CHINTHANA WASALA THE PENINSULA

Al Rayyan missed a golden opportunity to go top in the QNB Stars League standings when they were held by Al Arabi as both teams went goalless at Al Janoub Stadium yesterday.

A victory for Al Rayyan in yesterday’s Round 19 match would have taken their points tally to 44, one above current leaders Al Duhail. Instead, they had to be satisfied with just one point after the stalemate. The draw took Al Arabi’s points total to 25 as fight to stay within the top four to seal a berth in the Qatar Cup and AFC Champions League.

Al Rayyan had won their first-leg match by a 2-1 margin.

The Lions had beaten Qatar SC 2-1 in Week 18, while Al Arabi lost 0-1 to Al Gharafa when the tournament resumed after a long break which was caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The return of Hamdi Har-baoui and Abdullah Marafie seemed to have strengthened the Al Arabi side as they pushed hard to open scoring in the first half

of yesterday’s game which was played behind closed doors.

Al Rayyan’s Yacine Brahimi failed to convert a free-kick in the 22nd minute, thanks to bril-liant goalkeeping work by Al Arabi’s Abunada Hamdi.

Al Arabi then had a golden chance to take the lead as they earned a penalty when Dame Traore pulled down Lasogga. But Harbaoui missed the oppor-tunity to put his side ahead.

Al Rayyan missed another chance when Abdulaziz Hatem sent his shot straight to the goal-keeper first bounce.

After many attempts in the second half which saw Al Rayyan field Sebastian Soria in search of a goal, Hamdi made some brilliant saves starting in the 85th minute when he blocked Abdulrahman Al Harazi twice and Abdulaziz Hatem.

Yesterday’s second match also ended with both teams sharing points when bottom-placed Al Shahania saved their blushes with a last-gasp goal against Al Sailiya to secure a two-all draw at Al Sadd Stadium.

Nadir Belhadj (37) and Mohammed Abuzraik (40)

scored for Al Sailiya, while Al Shahania replied through Ramin Rezaein (21) and Saoud Farhan (90+3).

Al Sailiya’s position in the standings did not move after the draw as they moved on to 25 points. Al Shahania are now on 14.

The highlight of today's fix-tures will be leaders Al Duhail's face-off against strong Al Gharafa at the Al Sadd Stadium.

Al Duhail coach Walid Regragui had accepted that they need to work harder if they are to win the title this season, with

both Al Rayyan and Al Sadd posing a strong threat.

“After dropping points against Umm Salal, we are in a position that requires more hard work to rectify the negative aspects, but there are positives that we should not ignore. We had the ball possession during

most of the match and we played with our style. That was important," Regragui said.

“We trust in our capabilities, we have to think about the next match and we know that Al Gharafa game will be difficult because they are a strong side. No one will give us gifts, eve-ryone wants to beat Al Duhail.

“In order to win the title, we have to provide a better level than in the previous round," he added.

His counterpart, Slavisa Jokanovic looked confident fol-lowing their victory against Al Arabi in Round-18 and said it was important to consolidate their presence in the top four.

“We are looking forward to play this match with the same ambition that we have in all our games, which is playing strongly and competing for the three points. We will work to collect the maximum number of points from the remaining four games, including the next one against Al Duhail. They are strong oppo-nents,” Jokanovic said.

Al Khor will meet Al Wakrah in the early kick off at Al Janoub Stadium today.

THE PENINSULA – WEST SUSSEX

The fifth day and finale of QREC-sponsored Qatar Goodwood Festival came with a massive Qatari victory w h e n HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Thani’s Ebraz won the G1 P/A Qatar International Stakes for four-year-old and older Arabians, for the second year on the spin.

Ebraz managed to keep his title in the opener of the eight-race card and give a second success in the pres-tigious event for his trainer Julian Smart and his jockey Maxime Guyon in much the same way the triple did last year.

The mile contest is a G1 contest for purebred Arabian horses and forms the first leg of the Doha Triple Crown.

Following his victory in 2019, Ebraz went on to become the first winner of the Doha Triple Crown, with victories in the Qatar Arabian World Cup at Longchamp and The Amir Sword at Doha.

With this repeated victory under his belt, Ebraz, the highest rated Arabian in the world, sends a strong message that he is targeting the Doha Triple Crown once more. The performance which son of Amer made at Goodwood shows he is not content with the his-toric achievement that he is only horse ever to have landed the coveted title, but has already started his new journey for landing the title again; an accom-plishment, if realised, may not be repeated by any other horse.

Deryan, trained by Didier Guil-lemin, was the runner-up under by Ioritz Mendizabal.

H H Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Thani’s Tayf, the runner-up last year and the winner of the 2017 edition, finished third with Olivier Peslier in the saddle. He is trained by Thomas Fourcy.

Trainer Julian Smart said: “Ebraz is very special. He is one of the best - he already proved that in Doha, winning the Triple Crown, winning the Amir Sword three times. This is the fourth time he has come to Goodwood - he has been unlucky on two occasions and has managed to win it the last two years. Now we go to France for the Qatar Arabian Gold Cup and who knows, maybe the

unthinkable. We already thought the Arabian Triple Crown couldn’t be done and he has done it; maybe he can do another one, you never know. We will obviously target the Arc meeting for the Qatar Arabian Gold Cup and then we’ll see, do we go back to Doha or do we leave him in France to go to stud? That will all be decided if he is sound in October.”

Second Qatar Lillie Langtry Stakes for Enbihaar

Enbihaar, trained by John Gosden, justified her favouritism to win the G2 Qatar Lillie Langtry Stakes for the second year in succession. Partnered by Jim Crowley, the five-year-old Redoute’s Choice mare overhauled leader Snow, trained by Aidan O’Brien and ridden by Ryan Moore, entering the final quarter mile.

Enbihaar comfortably saw off the challenge of Cabaletta, trained by Roger Varian and ridden by David Egan, to score by three and a half lengths.

Thady Gosden, assistant trainer to his father John, said: “Enbihaar has run really well and is such a lovely horse. It was only a three-runner field, but she has that lovely long stride and she picked up well in the straight.”

Society Lion wins Qatar Handicap for Sir Michael

Stoute’s first of Qatar Goodwood Festival 2020Sir Michael Stoute picked up his

first winner of the Qatar Goodwood Festival when Society Lion and Ryan Moore landed the Qatar Handicap, a Class 2 over 7f for three-year-olds rated 0-105.

He managed to win the race by 1 and a quarter lengths in front of Mister Snowdon, trained by Richard Hughes, who was ridden by Shane Kelly. The Roger Varian-trained King Ragnar was third under David Egan

Comfortable win for Treacherous in Unibet

Stewards’ Sprint HandicapTreacherous, trained by Ed de Giles,

was the comfortable winner of the six-furlong Unibet Stewards’ Sprint Handicap, the contest for horses elim-inated from the Unibet Stewards’ Cup.

Under Harry Bentley, the six-year-old delivered his challenge entering the final furlong and was never in any danger thereafter, coming home a length and three quarters to the good over Dream Today, who is trained by Jamie Osborne and was ridden by Saffie Osborne. The Lamplighter was third.

Ebraz is very special. He is one

of the best - he already proved

that in Doha, winning the Triple

Crown, winning the Amir Sword

three times. This is the fourth

time he has come to Goodwood

- he has been unlucky on two

occasions and has managed to

win it the last two years. Now

we go to France for the Qatar

Arabian Gold Cup and who

knows, maybe the unthinkable:

Trainer Julian Smart

SPORT | 14

British GP: Hamilton

storms to pole

as Mercedes

dominates

SPORTPSG complete

domestic treble

with League

Cup title

SPORT | 15

SUNDAY 2 AUGUST 2020

'World's best' Arabian horse clinches back to back G1 (PA) Qatar International Stakes titles

Ebraz victorious at Goodwood

Enbihaar on his way to win the Qatar Lillie Langtry Stakes.

Al Rayyan's Yohan Boli (left) and Al Arabi's Aron Gunnarsson vie for the ball during yesterday's QNB Stars League match played at Al Janoub Stadium.

Al Arabi hold Al Rayyan as Al Shahania, Al Sailiya share points

Yesterday's resultsAl Rayyan 0-0 Al Arabi

Al Sailiya 2-2 Al Shahania Today's fixtures

Al Khor vs Al Wakrah16:30 - At Al Janoub Stadium

Al Gharafa vs Al Duhail18:45 - At Al Sadd Stadium

H H Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Thani’s Ebraz and jockey Maxime Guyon on their way to win the G1 P/A Qatar International Stakes for four-year-old and older Arabians on the final day of the QREC-sponsored Qatar Goodwood Festival, in West Sussex, yesterday.PIC: DEBBIE BURT

Trainer Julian Smart (left), Ebraz and jockey Maxime Guyon after winning their second consecutive G1 P/A Qatar

International Stakes title at the Qatar Goodwood Festival, yesterday. PIC: SAM STEPHENSON

14 SUNDAY 2 AUGUST 2020SPORT

Lewis Hamilton

celebrates after qualifying in pole

position for the Formula One British

Grand Prix at the Silverstone Circuit,

yesterday.

AP – SILVERSTONE

Lewis Hamilton set a new track record at the British Grand Prix and clinched a record-extending 91st pole position yesterday.

He needs five more wins to equal Michael Schumacher’s Formula One record of 91 GP wins. The defending champion is also odds-on to equal the F1 great’s record of seven world titles.

He clocked a time of 1 minute 24.303 seconds at the Silverstone circuit where he was won a record six times.

“This track is just awesome,” the 35-year-old Hamilton said. “It’s like jug-gling balls when you’re on a moving plate.”

He was .313 seconds ahead of Mer-cedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas and about 1 second faster than Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

“They were just way too fast,” Ver-stappen said of Mercedes. “You just have to accept that and do the best you can.”

Charles Leclerc gave Ferrari a small boost with fourth ahead of Lando Norris, who could face a grid penalty after failing to slow down under a yellow flag in the second part of qualifying when Hamilton made a rare mistake. He span his car and sent gravel spraying, bringing the session to a brief halt after Bottas had set the quickest time.

Vettel, who had problems with under-steering and almost went off the track toward the end of Q3, was only 10th fastest in qualifying.

Red Bull’s Alexander Albon finished 12th ahead of Racing Point’s last-minute replacement Nico Hulkenberg.

He lost his seat in F1 this year, and is driving because Sergio Perez tested

positive for the coronavirus following a trip back to his native Mexico after his mother had an accident.

Nicolas Latifi’s Williams span off the track near the end of Q1, the latest incident in the Canadian driver’s difficult start in F1.

“It’s just a driver error, no excuses,” he said.

Kimi Raikkonen and Kevin Magnussen were also among the five drivers elimi-nated from Q1.

Earlier, Bottas posted the fastest time in third and final practice ahead of Ham-ilton and Verstappen in somewhat cooler conditions following Friday’s stifling heat.

Vettel was a miserable 14th, once again coming into the garage for repairs after a similar problem with the car’s pedals on Friday.

The fourth race of the season is again being held without fans because of virus restrictions.

“It doesn’t feel like a British Grand Prix in that respect,” Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said. “The atmosphere obviously isn’t here.”

Mercedes won the first three races, Bottas clinching the season-opener in Austria and Hamilton winning the next two in Austria and Hungary.

Like Austria, Britain is hosting back-to-back races at Silverstone.

Hamilton storms to poleas Mercedes dominates

BRITISH GP STARTING GRID

FRONT ROW: 1. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes),

2. Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Mercedes)

2ND ROW: 3. Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull), 4.

Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari)

3RD ROW: 5. Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren), 6. Lance

Stroll (CAN/Racing Point)

4TH ROW: 7. Carlos Sainz (ESP/McLaren), 8. Daniel

Ricciardo (AUS/Renault)

5TH ROW: 9. Esteban Ocon (FRA/Renault), 10.

Sebastian Vettel (GER/Ferrari)

6TH ROW: 11. Pierre Gasly (FRA/Alpha Tauri), 12.

Alexander Albon (THA/Red Bull)

7TH ROW: 13. Nico Hulkenberg (GER/Racing Point),

14. George Russell (GBR/Williams)

8TH ROW: 15. Kevin Magnussen (DEN/Haas), 16.

Antonio Giovinazzi (ITA/Alfa Romeo)

9TH ROW: 17. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Alfa Romeo),

18. Romain Grosjean (FRA/Haas)

10TH ROW: 19. Daniil Kvyat (RUS/Alpha Tauri), 20.

Nicholas Latifi (CAN/Williams)

Todd grabs four-shot clubhouse lead over Koepka in MemphisREUTERS – MEMPHIS

Brendon Todd used a red-hot putter to claim sole ownership of the lead at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational in Memphis on Friday, sitting two strokes ahead of Rickie Fowler after the second round.

World number 51 Todd, who won two PGA Tour titles on consecutive starts last November, carded a bogey-free, five-under-par 65 at TPC Southwind for an 11-under halfway total.

The 35-year-old American, who converted an impressive 50-foot birdie putt over a slope at the par-three 14th, walked off the course feeling better than ever heading into the weekend.

Fowler, who holed three back-to-back birdies on the front nine, shot a double-bogey on 11, before recovering with a birdie-birdie finish for a three-under-par 67.

Defending champion Brooks Koepka and South Korean An Byeong-hun finished the day four strokes off the lead.

Koepka, who led by two shots after the first round, started on the back nine and reached the turn at two under for the round but made double-bogey at the par-four second where his tee shot found a fairway bunker and then needed three putts from 57 feet.

The four-times major winner, who struggled in his last three events, said his putter let him down on Friday during his one-over-par 71 but that he was not going to lose sleep with plenty of golf still to play.

Stanley takes Barracuda lead

AP – TRUCKEE, CALIFORNIA

Kyle Stanley had another eagle in a 14-point round on Friday to take the lead into the weekend in the Barracuda Champi-onship, the PGA Tour’s lone modified Stableford scoring event.

Stanley had a 22-point total for a two-stroke lead over Matthias Schwab, Robert Streb and Branden Grace in high altitude at Tahoe Mountain Club’s Old Greenwood Course. Players receive 8 points for albatross, 5 for eagle, 2 for birdie, zero for par, minus-1 for bogey and minus-3 for double bogey or worse.

Stanley eagled the par-5 12th a day after accomplishing the feat on the par-5 sixth. He also had six birdies and two bogeys in his afternoon round Friday. The 32-year-old is trying to win for the third time on the tour after breaking through in the 2012 Phoenix Open and taking the 2017 Quicken Loans National.

Brendon Todd of the United States plays a shot from a bunker on the 16th hole during the second round of the World Golf Championship-FedEx St Jude Invitational in Memphis, Tennessee, on Friday.

Harden and Rockets rally to top Mavericks in NBA returnAGENCIES – ORLANDO

James Harden scored 49 points, Russell Westbrook added 31 points and 11 rebounds, and the Houston Rockets erased a 14-point deficit and rallied for a 153-149 overtime win over the Dallas Mavericks on Friday at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando.

The Rockets claimed the season series with Dallas two games to one by finally mustering some defensive might down the stretch of the fourth quarter.

Trailing 139-137, Houston got a tip-in of a Harden missed free throw from Robert Covington with 3.3 seconds left to force overtime. Covington, following an 0-for-8 start from behind the arc, added a 3-pointer with 1:22 left in overtime to extend the Houston lead to 150-146.

Luka Doncic recorded his league-leading 15th triple-double with 28 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists while Kristaps Porzingis paced the Mavericks with 39 points and 16 rebounds. Trey Burke added 31 points on 8-of-10 3-point shooting off the bench while Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 24 points for Dallas.

Portland Trail Blazers 140 - Memphis Grizzlies 135 (OT)

CJ McCollum scored 33 points, Damian Lillard added 29, and Portland overwhelmed Memphis in overtime. The Trail Blazers built a first-half lead then surged ahead 75-62 in the third quarter before a 22-6 run pushed the Grizzlies ahead. The game was back-and-forth from there until the Blazers took control in the extra frame.

Rookie Ja Morant, the Griz-zlies’ leading scorer on the season at just under 18 points per game, finished with 22 points Friday. He had only two points on 1-of-5 shooting at halftime but came to life to lead the third-quarter run. Morant also handed out 11 assists.

Orlando Magic 128 - Brooklyn Nets 118

Orlando turned a close game into a rout by scoring nine con-secutive points late in the second quarter en route to a win over Brooklyn in what could be a key battle for playoff seeding.

Evan Fournier had 24 points while Aaron Gordon posted a double-double (10 points, 11 rebounds) for the Magic (31-35), who moved past the Nets (30-35) into seventh place in the Eastern Conference.

The top seven teams are guar-anteed a playoff spot. The eighth-place team advances to the posts-eason as the final seed if it is at least four games better than the ninth-place team at the end of the regular season. Otherwise, a

play-in series will determine the eighth seed. Nikola Vucevic had 22 points for the Magic. Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot led the Nets with 24 points, and Caris LeVert had 17.

Phoenix Suns 125 - Wash-ington Wizards 112

Cameron Johnson and Devin Booker combined for 18 first-quarter points, helping Phoenix build a big lead en route to a victory over Washington.

Booker finished with a game-high 27 points and Deandre Ayton registered a 24-point, 12-rebound double-double for the Suns, who entered the resumption of play with the worst record among the 13 Western Conference teams still alive. Rui Hachimura paced the Wizards with 21 points.

Milwaukee Bucks 119 - Boston Celtics 112

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 36 points and 15 rebounds to lift Milwaukee past Boston in the teams’ first game of the NBA restart. Antetokounmpo’s double-double was his 19th straight, matching the longest streak in the

NBA this season -- set by the reigning league MVP himself from October 24 to November 29.

Khris Middleton had 18 points and Brook Lopez added 14 points and six blocks for the Bucks, who bolted out to a 17-2 lead before requiring a late push to seal the win. Marcus Smart scored 23 points off the bench and Jaylen Brown added 22 for the Celtics.

San Antonio Spurs 129 - Sacra-mento Kings 120

DeMar DeRozan scored 27 points -- all but two in the second half -- and added 10 assists as San Antonio finished with a flurry to beat Sacramento in the teams’ first game back in action after the league’s stoppage for COVID-19.

Derrick White added 26 points for San Antonio, with Rudy Gay scoring 19 off the bench, Lonnie Walker IV hitting for 16, and Dejounte Murray contributing 11. The Kings’ De’Aaron Fox led all scorers with 39 points. Bogdan Bogdanovic hit for 24, Nemanja Bjelica added 12, and Harrison Barnes and Richaun Holmes con-tributed 10 points each for Sacramento.

James Harden (centre) of the Houston Rockets drives to the basket during the first half against the Dallas Mavericks at The Arena at ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, on Friday.

MLB: Padres rally past Rockiesin wild 9th

AGENCIES – DENVER

Tommy Pham and Fernando Tatis Jr. homered in a four-run ninth inning and had two hits apiece, Jake Cronenworth also had two hits, and the visiting San Diego Padres beat the Colorado Rockies 8-7 on Friday night in Denver.

Trevor Story and Charlie Blackmon homered and had three hits each, and Ryan McMahon, Nolan Arenado and David Dahl had two hits apiece for the Rockies, who had their four-game winning streak snapped.

With two outs in the ninth and San Diego trailing 5-4, Tatis hit a solo homer off Wade Davis (0-1). Trent Grisham then walked and stole second, and Davis intentionally walked Manny Machado. Pham hit a full-count pitch into the seats to left-center field to make it 8-5.

Colorado nearly rallied in the bottom of the inning. Blackmon had an RBI single, and two walks by reliever Kirby Yates brought in another run and loaded the bases. However, Drew Pomeranz came on and got Chris Owings to fly out for his second save.

Cubs 6, Pirates 3 Yu Darvish struck out

seven batters over six scoreless innings, and Chicago cruised to a win over visiting Pittsburgh to open a three-game series.

Darvish (1-1) limited the Pirates to two hits while issuing only one walk. Jason Kipnis homered for Chicago while Jason Heyward finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Anthony Rizzo also had two RBIs.

Trevor Williams (0-2) drew the loss after giving up three runs (two earned) on four hits in 4 2/3 innings. He walked three and struck out six.

RESULTS

Braves 11, Mets 10Yankees 5, Red Sox 1

Diamondbacks 5, Dodgers 3Orioles 6, Rays 3

Astros 9, Angels 6White Sox 3, Royals 2

Tigers 7, Reds 2Mariners 5, Athletics 3

Twins 4, Indians 1Giants 9, Rangers 2

15SUNDAY 2 AUGUST 2020 SPORT

PSG complete domestic treble with League Cup titleREUTERS — PARIS

Paris St Germain completed a domestic treble as they beat Olympique Lyonnais 6-5 on penalties to lift the French League Cup on Friday with the match ending in a 0-0 stalemate after regular and extra time.

Second-half substitute Pablo Sarabia scored PSG’s final penalty in the shootout after goalkeeper Keylor Navas had saved Bertrand Traore’s spot kick to give the Ligue 1 champions and French Cup winners their ninth League Cup trophy.

It was the last roar for the competition, which was founded in 1995, as the French Professional Football League (LFP) decided in September to scrap it as of next season until further notice.

The LFP had failed to secure a broadcaster for the 2020-2024 period but reserved the right to relaunch the com-petition in the future.

Lyon keeper Anthony Lopes made a string of good saves in a cagey contest played

in front of 5,000 fans at Stade de France, who were allowed into the stadium in line with coronavirus safety regulations. Lopes denied Brazilian forward Neymar three times and also kept out shots by Angel Di Maria and Idrissa Gueye, while Navas kept out a Maxwel Cornet free kick at the other end.

Lyon defender Rafael da Silva was sent off in the last minute of extra time for a pro-fessional foul on Di Maria and

Neymar blazed the free kick over the bar.

The Brazilian held his nerve to keep PSG alive in the shootout before Navas blocked Traore’s penalty and

Sarabia calmly slotted his shot past Lopes to spark wild celebrations among his team-mates.

PSG, who beat St Etienne 1-0 in the French Cup final last

Friday, will have a chance to complete a quadruple as they face Italian side Atalanta in the Champions league quarter-finals on August 12 in Lisbon.

Their victory over Lyon

also means that Stade Reims, who finished sixth in the French League, have snapped up a berth in next season’s Europa League qualifying event.

PSG’s players pose as they celebrate their victory at the end of the French League Cup final against Olympique Lyonnais .

PSG, who beat St Etienne 1-0 in the French Cup final last Friday, will have a chance to complete a quadruple as they face Italian side Atalanta in the Champions league quarter-finals on August 12 in Lisbon.

Their win over Lyon also means that Stade Reims, who finished sixth in the French League, have snapped up a berth in next season’s Europa League qualifying.

South Africa's tour to West Indies on hold indefinitelyREUTERS — CAPE TOWN

South Africa’s director of cricket Graeme Smith (pictured) does not expect the national team to be back in action until November at the earliest and confirmed the scheduled tour of West Indies has been post-poned indefinitely.

Cricket West Indies chief executive Johnny Grave said last week they were hopeful of hosting South Africa in Sep-tember for either two tests or five T20 internationals, but Smith has made clear that will not happen.

“The West Indies tour has been postponed indefinitely,” Grave told reporters yesterday.

“We are struggling to find the time with the Indian Premier League, when our players are likely to be needed

from the beginning of Sep-tember. “In terms of when we will get back onto the field, we are probably looking at November onwards. And if all goes well, it will then be a very busy period for South African cricket, playing series at times when we don’t usually play.

“It will be a case of trying to

cram in all the tours that have been missed.”

South Africa cut short a One-Day International series in India in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and have also been forced to postpone a tour to Sri Lanka, as well as their engagement with West Indies.

Smith said the lack of cricket is a financial time bomb for the country, who have also lost their major sponsor in the last few months.

“Financially we are in a lot of trouble. We need to get our broadcast rights in, support from corporate sponsorship and get the right content (series) in place.”

South Africa are scheduled to play Test matches against Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Aus-tralia between January and March next year.

Lille sign Turkish striker Yilmaz from BesiktasAFP — LILLE

Lille have signed Turkish striker Burak Yilmaz from Besiktas on a free transfer, one day after selling Victor Osimhen to Napoli, the Ligue 1 club announced yesterday.

The 35-year-old Yilmaz has spent most of his career in Turkey and is one of a select few to have played for Fenerbahce, Besiktas and Galatasaray.

“The experienced and prolific striker and Turkish football idol has signed a two-season contract with the Lille club,” Lille said in a statement.

Yilmaz has scored 24 goals in 59 international matches for Turkey and netted 13 times in 25 league games for Besiktas last season.

“I want to write a new chapter with Lille. I don’t want to disappoint myself or Lille who trust me,” he said. Lille sold Nigerian forward Osimhen to Napoli on Friday for a fee which could rise to €80m ($94.6m), while former France striker Loic Remy also left the club at the end of his contract.

Burak YilmazAubameyang shines as Arsenal seal record 14th FA Cup triumphAFP — LONDON

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang inspired Arsenal to a record 14th FA Cup win as the Gunners captain struck twice to beat Chelsea 2-1 in the final at an empty Wembley yesterday.

Christian Pulisic had given Chelsea the dream start, but the Blues unravelled after Aubameyang was brought down by Cesar Azpilicueta inside the area and converted the resulting penalty.

A brilliant finish from Aubameyang 23 minutes from time earned Mikel Arteta sil-verware in his first season as Arsenal boss before Chelsea were controversially reduced to 10 men when Mateo Kovacic was shown an extremely soft second yellow card.

An FA Cup final unlike any other with nearly 90,000 empty seats saw the traditional singing of “Abide With Me” performed on the Wembley roof.

Chelsea had already achieved their primary goal from Frank Lampard’s first season in charge by securing a place in next season’s Cham-pions League last weekend and early on they seemed set to cap a top-four finish with Lamp-ard’s first trophy as a manager.

Emiliano Martinez flew to his left to turn Mason Mount’s shot behind, but Arsenal did not heed that warning as Chel-sea’s front three combined perfectly for the opener on five minutes.

Mount’s low cross was

flicked on by former Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud and Pulisic continued his scoring streak since football’s return in June by showing quick feet before prodding the ball home.

Arteta has gained plenty of plaudits for his tactical nous during his first eight months in a managerial role and the Spaniard managed to reorganise the Gunners during the first-half drinks break to change the momentum of the game.

A minute after play resumed, Nicolas Pepe thought he had curled home a brilliant equaliser from the edge of the

box, only to be denied by Ainsley Maitland-Niles being flagged for offside in the build-up.

While Chelsea have a l r e a d y s i g n i f i c a n t l y strengthened their forward line for next season with the signings of Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech, Arsenal are hoping just to hold onto their key man in Aubameyang.

Just like in the semi-final win over Manchester City, he proved to be the match winner as he raced onto Kieran Tier-ney’s hopeful ball over the top and outpaced Azpilicueta before being brought down by

the Chelsea captain just inside the area.

Azpilicueta escaped the double punishment of a red card, but VAR confirmed the spot-kick and Aubameyang coolly slotted home.

Chelsea were further hit by two big injury blows either side of half-time as Azpilicueta and Pulisic pulled up with ham-string injuries that will almost certainly rule them out of the Champions League last 16, second leg against Bayern Munich next weekend.

Despite Chelsea’s major spending spree in reinforcing their attack, it is at the back

where they have been found wanting all season and they were caught out too easily for the winner.

Hector Bellerin burst through the weak challenge of Jorginho before the ball was played into the path of Aubam-eyang, who skipped past Kurt Zouma and nonchalantly lifted the finish over Willy Caballero.

Worse was to come for Lampard’s men when Kovacic was inexplicably sent off for the slightest touch on Granit Xhaka, but Anthony Taylor’s decision could not be reviewed by VAR as it was a second bookable offence.

Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang celebrates with the trophy and team-mates after winning the FA Cup.

IRELANDP. Stirling c Banton b Willey .............................12G. Delany lbw b Willey ....................................... 0A. Balbirnie c Bairstow b Vince .......................15H. Tector c Mahmood b Rashid ......................28K. O'Brien b Rashid .............................................3L. Tucker c Topley b Rashid ..............................21C. Campher c Rashid b Mahmood .................68Simi Singh c Bairstow b Mahmood ............... 25A. McBrine c Bairstow b Topley .....................24C. Young not out .................................................2Extras (b4, lb5, nb1, w4) ...............................14Total (9 wkts, 50 overs) ...................... 212Did not bat: J LittleFall of wickets: 1-12 (Delany), 2-15 (Stirling), 3-39 (Balbirnie), 4-44 (O'Brien), 5-78 (Tector), 6-91 (Tucker), 7-151 (Simi Singh), 8-207 (Cam-pher), 9-212 (McBrine)Bowling: Willey 10-1-48-2 (2w); Topley 9-1-31-1; Moeen 8-0-27-0; Vince 4-0-18-1 (1w);

Rashid 10-0-34-3 (1nb, 1w); Mahmood 9-0-45-2ENGLANDJ. Roy c Delany b Young ........................................0J. M Bairstow c Tucker b Little ............................82J. Vince b Campher .............................................. 16T. Banton lbw b Campher .....................................15S. Billings not out ..................................................46E. Morgan c Campher b Little ...............................0M. Ali c Tucker b Little ............................................0D. Willey not out ...................................................47Extras (b 2, nb 2, w 6) ........................................10 Total (6 wkts, 32.3 overs) .................... 216Did not bat: AU Rashid, RJW Topley, S Mahmood Fall of wickets: 1-0 (J Roy), 2-71 (Vince), 3-98 (Banton), 4-131 (Bairstow), 5-137 (Morgan), 6-137 (Moeen Ali)Bowling: CA Young 9-0-68-1 (3w,1nb), JB Little 10-3-60-3 (3w), AR McBrine 5-0-33-0, C Camphe 6.3-1-50-2 (1nb), Simi Singh 2-0-3-0

SCOREBOARDBairstow knock

gives England

series-winning

victoryREUTERS — SOUTHAMPTON

Jonny Bairstow’s quick-fire 82 in half as many deliveries proved enough to help England beat Ireland by four wickets in the second of their One Day Inter-nationals at Southampton yesterday.

Bairstow’s innings laid the foundation for a second victory in three days over the Irish, sealing the series win with one game left to come on Tuesday.

Ireland, who won the toss and chose to bat, scored 212-9 in their 50 overs, with newcomer Curtis Campher again top-scoring. England replied with 216-6 in 32.3 overs.

Sam Billings (46 not out) and David Willey (47 not out) saw England home after a mid-innings collapse gave the visitors

a glimmer of hope against the world champions.

Bairstow passed 3,000 ODI runs in a demonstration of power hitting that threatened to end the match early before chasing a wide ball from Josh Little and edging through to wicketkeeper Lorcan Tucker.

But after he departed at 131-4, Little also removed England skipper Eoin Morgan

second ball without scoring and vice-captain Moeen Allie for a duck three balls later.

But there were no more breakthroughs and England made it home with 105 balls to spare. Ireland were again slow to get going and lost their first four wickets for 44 runs in just 16 overs.

The last match of the series is again at Southampton.