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sports Dialuna 19 September 2022

Messi scores early for PSG; Todibo sent off after 9 seconds

(AP) — Lionel Messi and through on goal and referee
Neymar needed only five Bastien Dechepy had no hes-
minutes to combine for itation showing him the fast-
Paris Saint-Germain’s est red card in French first
goal in a 1-0 win at Lyon division history.
in the French league on
Sunday as leader PSG “A refereeing decision that
moved two points clear of shocks me and condemned
second-place Marseille. my team to start the match at
a big disadvantage,” Todibo
Messi started and finished wrote on his Twitter account.
the slick move after exchang- “Referee’s decisions at the
ing passes with Neymar and start of this season have been
curled the ball expertly past very questionable and I hope
the despairing dive of goal- the LFP (French league) does
keeper Anthony Lopes for something to remedy this.”
his fourth league goal of the
season. Angers also finished with 10
players after midfielder So-
It was Neymar’s seventh as- fiane Boufal was sent off in
sist in the league this season, the 62nd minute, but Nice
and the former Barcelona couldn’t find an equalizer to
teammates combined again midfielder Nabil Bentaleb’s
moments later as Messi went fine 20-meter strike for An-
close. gers in the 43rd.
Neymar was making his Marseille remains unbeaten
100th league appearance for but dropped points in a 1-1
PSG, during which time he home draw with Rennes
has been involved in 121 where midfielder Matteo
goals (77 goals and 44 assists). Guendouzi scored at both
ends.
With the World Cup in Qa-
tar fast approaching, the Bra- Rennes took the lead midway
zil star looks fitter than he through the first half at Stade
has for many injury-plagued Velodrome when Guendouzi
years since joining from Bar- Lacazette had a shot saved by through the second half after he looked on from the bench. scored an own-goal by de-
celona for a world record 222 Gianluigi Donnarumma, a knock to his knee. flecting in Hamari Traoré’s
million euros ($222 million) but also missed a free header Nice defender Jean-Clair cross.
in 2017. from close to the goal. PSG hit back and Messi’s low Todibo will quickly want to
shot drew a superb low save forget this game after he was He made amends in the 52nd
His partnership with Messi is Messi had a shot cleared off from Lopes in the 78th, then sent off just nine seconds into when he headed home from a
getting closer to what it was the line early in the second Lopes made an even better his side’s 1-0 home defeat to corner past former Marseille
at Barca when they shared half as PSG pressured before save to claw away Messi’s Angers. goalie Steve Mandanda, who
299 goals from 2013-17. fading. With Lyon enjoying curling free kick near the played more than 600 games
possession, PSG’s midfield end. Neymar seemed unhap- The former Barcelona cen- for Marseille and captained
Lyon got into the game more was stretched and Marco py about being substituted in tral defender tripped Abdal- the club for many years.
in the first half and Alexandre Verratti limped off midway the 85th and looked glum as lah Sima as he was running

Canelo-GGG underwhelms, but boxing has more punches to throw

(AP) — If you know a life- height, and the natural incli- ther fighter scored so much the decades. Even the great- ing fighters and compelling
long boxing fan, chances nation is to assume the quali- as a knockdown in the entire est multi-fight rivalries have matchups in the sport’s near
are you know somebody ty of the sport has declined as trilogy. The 40-year-old Go- flopped in their finales be- future.
with rosy retrospection. well. Canelo Álvarez’s clear lovkin looked slower than fore, from Sugar Ray Leon-
unanimous-decision victory ever, and Canelo grew weary ard’s anticlimactic third vic- Outstanding fighters abound
That’s the term for the psy- over Gennady Golovkin on in the late rounds while nurs- tory over Roberto Durán in in nearly every weight class,
chological phenomenon that Saturday night is the biggest ing an injured left wrist. 1989 to Rafael Márquez’s and champions are rising
leads people to believe the fight currently on the boxing unsightly finish of a worn- from more spots on the globe
past was much better than calendar for the second half All three bouts were still out Israel Vázquez in 2010. than at any time in the sport’s
the present. of 2022, but its lack of primal elite-level competition be- history. In the past decade,
pleasures left some fans won- tween two beloved fighters Boxing doesn’t have as many women’s boxing has grown
Rosy retrospection inflicts dering if that’s the best box- with worldwide fame and giants, and its truly transcen- from a disrespected sideshow
many people who closely ing can do. bulging bank accounts from dent events are fewer and to a viable career for dozens
watched the boxing greats their popularity — but in a farther between. But few of fighters competing at pre-
of the 1960s, 1970s or 1980s. Canelo is correct, actually: sport built on blood, sweat live sporting events can still viously unseen levels of abil-
Most modern fighters don’t The good old days weren’t and toughness, a bout with- match the pure excitement ity.
stand up to their memory always good, and modern out serious damage or drama of attending a big fight night:
of giants from an era when boxing has plenty to offer just won’t satisfy a large por- When Golovkin shook off his It’s true that the rest of the
boxing attracted more of — even if the sport’s most tion of the boxing public. slow start and began to con- 2022 boxing schedule doesn’t
the world’s top athletes and recent showcase event didn’t nect with Canelo in the late currently have a fight as the-
reigned supreme on sports deliver that punch in the gut. Those fans with rosy ret- rounds Saturday night, T- oretically compelling as Álva-
pages and television with pas- rospection seem to expect Mobile Arena was in a frenzy. rez-Golovkin — but it might
sion and drama. This third meeting between a violent classic in every big soon. The two most tantaliz-
two of the current era’s great- night, forgetting about the What’s more, only the rosi- ing matchups of the fall still
Boxing has declined in overall est champions was not a vis- countless megafights that est retrospection could blur a haven’t been finalized.
popularity from its peerless cerally thrilling bout, and nei- have underdelivered over fan’s vision of the outstand-