Nadine Fähndrich and Jovian Hediger run into the top ten at the Tour de Ski. And: NHL New Year’s Eve spectacle in New Jersey with Nico Hischier in a leading role. The most important sports news at a glance.
Soccer: Granit Xhaka owes a fateful penalty
Granit Xhaka (center) has to be annoyed about a penalty whistled against him.
(sda) With a goal by Rodri in the 93rd minute to make it 2-1 at Arsenal, Manchester City won their eleventh win in a row in the Premier League at the start of the year. Arsenal led 1-0 at break thanks to a goal from youngster Bukayo Saka. Granit Xhaka was the origin of the turning point. He owed a foul penalty shortly after the break, which Riyad Mahrez used.
Arsenal – Manchester City 1: 2 (1: 0). – 59 757 spectators. – Gates: 31. Saka 1-0. 57. Mahrez (foul penalty) 1: 1. 93. Rodri 1: 2. – Arsenal with Xhaka (cautioned). 59. Yellow-red against Gabriel (Arsenal).
Ranking list: 1. Manchester City 21/53 (53:13). 2. Chelsea 20/42 (43:14). 3. Liverpool 19/41 (50:16). 4. Arsenal 20/35 (33:25). 5. Manchester United 18/31 (30:26). 6. West Ham United 19/31 (34:25). 7. Tottenham Hotspur 17/30 (22:20). 8. Wolverhampton Wanderers 18/25 (13:14). 9. Leicester City 18/25 (31:33). 10. Brighton & Hove Albion 18/24 (17:18). 11. Crystal Palace 19/23 (27:27). 12. Aston Villa 18/22 (24:28). 13th Southampton 19/21 (20:29). 14. Brentford 18/20 (21:25). 15. Everton 17/19 (21:29). 16. Leeds United 18/16 (18:36). 17. Watford 17/13 (22:35). 18. Burnley 16/11 (3:24 PM). 19. Newcastle United 19/11 (19:42). 20. Norwich City 19/10 (8:42).
Nordic skiing: Ryoyu Kobayashi twice behind
Ryoyu Kobayashi.
(sda) Ryoyu Kobayashi wins the New Year’s competition in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The Japanese made the double in the first half of the Four Hills Tournament.
Kobayashi is on course for the second title at the traditional event, which he flew three years ago with the Grand Slam. He could be the first ski jumper ever to win all four competitions twice. In the now 70-year history of the classic about New Year’s days, Sven Hannawald (2002) and Kamil Stoch (2018) struck for the fourth time at the end of the year in Bischofshofen.
The 25-year-old Japanese sailed 143 and 135.5 meters on Saturday and defeated the German Markus Eisenbichler by just 0.2 points. The Bavarian would have been the first German winner in Garmisch since Sven Hannawald in January 2002. Lovro Kos from Slovenia completed the podium. Like Simon Ammann, Kobayashi now has 23 World Cup victories.
As in Oberstdorf, Killian Peier was just behind the top ten. The Vaudois made flights of 130.5 and 132 meters in the slope. This resulted in 12th place in the individual and overall classification. The overall ranking leads Kobayashi with 13.2 points ahead of the Norwegian Marius Lindvik.
Gregor Deschwanden showed an attractive competition at the second stop on the tour. The flights at 129 and 130.5 m earned him 25th place. After half of the tour, Lucerne ranks 14th.
Simon Ammann, who with 13th place in Oberstdorf had put the seventh Olympic participation in dry towels, did not make it into the finals as 34th. He lost the duel against the Austrian Daniel Huber, whom he manages with the company founded by him, Martin Schmitt and Hubert Schiffmann.
As in Oberstdorf, defending champion Kamil Stoch missed the finals. Austria’s co-favorite Stefan Kraft even failed to qualify on New Year’s Eve.
After the second and last day of rest on Sunday, things are going on in Austria. At Bergisel in Innsbruck, Killian Peier takes off on the hill on which he jumped to bronze at the World Championships in February 2019.
Cross-country skiing: Nadine Fähndrich and Jovian Hediger run into the top ten
Jovian Hediger in Lenzerheide before the turn of the year.
(sda) Nadine Fähndrich and Jovian Hediger will advance to the semifinals on Saturday in the classic technique sprint in Oberstdorf on the occasion of the 4th stage of the Tour de Ski.
The woman from central Switzerland missed the finals because of a wobble in the semifinals in the downhill at the place where she won the World Championships on the same route with the skating slats in the team sprint almost a year ago. This uncertainty took the momentum out of her. More than 4th place in the semifinals and the 8th final place was no longer possible.
Hediger, too, in contrast to Nadine Fähndrich, was classically stronger than on skating skis, and came 8th. The French-speaking Swiss is looking for a partner for the team sprint at the Olympic Games in Beijing, where this discipline is run in a classic way. Nobody in Oberstdorf was imposing. The second best Swiss was Cyril Fähndrich in 38th place.
The tour leader Jessie Diggins, winner of the sprint at the start in Lenzerheide, dropped out of the quarter-finals through a fall through no fault of her own. Frida Karlsson, of all people, caused the chaos with a hasty change of lane. After this clear foul, the co-favorite from Sweden was not only punished with being relegated to 30th place, but also received three minutes in the overall standings. The young Swede can hardly achieve the prestigious overall victory.
The new leader is Natalia Neprjajewa. The Russian will try to keep the competitors in check on Monday in Val di Fiemme over 10 km with a classic mass start and on Tuesday on the climb to Alpe Cermis.
In the overall ranking of men, Johannes Hösflot Klaebo extended the lead. The Norwegian won the sprint confidently, Alexander Bolschunow missed the final push by two hundredths. In the tour standings, the Russian is already 1:19 minutes behind.
Ice hockey: NHL New Years Eve spectacle in New Jersey
Nico Hischier (right) is harassed by an opponent.
(sda) The New Jersey Devils said goodbye to 2021 with a New Year’s Eve spectacle. They defeated the Edmonton Oilers 6-5 after extra time.
Right in the middle of the spectacle: the Swiss Nico Hischier and Jonas Siegenthaler. In the exciting start phase with five goals in the first eleven minutes, Captain Nico Hischier scored the 2-1 for New Jersey. And defender Jonas Siegenthaler got a lot of ice time (almost 24 minutes).
The finish was just as spectacular as the first few minutes. Devin Shore and Kaylor Yamamoto turned a 3: 4 into a 5: 4 for the Edmonton Oilers within 72 seconds. Yegor Sharangovich, a former Spengler Cup participant with Dynamo Minsk, equalized 32 seconds before the end with six against five field players (without goalie). Jack Hughes shot the Devils to victory in overtime.
The team from New Jersey, which currently has three Swiss players (including goalkeeper Akira Schmid), won two games in a row for the first time since November 10th. The Devils are four points behind the last play-off spot.
Like Nico Hischier, Pius Suter scored a goal in the last game of the old year. Despite his opening goal, the Detroit Red Wings lost 3-1 to the Washington Capitals. Detroit played a game for the first time in two weeks after the corona turmoil.
Soccer: Ludovic Magnin becomes coach in Austria
Ludovic Magnin, as coach of FC Zurich in October 2020.
(sda)
Ludovic Magnin will work as Altach’s head coach from the beginning of the second half of the season. The 42-year-old Romand signed a contract with the last player in the Austrian Bundesliga until the end of the 2022/23 season.
For Magnin it is the first job since being dismissed from FC Zurich in October 2020. The team from Altach, the village in Vorarlberg with almost 7,000 inhabitants, has lost all of the last six championship games and is 13 points behind a place in the finals of the best six.
Altach has been in the top division of Austria since the 2014/15 season. In that season Altach was the first club in Vorarlberg to qualify for the Europa League. Urs «Longo» had already been Schönenberger’s trainer in Altach for four months from September 2008.