‘Target was to score on my first game’: Sakshi Rana on her dream senior team debut

London, Jan 21 (IANS) Chelsea ended their five-match winless streak in the Premier League with a 3-1 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers at Stamford Bridge and moved up to fourth in the table.

Tosin Adarabioyo, Marc Cucurella and Noni Madueke were all on target as the Blues climbed back into the top four.

Chelsea enjoyed a positive start and took a deserved lead through Tosin Adarabioyo midway through the first half when the centre back scored with a composed finish.

Tosin became Chelsea’s 13th different Premier League goalscorer this season (excluding own goals) only Arsenal (14) have had more in the competition in 2024/25.

Matt Doherty pulled level from a corner in first-half injury-time but the Blues regained control with two goals around the hour mark.

Marc Cucurella scored with a close-range finish to put us back in front before Noni Madueke applied the final touch after Trevoh Chalobah looked set to score on his Chelsea return five minutes later.

Enzo Maresca’s side leapfrogged Newcastle United and Manchester City to fourth place, while Wolves remain 17th and only outside the relegation zone on goal difference.

“The first 40 minutes we were top. The performance was excellent and we dominated the game. We scored and created many more chances,” Chelsea manager Maresca said after the match.

“Then in the last five minutes what has been happening in the last five games happened again. Wolves had a little bit of confidence and got their goal and then we started to struggle a little bit. Second half we started quite well and then after the second and third goals we were in control,” he added.

–IANS

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Manchester, Nov 6 (IANS) Manchester City climbed to fourth in the Champions League standings after a commanding 4-1 win over Borussia Dortmund, moving within two points of leading trio Bayern Munich, Arsenal and Inter.

Dortmund began brightly, pressing high and keeping City pinned back in the opening spell. Yet once Phil Foden broke the deadlock with a precise low finish from the edge of the box in the 22nd minute, momentum quickly shifted. Seven minutes later, Erling Haaland doubled the lead with a powerful strike from Doku’s cross, and the hosts began to dominate possession.

Despite a promising start, the visitors struggled to handle City’s pace and movement, with goalkeeper Gregor Kobel repeatedly called into action before halftime. Foden struck again in the 57th minute, finishing neatly into the same corner to make it 3-0. Dortmund briefly responded when Waldemar Anton volleyed home after a short free kick to reduce the deficit to 3-1 with just under 20 minutes remaining, reports Xinhua.

The Bundesliga side pressed forward, and Karim Adeyemi went close twice, but substitute Rayan Cherki sealed the result with a stoppage-time finish.

The victory extends City’s unbeaten home run in European competition to six matches and lifts it into strong contention of progression from the league phase ahead of upcoming clashes with Liverpool and Bayer Leverkusen. Dortmund, meanwhile, will look to recover from its first Champions League defeat before hosting Villarreal later this month.

“We have seen that City are simply the better team. We started well but did not create enough chances and were too passive overall. It is a deserved defeat for us. Of course, it is City, but conceding four goals is still a bit too much, in the end, goal difference might also matter,” rued Dortmund coach Niko Kovac.

City manager Pep Guardiola expressed satisfaction with his team’s win. “The first 15 minutes I said, wow, what is this? They were good and put us under a lot of pressure. It was a good game for us, and I have great respect for Dortmund. We are pleased with the result and the performance. We are not Bayern, not Arsenal, but we are close,” he said.

Elsewhere in the Champions League on Wednesday, Inter Milan stayed perfect with a 2-1 win at FC Kairat, Qarabag drew 2-2 with Chelsea, Pafos beat Villarreal 1-0, Galatasaray downed Ajax 3-0, Bayer Leverkusen edged Benfica 1-0, Atalanta beat Marseille 1-0, and Newcastle topped Athletic Club 2-0.

–IANS

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Chennai, Sep 28 (IANS) Alimon Saidalvi of fast track racing India produced a blistering run to clinch the title in the premier unrestricted class in the second round of the fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Drag Racing Championship 2025, at the Madras International Circuit on Sunday.

The Bengaluru-based rider from Palakkad, Saidalvi, who was the 2022 Indian National champion in the Unrestricted class, broke through in style with a sub-eight second dash and a top speed of 235.75 kmph to emerge the fastest rider of Round 2. His tuner Syed Mateen of Bengaluru also bagged the Best Tuner award for the second round in a row. Shahrukh Khan once again became the fastest rider in the Indian Bikes section.

Mantra Racing’s star rider Muddappa, who has been the dominant force in the sport, still came away with a double, topping both the 1051 to 1650cc and the 851 to 1050cc classes.

The day, however, belonged to Shahrukh Khan, also of Mantra Racing. The Mumbai youngster, who had announced himself in the opening round with two wins and a runner-up finish, went one better in Round-2 with a clean sweep across three categories. He won the 361 to 550cc Single Cylinder class, the Twin Cylinder class, and added the 2-Stroke up to 130cc crown.

The final two rounds will be run together in December at the same venue to decide the National titles.

–IANS

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