the times | Wednesday April 13 2022 2GM 67
Sport
England’s 5-0 victory over Northern
Ireland was overshadowed by com-
ments from the Northern Ireland
manager Kenny Shiels, who said
women conceded goals in quick succes-
sion because they were more emotional
than men.
Lauren Hemp scored England’s
opener in the 26th minute, before Ella
Toone prodded home their second
shortly after half-time and Hemp cool-
ly rounded Jackie Burns for their third.
Georgia Stanway scored twice in nine
minutes to complete the rout.
“In the women’s game, I’ve noticed,
as I’m sure you’re aware, if you go
through the patterns, when a team con-
cedes a goal they concede a second one
in a very, very short period of time, right
through the whole spectrum of the
women’s game, because girls and
women are more emotional than men.
So, they take a goal going in not very
well,” Shiels said.
Shiels, 65, was appointed as manager
in 2019 and has previously coached at a
number of clubs including Kilmarnock.
The win took England to the verge of
qualification for the 2023 World Cup.
Sarina Wiegman’s side have scored 68
goals without reply in a largely uncom-
petitive group.Women more
emotional than
men – Irish boss
Women’s World Cup qualifying
Molly HudsonNorthern Ireland
England
Hemp 26, 60, Toone 52, Stanway 70, 790
5
Tennis
ATP Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters
First round D Evans (GB) bt B Bonzi
(Fr) 6-0, 7-6 (7-4); A Davidovich
Fokina (Sp) bt N Djokovic (Serbia)
6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 1-6; P Martínez (Sp) bt
U Humbert (Fr) 7-4, 7-6 (7-5);
E Ruusuvuori (Fin) bt O Otte (Ger)
6-4, 6-3; L Sonego (It) bt I Ivashka
(Bela) 6-3, 6-3; L Djere (Serbia) bt
M Cressy (US) 6-4, 6-7 (7-9), 6-2;
T Fritz (US) bt L Catarina (Mon) 6-7
(6-8), 7-6 (7-5), 6-4; L Musetti (It) bt
B Paire (Fr) 6-2, 6-7 (4-7), 6-2;
D Goffin (Bel) bt J Lehecka (Cz) 6-4,
6-3; H Rune (Den) bt A Karatsev
(Russ) 7-6 (7-1), 4-6, 6-3; S Tsitsipas
(Gr) bt F Fognini (It) 6-3, 6-0.Fixtures
Football
Champions League: Quarter-
final, second leg (8.0): Atletico
Madrid (0) v Manchester City (1);
Liverpool (3) v Benfica (1).
Cricket
World Cup League 2: Dubai Papua
New Guinea v Scotland (6.30am).Morecambe42 9 11 22 53 82-29 38
Gillingham...42 8 14 20 32 62-30 38
AFC W’don..42 6 17 19 43 66 -23 35
Doncaster....42 9 6 27 30 76-46 33
Crewe.............42 6 7 29 32 78-46 25
Vanarama National League North
Chorley 2 York 2; Kettering 0 Guise-
ley 2; Southport 1 Leamington 1.
Women’s World Cup qualifying
Group D
N Ireland(0) 0 England (1) 5
Hemp 26, 60
Toone 52
Stanway 70, 79
PW D LPts
England 8 80024
Austria 86 1 119
N Ireland 84 1313
Luxembourg 73049
N Macedonia 81073
Latvia 700 70
Group B
Scotland (0) 0 Spain (1) 2
Hermoso 14, 78
Other selected results: Group A
Sweden 1 Ireland 1. Group I Kazakh-
stan 0 Wales 3.
Cricket
IPL Chennai Super Kings 216-4 (S
Dube 95, R Uthappa 88); Royal
Challengers Bangalore 193-9.
Chennai won by 23 runs.Results
Football
Champions League
Quarter final, second leg
B Munich(0) 1 Villarreal(0) 1
Lewandowski 52Chukwueze 88
Villarreal win 2-1 on aggregate
Sky Bet League One
Burton (0) 0 Wigan (0) 0
3,589
P’mouth(1) 3 Roth’ham(0) 0
Robertson 35
Harness 59
Hirst 6514,154PW D L F AGDPts
Wigan..............41 26 9 6 73 36 37 87
MK Dons.......42 24 11 7 6940 29 83
Rotherham...41 24 8 9 64 29 3580
Plymouth.....42 23 9 10 6740 27 78
Sheff Wed.....41 20 13 8 67 44 23 73
Sunderland..41 21 10 10 69 49 20 73
Wycombe....42 20 13 9 69 49 20 73
Oxford Utd..42 20 9 13 76 54 22 69
Ipswich..........42 17 14 1160 42 18 65
Portsmouth.41 17 12 12 57 41 16 63
Bolton.............42 17 10 15 63 52 11 61
Chelt’ham....42 13 15 14 61 71 -10 54
Cambridge .42 14 12 16 51 64 -13 54
A Stanley......42 15 9 18 54 73 -19 54
Charlton........42 15 8 19 49 52 -3 53
Shrewsbury42 12 13 17 42402 49
Burton 42 13 10 19 48 63 -15 49
Lincoln City.42 12 10 20 47 57 -10 46
Fleetwood ...41 8 14 19 55 71 -16 38with regular changes
to be bold and go early, safe in the
knowledge he can twist again if an
injury arises or control is not regained.
“It is not pre-planned [to change at
about 60 minutes],” Klopp said. “But it
is a logical time. We have to make these
changes because we come out of a very
intense period and we have to be 100
per cent sure we can keep our perform-
ance level over 90 or 95 minutes. We are
in April and the boys already have 50
games in their legs. Half an hour gives
you the chance to be really influential.”
The first-leg wins away to Inter and
Benfica are examples of when the tactic
has been beneficial, but the impact of
those coming off the bench has been
evident throughout this campaign.
The 3-2 opening group game win
over AC Milan set the tone, with Klopp
making his first change on 63 minutes,
at 2-2. Within six minutes, they were
ahead. Away to Porto, three substitu-
tions were made in the 67th minute and
a 3-0 lead turned into a 5-1 victory. In
Madrid, Klopp made three changes
between the 45th and 63rd minutes
with the fixture against Atletico
balanced at 2-2. Liverpool won 3-2.
Given the attacking prowess at their
disposal, there is an obvious benefit to
being able to utilise more of that
offensive power. Klopp has greater
flexibility, which is why some Premier
League clubs were reluctant to vote for
the tweak to the substitute rules given
the argument that it helps the elite.
It is interesting to note that the only
European game in which Klopp has not
used five substitutes was against Inter
at home in the previous round. The
Italians took the lead on 61 minutes tohalve the aggregate deficit and
Liverpool presumably held back in case
of the inconvenience of extra time. He
will expect no such concerns against
the Portuguese team tonight.
And so, with an FA Cup semi-final
against Manchester City looming
on Saturday, it would be no surprise to
see a burst of activity on the home
bench with half an hour remaining
once again.Liverpool (4-3-3; probable): A Becker —
T Alexander-Arnold, I Konaté, V van Dijk,
K Tsimikas — C Jones, Fabinho, N Keita —
D Jota, R Firmino, L Díaz.
Benfica (4-2-3-1; probable): O Vlachodimos —
Gilberto, N Otamendi, J Vertonghen,
Á Grimaldo — J Weigl, A Taarabt —
J Mário, Gonçalo Ramos, Everton —
D Núñez.
Referee S Gozubuyuk (Neth).connection to the club’s history. On a
flight back from Brazil last month, he
spent most of the journey reading
Our Decade, a recently released book
about City’s dominance since the
Abu Dhabi takeover.
The book will probably take pride
of place on his bookshelf in Londrina
when he returns to the city in
southern Brazil in a couple of
months’ time.missing is the Champions League
and Guardiola vowed to try to win
the competition for his captain.
There is a misconception that
Fernandinho is just a brute who tries
to wind up the opposition by kicking
them, but he is a more creative player
than people give him credit for.
During the early stages of his City
career, Fernandinho was a hugely
effective box-to-box midfielder. He
could break up attacks, create
chances and chip in with the odd
goal. Guardiola knew all about
Fernandinho’s intelligence and
awareness when he became manager
in 2016. “Fernandinho can play in ten
positions,” he said.
Since assuming the role of captain
two years ago after the departure of
David Silva, Fernandinho has taken
the role seriously. He feels aOLI SCARFF/GETTY IMAGES355
Fouls committed by
Fernandinho, the most in
the PL since his debut. He
has also received the
most yellow cards (53)
and joint-most reds
(four)Ten Hag’s vision impressed
United officials in interview
impressed United officials with his
vision for the club during his first
interview.
He is on course to win a third Dutch
title in five years. He also took Ajax to
the Champions League semi-finals
three years ago, when they lost to
Tottenham.
When asked about being linked with
United, Ten Hag said last Saturday:
“We are busy with training and with
the matches. That way you keep the
focus on it.“I want to talk about the game and
not about other things and whether or
not I’ve had conversations. I won’t
comment on rumours.”
Spain’s Luis Enrique and the Seville
manager, Julen Lopetegui, were also
on United’s shortlist, but ruled them-
selves out of the running.
Enrique, the former Barcelona head
coach, has a contract with the Spanish
national team until the end of this
year’s World Cup, while Lopetegui said
he had already told Seville that he
would continue as their manager
next season.continued from back
Bielsa burnt
out players,
says Marsch
James GheerbrantLeeds United’s players were burnt out
after being “over-trained” by Marcelo
Bielsa, according to the club’s new head
coach Jesse Marsch.
Marsch took over from the revered
Argentinian in February, with Leeds
two points above the relegation zone
and several key players, notably the
striker Patrick Bamford and midfielder
Kalvin Phillips, having missed large
chunks of the season through injury.
Speaking on talkSPORT, Marsch
attributed that to Bielsa’s notoriously
intense training sessions. “The injury
issue, for me, had a lot to do with the
training methodology,” he said.
“These players were over-trained
and it led to them being physically,
mentally, emotionally and psychologi-
cally in a difficult place to recover from
week to week, game to game. You could
see it in their faces. You could see in the
15th minute [of games] that some of
them were already at the max.”
The feverish intensity of Bielsa’s
football won him the devotion of Leeds
fans, but Marsch, who has thus far spo-
ken of his predecessor only in glowing
terms, said he inherited a squad under
severe strain and susceptible to “bad
habits” that have proved hard to undo.
He did, however, praise the culture that
Bielsa instilled in the players.
“They understand the club, city and
fan base, and how to commit to what
this means for the community,” Marsch
said. “They are incredible men. Hon-
estly, our professional team has less
egos than our under-23s team.”