to break the hard-fought deadlock. The 37-year-old said this week he had planned to have a special goal celebration when he scored against Barca following his summer return from Paris Saint-Germain, but putting his own net was not part of the plan. “Ramos is a fantastic defender, today he had the misfortune of scoring an own goal, but he played well,” Barcelona coach Xavi told reporters. “It was lucky for him, but it was good for us.”
Football
Dortmund won with 10 players
Borussia Dortmund returned with 10 players to beat TSG 1899 Hoffenheim 3-1 in the Bundesliga on Friday. The win moved Dortmund to the top of the table ahead of the weekend’s remaining games. In the 71st minute, Remy Bensebaini was sent off for a second booking after kicking the ball on a throw-in routine with the score 2–1. Marco Reus scored the second goal for Dortmund, but was later booked for throwing a water bottle onto the field from the bench. Niklas Fulkrug converted the spot-kick for Hoffenheim in the 18th minute before Andre Kramaric opened the scoring.
Football
Gnomes were placed in the stadium
Mysterious gnome statues appeared this week around the Estadio Pedro Bidegain ahead of tomorrow’s derby between San Lorenzo and Huracán in the Argentine Primera Division. Local media reported that the purpose of this “witchcraft” was to achieve a positive result in the derby, it was claimed by no club fans and the statues were removed late because no one dared touch them. “There are no favorites in this type of match. The dummies came out, I read about it and I thought it was funny. I don’t think these things affect any match,” San Lorenzo coach Ruben Insua told reporters on Friday. Following the incident, coffin-shaped posters with red images of ghosts along with the faces of fans Ulises Fernández and Rodrigo Silvera, who lost their lives in violent clashes between supporters, appeared around Huracán’s headquarters. “Regrettable. It has nothing to do with representing the folklore of one of Argentina’s most beautiful matches,” said local media firm Ole, criticizing the reaction of some San Lorenzo fans to what happened at the stadium. .” Tickets were sold out for the game – which was to be played after press time last night. The rivalry in the so-called “neighborhood derby” has a history of more than 100 years.
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