All posts tagged: TopFour

Hockey India League: Needing to win by 7 goals for a miraculous top-four finish, Soorma Hockey Club fall agonisingly short with 6-1 victory vs SG Pipers | Hockey News

Hockey India League: Needing to win by 7 goals for a miraculous top-four finish, Soorma Hockey Club fall agonisingly short with 6-1 victory vs SG Pipers | Hockey News

Published by Webster

Harmanpreet Singh stood bent double, disappointment writ large on his face. In a season of highs and lows, somehow Soorma Hockey Club gave themselves a chance. A miniscule chance, but chance nonetheless. They needed to win by seven goals to snatch fourth place away from HIL Governing Council. In front of them were SG Pipers who had endured yet another wretched season, so it wasn’t out of the realm of possibilities. In the end though, Soorma could manage “only” a 6–1 victory against Pipers in the final Men’s Hockey India League (HIL) group stage match. Soorma made a high-intensity start, led by Jeremy Hayward’s (2’, 7’, 34’, 45’) thunderous drag flicks and a counter-attacking strike from Lucas Martinez (11’). Nicolas Keenan (47’) later helped Soorma move into touching distance of qualification in the final quarter but the Pipers held on in the dying minutes to break Soorma’s hopes of advancing to the Qualifiers. Soorma began the game on the front foot, forcing the Pipers back early and earning a penalty corner within the opening minutes. …

Borussia Dortmund Hope To Take ‘Final Step’ In Unlikely Top-Four Rescue Act

Borussia Dortmund Hope To Take ‘Final Step’ In Unlikely Top-Four Rescue Act

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Borussia Dortmund can take the “final step” in their miraculous run to the Bundesliga top four with a big win at home against Holstein Kiel on Saturday.  After a 2-0 loss at RB Leipzig in March, Dortmund were 11th and did not look like finishing in the top half of the table, let alone the top four. But since then, Dortmund have won six and drawn one of their seven games, putting the chance of qualifying for the Champions League through a top-four finish firmly in their own hands ahead of Saturday’s final Bundesliga matchday.  With third-placed Eintracht Frankfurt playing at fourth-placed Freiburg, fifth-placed Dortmund have a simple assignment against Kiel, who have already been relegated.  Dortmund need to win by three goals to guarantee a spot in the top four regardless of other results, although a two-goal victory is likely to be enough.  If Frankfurt beat Freiburg or draw, Dortmund will also be through to the top four, provided they beat Kiel.  Champions League qualification is crucial for Dortmund, who rely heavily on …

Serhou Guirassy Helps Borussia Dortmund Past Moenchengladbach, Putting Top-Four In Sight

Serhou Guirassy Helps Borussia Dortmund Past Moenchengladbach, Putting Top-Four In Sight

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Borussia Dortmund came from a goal down to beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 3-2 on Sunday, keeping alive their slim hopes of reaching the top four. Serhou Guirassy, who scored a hat-trick in Tuesday’s 3-1 win over Barcelona, was again key, scoring one and setting up another for Dortmund. “We’re much more secure and much more stable — that’s extremely important,” Pascal Gross told DAZN, adding “we’ve got four finals to go”. After a testy opening, Ko Itakura put Gladbach ahead after 24 minutes, playing a simple one-two with Kevin Stoeger to unlock the Dortmund defence. Dortmund hit back with three goals in nine minutes before half-time. Chelsea loanee Carney Chukwuemeka threaded the ball to Pascal Gross whose lateral pass found Guirassy, who swept home. Chukwuemeka again started the move down the right flank, his pass reaching Yan Couto who in turn found Felix Nmecha who scored a carbon copy of the opener. Dortmund turned the screws. Daniel Svensson headed in a rebound from a Guirassy shot just before half-time. The visitors hit back when …

RCB vs DC, IPL 2024: Rajat Patidar Fifty, Gritty Bowlers Keep Royal Challengers Bengaluru In Top-Four Race

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Royal Challengers Bengaluru kept their playoff dreams intact through Rajat Patidar’s blazing fifty and a strong-willed effort from the bowlers, who set up the hosts’ 47-run victory over Delhi Capitals in the IPL on Sunday. The target of 188 was not insurmountable, but the Capitals’ chase descended into disarray once they lost four wickets inside 3.3 overs upfront, eventually finishing at 140, with Axar Patel 57 (39b, 5×4, 3×6) playing a lone hand. RCB now have 12 points from 13 matches – same as the Capitals – and need a win against Chennai Super Kings in the last league match here on May 18 to push their case for a playoff berth. The Capitals also need a win in their final league game against Lucknow Super Giants on May 14 to stay in the hunt. Cutting back to the match, Impact Player David Warner, who missed the action for close to a month due to a wrist injury, slog-swept left-arm spinner Swapnil Singh into the waiting hands of Will Jacks at deep. The dismissal flagged …

Resurgent Borussia Dortmund Seek Consistency In Top-Four Fight

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Fourth-placed Borussia Dortmund host Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday hoping to keep their noses in front in their battle to finish in the Champions League placings. Dortmund sit one point ahead of fifth-placed RB Leipzig, having been six points behind the Saxons at Christmas. Dortmund are a club heavily dependent on the income the Champions League brings, and have only missed the top four once in the past 13 years. On Sunday, they face the same opposition against whom their season started to unravel last October. After a chaotic and pulsating 3-3 draw in Frankfurt, Dortmund lost four of their next nine as clouds gathered around the future of coach Edin Terzic. Five months later and Dortmund look to have steadied the ship, having lost just one of their past 14 and reaching the Champions League last eight. But their strong results have come despite wildly inconsistent form — sometimes during the same match. Nowhere was this clearer than in Wednesday’s 2-0 Champions League win over PSV Eindhoven, where Dortmund swung from having complete control to …

Manchester United Strengthen Grip On Top-Four Place With Bournemouth Stroll

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Marcus Rashford scored for a fourth consecutive game as Manchester United eased to a 3-0 win over Bournemouth on Tuesday to strengthen their grip on a Premier League top-four place. A first-half goal from Brazil World Cup star Casemiro and second-half strikes from England internationals Luke Shaw and Rashford gave Erik ten Hag’s men a ninth win in 10 games in all competitions. United, who lost their first two Premier League games of the season, have now garnered 35 points from their 17 games — level with third-placed Newcastle and five points ahead of Tottenham, in fifth. “I’m happy with the result,” said Ten Hag, who is in his first season at the club. “Today it was not our best game. We have to be honest, we didn’t play that smart as a team. “We made great goals, but at times we were quite lucky, and some great saves from David (de Gea). We could have been smarter as a team.” Rashford came back into United’s starting XI for the visit to Old Trafford of …