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BASEL, Switzerland: Top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz eased into the quarterfinals at the Swiss Indoors by beating Botic van de Zandchulp 6-4, 6-2 on Wednesday.
The 19-year-old Spaniard clinched the win with his only ace in a second-round match where he had 20 winners and made just nine unforced errors.
Alcaraz’s serve was broken once and he trailed 2-0 in the second set before reeling off six straight games against the 35th-ranked Dutchman.
Third-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime was on court before Alcaraz in a first-round match and won 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-4 against Swiss wild-card entry Marc-Andrea Huesler.
Two seeded players lost their first-round matches, with No. 7 Alex de Minaur falling 6-2, 7-5 against 25th-ranked teenager Holger Rune.
In the previous Swiss Indoors edition, in 2019 before the tournament was canceled twice because of the COVID-19 pandemic, De Minaur lost in the final as Roger Federer won a record 10th title at his hometown event.
Eighth-seeded Lorenzo Musetti cruised through the first set before losing 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 against Albert Ramos-Vinolas, the 34-year-old Spaniard.
In a second-round match, Arthur Rinderknech beat Alex Molcan 6-2, 6-4.
NEWCASTLE: If anyone in the Premier League remained in any doubt after last week, Newcastle United underlined to their rivals that they are very much part of the top flight party.
For far too long the Magpies have been passengers in the Premier League — present but not a threat to anyone, and all too happy to just exist.
But with the Public Investment Fund now at the helm, and Eddie Howe at the wheel, those days are long gone.
And it is becoming every bit more obvious by the week just why the established, so-called “big six,” and others with aspirations, fought so hard to make sure that the PIF did not get their hands on Newcastle.
Their wings were once clipped, but now the Magpies are flying high — and doing so with real purpose.
This was a rampant win, one done at a canter — and one that left many Newcastle fans flooding the city center on Saturday evening asking “is this what it feels like to actually be good?”
Callum Wilson netted twice against the Villains, who were 4-0 winners themselves last weekend, and Miguel Almiron made it seven for the season, with Joelinton getting a well-deserved first, as Newcastle made it five wins in six.
But for a narrow Spurs win over Bournemouth, the Magpies would be sitting in third place. As it stands, though, they had to settle for fourth — a remarkable statement in itself, given recent footballing history on Tyneside.
With England and Brazil bosses Gareth Southgate and Tite watching on from the stands — a first for St. James’ Park — Howe picked an unchanged team from the XI who beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 last weekend.
And in usual style, the Magpies started the game very much on the front foot.
After just three minutes, Newcastle swarmed down the right as Almiron found skipper Kieran Trippier, making his 300th English league appearance. The right-back chipped on to the head of Wilson, who peeled away from his man, but the effort went over. It was an early warning shot that the visitors did not heed.
It took Howe’s men until the 45th minute, plus five added minutes, to break the deadlock after a rather disjointed half of football, punctuated in the most part by injuries to Emi Martinez and Emi Buendia.
United threatened first with a sweeping move down the right as Trippier found Almiron, and Robin Olsen, on for Martinez minutes earlier, saved well with his outstretched leg.
Just minutes later, a similar move, with Newcastle clearly targeting left-back Ashley Young, broke down the stubborn Villa defense as Almiron was again teed up and his curling effort, bound for the far corner, was stopped by the outstretched arm of Young.
Wilson made no mistake, putting his penalty straight down the middle, giving Olsen no chance. Southgate take note.
Wilson had the ball in the net again moments later, this time rounding Olsen, but the offside flag denied him.
He was not to be denied for too much longer, though.
Just after the break a Trippier corner was taken short to Almiron, who produced a sumptuous back flick to the England right-back, whose chip was nodded in via the post from Wilson, who is proving to everyone this season that he is one of the best English strikers in the Premier League.
Like a swarm of bees, Newcastle hunted in packs — and you could tell that they smelled blood. Villa did their best to roll over under the pressure, too.
Joelinton made it 3-0 when he tucked in on the break after Wilson’s shot was saved by Olsen, before the most improved player in the top flight this season, Almiron, curled in what is becoming a trademark goal with his left, cutting in from the right for 4-0.
Instead of taking their foot off the gas, the relentless Magpies continued their assault on the Villa goal with a bar preventing Wilson getting a first Newcastle hat-trick and a post denying the impressive Jacob Murphy a goal off the bench.
The relentless assault on the established elites on and off the field is sustained, targeted and conducted with real purpose — a far cry from the Newcastle who used to just exist alongside the top flight.
And the biggest fear for those in their ivory towers in English football is that Newcastle United is only just getting started. The ceiling, as Jurgen Klopp referenced recently, is a long, long way from being reached.
MANCHESTER, United Kingdom: Manchester City moved to the top of the Premier League thanks to Kevin De Bruyne’s stunning strike in a 1-0 win over Leicester, as Chelsea boss Graham Potter suffered a nightmare return to Brighton with a 4-1 defeat on Saturday.
Tottenham fought back from 2-0 down to beat Bournemouth 3-2 to remain in third ahead of Newcastle.
City were without the free-scoring Erling Haaland for the trip to the King Power due to a foot injury and were blunted up front without the firepower of the Norwegian.
But one moment of magic from De Bruyne was enough for the winner as the Belgian’s free-kick four minutes into the second half clipped the inside of the post on its way past Danny Ward.
City needed one brilliant save from Ederson to prevent another sensational strike from an Belgian international as he turned Youri Tielemans’ volley onto the crossbar.
“I want this Kevin and we need this Kevin. The goals and assists he can do blind. But we need this type of involvement in the game and today that was the case,” said City boss Pep Guardiola.
With Arsenal not in action until Sunday when they host Nottingham Forest, victory lifts City one point ahead of the Gunners at the top of the table.
Potter had been unbeaten in his first nine games since leaving Brighton to take over at Chelsea last month.
By contrast, the Seagulls had not won in their first five games under new boss Roberto De Zerbi, but that all changed in a dominant first half by Brighton.
Thiago Silva twice cleared off the Chelsea goal line in the first five minutes before Leandro Trossard fired home the opener.
The visitors were then their own worst enemies as both Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Trevoh Chalobah deflected crosses into their own goal.
Kai Havertz’s header early in the second half pulled a goal back, but Pascal Gross rounded off a memorable win for Brighton late on.
Tottenham were staring a third consecutive league defeat in the face after Kieffer Moore struck twice for Bournemouth either side of half-time.
Spurs have at times looked toothless at times going forward in recent weeks, but won the game thanks to two set-pieces after Ryan Sessegnon pulled a goal back just before the hour mark.
Ben Davies rose highest to head home Ivan Perisic’s cross to level before Rodrigo Bentancur smashed home the winner from another corner in stoppage time.
Crystal Palace moved into the top half with a 1-0 win over Southampton as Odsonne Edouard slotted home the only goal at Selhurst Park.
Wolves remain in the bottom three despite coming from behind to salvage a 1-1 draw at Brentford.
Ben Mee put the Bees in front before Ruben Neves levelled with just Wolves’ sixth goal in 13 league games.
And Wolves’ issues in front of goal will not be helped by a suspension for Diego Costa after he was sent off in stoppage time.
Liverpool can close the gap on the top four when they host second-bottom Leeds at Anfield later on Saturday.
MUNICH: Bayern Munich are back on top of the Bundesliga, for a day at least, after sweeping aside Mainz 6-2 with six different scorers to continue a run of big wins.
Sadio Mané bagged one goal and set up two more as Bayern cruised to their sixth straight win in all competitions, with an impressive 25 goals scored in those games.
Bayern needed just five minutes to take the lead as Mané set up Serge Gnabry for the opening goal. Jamal Musiala added a second and Mané earned, then scored, a penalty just before the break.
Mainz had chances to get back into the game, with Jonathan Burkardt hitting the crossbar and seeing his poorly hit penalty tipped over the bar. Silvan Widmer headed in from the resulting corner to make it 3-1, but Mainz’s comeback stopped there.
A precise cross from Mané allowed Leon Goretzka to head in for Bayern in the 58th and 17-year-old French striker Mathys Tel added Bayern’s fifth off the bench with a deflected shot in the 80th.
Backup goalkeeper Sven Ulreich — deputizing while Manuel Neuer’s recovery from a shoulder injury drags on — gave away the ball under little pressure soon after, allowing Marcus Ingvartsen to score a consolation goal for Mainz.
The four-goal lead was restored when Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, the veteran forward who has given Bayern much-needed structure in attack recently, scored in the 86th for his sixth goal in five games, after earlier assisting on Musiala’s goal.
Bayern went to the top by two points from surprise early season leader Union Berlin, which can retake first place if they beat Borussia Mönchengladbach on Sunday.
Bayern’s focus switch to Inter Milan on Tuesday as the German champion aim to complete a perfect record of six wins from six in the Champions League group stage.
LEIPZIG FORTRESS
Leipzig stayed a tough team to beat at home after a 2-0 result over struggling Bayer Leverkusen.
Leipzig have won seven successive home games under coach Marco Rose since he was appointed in September following a crushing 4-1 loss at home to Shakhtar Donetsk under his predecessor Domenico Tedesco.
Christopher Nkunku’s header and Timo Werner’s goal on a counterattack gave Leipzig the win. Injuries meant Leipzig started with third-choice goalkeeper Orjan Nyland but he had little to do against a Leverkusen team which dropped to 16th and have one win in six games under new coach Xabi Alonso.
FELIX NMECHA’S MOMENT
Felix Nmecha has spent most of his career in the shadow of his older brother and teammate Lukas, first at Manchester City and then at Wolfsburg, but he was the star as Wolfsburg beat relegation-threatened Bochum 4-0.
Felix Nmecha scored his first career Bundesliga goal with a header in the 27th minute then notched a second in similar style in the second half.
Ridle Baku and Jonas Wind had the other goals for Wolfsburg, which are unbeaten in six league and cup games.
Bochum failed to build on their upset of Union Berlin last week.
Waldemar Anton scored in stoppage time from a backheeled pass by Tiago Tomas for Stuttgart to beat Augsburg 2-1.
DUBAI: FIFA have warned the Tunisian Football Federation (TFF) their participation at the World Cup could be under threat if there is found to be government interference within the organization.
Having qualified for their sixth World Cup, the north African nation are in Group D along with world champions France, Australia and Denmark, whom they face in their Nov. 22 opener.
FIFA sent a letter to TFF this week outlining concerns after Tunisia’s Youth and Sports Minister Kamel Deguiche had threatened to dissolve some federal offices, among other recent comments that have irked the global governing body.
FIFA confirmed the letter to Reuters but refused to comment further. Reuters enquiries to the TFF and sports ministry did not elicit immediate responses.
The letter from Kenny Jean-Marie, FIFA’s director of member associations, to the general secretary of the TFF Wajdi Aouadi reminded the association of its obligation to act independently and avoid undue influence by third parties.
“Any failure to comply with these obligations may result in the imposition of penalties under the FIFA laws, including suspension of the relevant association,” it said.
SYDNEY: Glenn Phillips hit the second century of the Twenty20 World Cup to put New Zealand on course for a semifinal place with an emphatic 65-run win over Sri Lanka at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday.
The Kiwis now have five points, having won two games and shared the points with Afghanistan following a rain-affected Group 1 match at the Super 12 stage.
England, Ireland and Australia are tied on three points but New Zealand has a vastly superior net run-rate.
The New Zealanders started off shakily, losing three wickets in the powerplay, but Phillips dug them out of a hole.
Pathum Nissanka dropped an easy chance when Phillips was on 12 and the South African-born batter made the Sri Lankans pay.
Phillips went on to post 104 off 64 deliveries, with 10 fours and four sixes, before being dismissed in the last over.
It was the second hundred of the World Cup following South African Rilee Rossouw’s 109 earlier in the week against Bangladesh at the same venue.
After being reduced to 15-3, an 84-run stand between Phillips and Daryl Mitchell (22) helped New Zealand total 167-7.
Man of the match Phillips finished things off in style, making good use of the short square boundaries, as his team scored 65 runs in the last five overs.
“We were in a spot of bother when I went out to bat,” Phillips said. “It was difficult to score off spin but when the quicks came on I managed to clear the boundary.
“It was then an exceptional performance by our quicks. They put Sri Lanka’s top order under pressure and in the end it was a comprehensive victory.”
Sri Lanka was never in the hunt in their reply after slumping to 8-4 in the fourth over.
Left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner was then introduced in the seventh over and he struck with his first ball by removing Chamika Karunaratne for three.
Skipper Dasun Shanaka top-scored with 35 off 32 deliveries before he was caught in the deep off Trent Boult, who finished with career-best figures of 4-13.
Bhanuka Rajapaksa also made 34 off 22 balls with three fours and two sixes. None of the other batters managed double figures.
“We had a good start and could have taken complete control of the game but that dropped catch off Phillips proved crucial,” Shanaka said. “Catches win matches. We failed to hold onto that chance and he took the game away from us.”
It has been an awful campaign for 2014 champion Sri Lanka, which had to qualify for the event after falling down the rankings.
Injuries to key players have left Sri Lanka with a depleted side and it has two points from three games.
“We are still not out of the tournament but it’s not in our hands now,” Shanaka said. “We need to win our next game against Afghanistan by a big margin and knock off England as well in our last game.”