68 2GM Thursday February 3 2022 | the times
SportFootball
Winter Olympics
Curling (Beijing National Aquatics
Center): Mixed doubles: Round robin
Great Britain (J Dodds and B Mouat) bt
Sweden 9-5; United States bt Australia
6-5; Czech Republic bt Norway 7-6;
China bt Switzerland 7-6.
Football
African Nations Cup semi-final
Burkina Faso (0) 1 Senegal (0) 3
Touré 82 Diallo 70
Gueye 76
Mané 87
(in Yaoundé, Cameroon)
Sky Bet Championship
Barnsley (0) 0 Cardiff (0) 1
11,432 Ikpeazu 71
Huddersfld(0) 2 Derby (0) 0
Holmes 75
Rhodes 79
16,231Sent off: R Stearman (Derby) 3
P W DL F A GDPts
Fulham 28 17 7 4 74 26 48 58
Blackburn.......29 15 8 6 45 30 15 53
Bournemth....28 15 7 6 44 24 20 52
QPR...................28 15 6 7 44 31 13 51
Huddersfield.30 13 9 8 40 346 48
West Brom.....29 12 9 8 34 24 10 45
Middlesbro....28 13 6 9 32 26 6 45
Nottm Forest29 12 7 10 39 31 8 43
Luton 28 11 9 8 39 32 7 42
Coventry.........27 11 7 9 35 31 4 40
Sheffield Utd.26 11 6 9 35 32 3 39
Stoke................28 11 6 11 33 30 3 39
Preston............29 9 11 9 33 35 -2 38
Millwall............28 9 10 9 29 290 37
Blackpool.......28 10 7 11 29 33 -4 37
Bristol City.....29 9 7 13 38 51 -13 34
Birmingham..29 8 9 12 32 44 -12 33
Hull...................28 9 5 14 25 31 -6 32
Swansea..........27 8 8 11 28 35 -7 32
Cardiff..............28 8 5 15 31 48 -17 29
@Reading......... 28 8 4 16 33 55 -22 22
Peterboro.......27 5 5 17 23 55 -32 20
*Derby.............29 8 12 9 28 30 -2 15
Barnsley..........28 2 8 18 17 43 -26 14
* deducted 21pts for breaching financial
rules and for going into administration
@ deducted 6pts for breaching financial
rulesCinch Scottish Premiership
Celtic (3) 3 Rangers (0) 0
Hatate 5, 42
Abada 44
P W D L F A GDPts
Celtic................24 18 3 3 50 13 37 57
Rangers...........24 17 5 2 48 21 27 56
Hearts..............24 12 7 5 34 20 14 43
Motherwell....24 9 6 9 27 33 -6 33
Hibernian........24 8 7 9 26 27-1 31
Aberdeen........23 8 5 10 27 270 29
Dundee Utd...24 8 5 11 19 27 -8 29
Livingston......24 7 5 12 22 31 -9 26
St Mirren.........23 5 11 7 22 33 -11 26
Ross County..24 5 8 11 35 42 -7 23
St Johnstone.23 4 6 13 13 28 -15 18
Dundee............23 4 6 13 18 39 -21 18
Women’s League Cup: Semi-finals
Chelsea 3 Manchester United 1. Today
Manchester City v Tottenham (7.0).
Cricket
Under-19 World Cup
Semi-final India 290-5 (50 overs: Y V
Dhull 110, S Rasheed 94); Australia 194If Celtic go on to win the cinch Premier-
ship this season they should request
that their name is engraved on the
trophy in Japanese. They have found a
seam of Asian footballers which has
more gems than Tiffany’s. All four new
heroes enjoy degrees of adulation but
Reo Hatate scaled new heights with two
stunning goals to break Rangers. This
Old Firm game felt like a truly big result.
Rangers were crowned champions
by 25 points last season but this is a rein-
vigorated Celtic. Rangers were even
four points ahead when Giovanni van
Bronckhorst replaced Steven Gerrard
in November but now there has been a
changing of the guard. Celtic are the
new league leaders, a point clear thanks
(41.5 overs: L Shaw 51). India won by 96
runs. Final: Saturday England v India
(in North Sound, Antigua).
Tennis
ATP Córdoba Open
Second round D Galan (Col) bt J Munar
(Sp) 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.
ATP Open Sud De France
Montpellier: Second round M
McDonald (US) bt I Ivashka (Bela) 6-3,
7-6 (7-2); A Bublik (Kaz) bt P-H Herbert
(Fr) 6-3, 6-7 (2-7), 6-2; R Gasquet (Fr) bt
U Humbert (Fr) 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 6-3; A
Mannarino (Fr) bt A Davidovich Fokina
(Sp) 6-2, 6-4; F Krajinovic (Serbia) bt
J-W Tsonga (Fr) 6-4, 7-6 (7-2).
ATP Tata Open Maharashtra
Pune: Second round J Sousa (Por) bt G
Mager (It) 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4); K Majchrzak
(Pol) bt Q Halys (Fr) 6-3, 7-6 (9-7);
L Musetti (It) bt A Vukic (Aus) 7-6 (7-3),
3-6, 6-3; D Altmaier (Ger) bt R Albot
(Mold) 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.Results
Ikpeazu’s debut goal puts Cardiff clear of bottom three
For any player moving on transfer
deadline day, the desire to make an
instant impact for your new club is
huge and Uche Ikpeazu did just that
in Cardiff City’s 1-0 victory away at
Barnsley.
Signed from Middlesbrough on
loan on Monday to fill the void left by
Kieffer Moore to promotion-chasing
Bournemouth, Ikpeazu was sent on
after 63 minutes of a scrappy affair
and eight minutes later provided the
defining moment of the evening.
Chasing a long ball from Aden Flint,
Ikpeazu out-muscled Barnsley’s
centre halves and poked the ball
home. The 26-year-old celebrated
his goal by jumping into the 565travelling supporters, for which he
was booked, but he had earned their
instant love. His goal secured back-
to-back wins for Steve Morison’s side
and some breathing space between
them and the bottom three, with the
gap now nine points.
Morison and the Barnsley assistant
coach, Joseph Laumann, were booked
for an altercation in the tunnel as
they made their way off at full-time.
This was a fifth straight league
defeat for Barnsley, whose winless
run stretches 12 games back to
November 3. With two wins all
season, the challenge of finding nine
or ten victories from their last
18 games appears a forlorn one.cinch Premiership
Michael Grant
Hatate casts spell on Rangers to
give Celtic advantage in title race
to an opening 45-minute evisceration.
Nothing has been won yet, nor even
close to it. There are 14 games left, two
more derbies, and 42 points to contest.
But here was further confirmation that
Celtic’s improvement under Ange
Postecoglou is the real deal. They are
unbeaten in 22 domestic games and this
was their first victory over Rangers in
seven attempts since 2019, but also a
result so emphatic that it was their
biggest winning margin since August.
Their first half was mesmerising.
They shredded Rangers. Had it not
been for Allan McGregor’s saves from
Jota and Giorgos Giakoumakis the lead
at the interval could have been five. The
60,000 fans — there were no away
supporters — utterly revelled in it all.
Celtic began on the front foot. Matt
O’Riley’s fifth-minute corner caused
Joe Aribo and Calvin Bassey to clash
heads in the Rangers six-yard box, the
ball carrying on out of the box to reach
Hatate. There was a touch with his left
foot and then a shot with his right which
took a deflection on its way acrossMcGregor and inside his left-hand post.
The goalkeeper was furious that the ref-
eree, Bobby Madden, had not stopped
play for a head injury. Madden consult-
ed his assistant, David McGeachie, and
the correct call was reached. Hatate’s
shot had come too soon after the knock
for play to be stopped.
Seasoned derby watchers sensed
they had seen this movie before. Heaps
of Celtic pressure, even a goal, but then
heroic saves from a Rangers goalkeeper
and a goal or two to turn the night on its
head. McGregor’s save from Jota’s drive
and Giakoumakis’s header hinted at a
familiar story. Giakoumakis was denied
after another header and a hooked shot
following an inviting O’Riley cross.
Rangers began to build some posses-
sion and should have equalised when
Aribo slipped Scott Arfield through
one-on-one with Joe Hart, but the goal-
keeper smothered the ball at his feet.
Before half-time it was 2-0. Abada
rolled a pass for Hatate, a self-confessed
Harry Potter fan, who waved his wand
again. Another bit of control with theleft boot and this time a beautiful lifted
shot with the right to beat McGregor.
Rangers could be forgiven if their heads
were scrambled but the defending at
Celtic’s third, scored within a couple of
minutes, was unforgivable. Hatate
hooked a cross into the six-yard box
which found Abada stealing in to finish
while blue shirts stood motionless.
This was a collapse. Parkhead
wanted blood, of course, but the second
half was calmer. Rangers, who
suddenly need their loan signing Aaron
Ramsey when he is fit, had more stabili-
ty and possession, but Celtic’s lead was
too great to come under threat.Celtic
Hatate 5, 42, Abada 44Rangers
3
0
Liverpool’s Sadio Mané
sealed Senegal’s place in the
final of the Africa Cup of
Nations by scoring the third
goal in their 3-1 victory over
Burkina Faso last night.
Mané rounded off a
breakaway move through
a clever dinked finish
with three minutes left tocomplete a
deserved
victory for
Senegal.
The gamewas goalless for 70
minutes before Abdou
Diallo shot home from
close range following
a corner. Bamba
Dieng doubled the
lead six minutes
later, before Blati
Touré pulled a
goal back in the82nd minute. However,
Mané’s late goal
extinguished any chances of
a Burkina Faso comeback
and he could meet his
Liverpool team-mate
Mohamed Salah in Sunday’s
final. Salah’s Egypt take on
the hosts, Cameroon, in the
second semi-final today.Mané strikes
as Senegal
seal place in
Afcon final
SUNDAY ALAMBA/APRooney still
hopeful that
Derby side
will survive
Wayne Rooney watched his team lose
ground in their bid for survival on the
field but, off it, the Derby County
manager left John Smith’s Stadium
optimistic about his club’s ability to see
out the present campaign.
His side were reduced to ten men
against in-form Huddersfield Town
after the sending-off of Richard
Stearman, although it took the hosts
75 minutes to finally open the scoring.
But Rooney could draw hope from
his team’s dogged display and a transfer
window in which he has been forced, by
the club’s administrators, to make nine
sales, which he now believes will enable
Derby to complete the season. The club
have until the end of the month to prove
to the Football League that they have
the funds to survive until the summer.
“The money has come into the club,”
Rooney said. “I was assured before that
we had the funds to go through to the
end of the season and now, to me, that
looks like we have proof of funds.
“Hopefully that means the [transfer]
embargo will be lifted because there are
still some free agents out there.”
Rooney could be equally optimistic
about Derby’s prospects on the field,
given their response to Stearman’s early
red card for a scything foul on Lewis
O’Brien. It was a spirited showing
which looked like it might result in a
point until a deflected shot from Duane
Holmes looped over the head of Ryan
Allsop, the Derby goalkeeper, who
could only watch the ball go into his net.
The Huddersfield substitute Jordan
Rhodes scored a second goal, lifting his
team to fifth in the Championship in
the process, after Allsop failed to hold a
Danny Ward shot 11 minutes from time.
“Tonight actually gives me more
hope we will stay in this division,”
Rooney said. “When I see a group of
players working as hard as they are
working, even at 2-0 down, that’s a good
feeling for a manager.”Sky Bet Championship
Ian WhittellHuddersfield
Holmes 75, Rhodes 79Derby County
0Huddersfield (4-4-2): L Nicholls — O Turton (Pipa
56min), M Pearson (C Eiting 45), T Lees, H Toffolo
— S Thomas, J Hogg (J Rhodes 73), L O’Brien,
D Holmes — D Sinani, D Ward. Booked O’Brien.
Derby (4-4-1-1): R Allsop — N Byrne, R Stearman,
C Davies, L Buchanan — F Ebosele, L Sibley (E
Cashin 61), L Thompson (J Stretton 80), J Knight
— T Lawrence — L Plange (K Bielik 45). Booked
Byrne, Davies, Ebosele. Sent off Stearman.
Referee M Donohue.Celtic (4-3-3): J Hart 7 — J Juranovic 8, C Carter-
Vickers 7, C Starfelt 7, G Taylor 7 — M O’Riley 8
(I Soro 87min), C McGregor 7, R Hatate 8
(J McCarthy 72) — L Abada 8 (J Forrest 61, 5), G
Giakoumakis 6 (Maeda 61, 5), Jota 7 (B Doak 87).
Booked McGregor, Doak.
Rangers (4-3-3): A McGregor 7 — J Tavernier 5,
C Goldson 5, C Bassey 5, B Barisic 5 (L Balogun
46, 6) — S Arfield 5, G Kamara 5 (R Jack 46, 6),
J Aribo 6 (F Sakala 46, 5) — A Diallo 5, K Roofe 5,
R Kent 5. Booked Bassey, Taverner, Balogun.
Referee B Madden.Mané finished off a team
move to score his side’s
third goal and ensure
victory over Burkina Faso2