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1 Ronaldo treble sinks Spurs, Liverpool close gap on CityAFPB righton, United KingdomCristiano Ronaldo became the all-time leading men s goal-scorer in football history as his brilliant hat-trick inspired Manchester United s crucial 3-2 win against Tottenham, while Liverpool closed the gap on Premier League lead-ers Manchester City with a 2-0 victory at Brighton had netted just once in his previous 10 games amid speculation that the Portugal striker was consid-ering his future after less than a sea-son of his second spell with United. The 37-year-old s commitment was questioned when he reportedly jetted to Portugal last weekend rather than watch his team after being ruled out of their 4-1 defeat at Manchester City with a hip United interim boss Ralf Rang-nick conceded he didn t know if Ro-naldo was happy at the club.

2 But Ro-naldo proved his commitment to the United cause with a superb display to single-handedly dispatch Tottenham at Old Traff ord. United midfi elder Paul Pogba said: It was a beautiful game and a beautiful reaction from us. We hurt them at the right times and Ro-naldo did what he does best. He has never been a problem. You have the best striker in history in our team, he cannot be a problem. Today the per-formance from him and all the team was very brilliant. With recently retired NFL legend Tom Brady watching from the stands, Ronaldo bagged his fi rst United treble since 2008. His brilliant 25-yard drive put United ahead in the 12th minute before Harry Kane equalised with a 35th minute penalty awarded for Alex Telles restored United s lead three minutes later from Jadon San-cho s cross, but Harry Maguire s 72nd minute own goal threatened to ruin his evening.

3 However, Ronaldo headed home from Telles corner in the 81st minute to claim his 807th career goal, making him the top-scoring men s player in history, according to FIFA statistics, as he surpassed Josef s heroics earned a standing ovation from Brady and lifted United into fourth place, while Tottenham are fi ve points behind them in the Amex Stadium, Luis Diaz opened the scoring for Liverpool with a 19th minute header and Mohamed Salah netted with a 61st minute pen-alty awarded after Yves Bissouma s handball. Jurgen Klopp s side have won their last eight league games, keeping the pressure on City, with the cham-pions playing at Crystal Palace tomor-row. Salah has reached 20 goals in a Premier League season for the fourth time, with his latest strike coming at just the right time amid his tense con-tract negotiations.

4 Klopp said on Fri-day it is up to Salah whether he signs a new deal, a claim that was followed by the Egypt forward s agent tweeting a series of laughing emojis minutes s long-term value to Liver-pool is immense, but of more immedi-ate concern to Klopp will be the knock that saw him replaced by Diogo Jota soon after his fi rst goal in four games. With a testing trip to Arsenal looming on Wednesday followed by an FA Cup quarter-fi nal at Nottingham Forst, Klopp will hope his star makes a quick recovery. Something was not right. I think there was a situation where his foot got stretched. We ll have to see, Klopp City are in fi ne form, Liver-pool s hot streak is equally impressive. The Reds have scored 21 goals and con-ceded just twice in their winning run, while also keeping a third successive league clean sheet for the fi rst time this term.

5 When Salah converted from the spot, it made Liverpool only the second club to score 2,000 goals in the Premier League, emulating Manchester United. On the title race, Klopp added: It s always the same, you expect City to win every game when you watch them play. The only thing we can do is as win as many football games as possible. We re ready, we don t need to call it a title race, we just want to win games. Brentford boosted their bid to avoid relegation with a 2-0 home win against fellow strugglers Burnley thanks to a pair of late goals from Ivan Toney. Brentford are nine points clear of third-bottom Burnley, who are one point adrift of LEAGUE RESULTSB rentford 2 (Toney 85, 90-pen) Burnley 0; Brighton 0 Liverpool 2 (Diaz 19, Salah 61-pen); Manchester United 3 (Ronaldo 12, 38, 81) Tottenham 2 (Kane 35-pen, Maguire 72-og)Today: (1400 GMT unless stated): Chelsea v Newcastle, Everton v Wolves, Leeds v Norwich, Southampton v Watford, West Ham v Aston Villa, Arsenal v Leicester (1630)Tomorrow: Crystal Palace v Man CityRONALDO CLAIMED HIS 807TH CAREER GOAL, MAKING HIM THE TOP-SCORING MEN S PLAYER IN HISTORY Sunday, March 13, 2022Sh aban 10, 1443 AHSPORTGULF TIMESCRICKETC enturion Khawaja shines as Australia dominate Pakistan in second TestPage 2days to go253253 PREMIER LEAGUEBy Sports ReporterDohaNasser al-Ghazali claimed the Big Tour title in the 12th round of Longines Hathab Qatar Equestrian Tour at Al Shaqab yesterday.

6 The 24-year-old Ghazali, a runner-up at the Amir Sword last month, combined brilliantly with his bay mare What A Pleasure to regis-ter a clear round in to top the 130/145cm Suwead al-Ajami and his bay gelding Ulano were the quickest on the day in , but the pair picked up a four-second penalty after a dropping a rail to settle for runner-up spot. The second place on the podium, however, gave al-Ajami valuable points to go ahead of Saeed Nasser al-Qadi on the points table. Mohamed Khalifa Albaker astride Verona was done in by four pen-alties too as he clocked to fi n-ish was pleased with his mare, who won her fi rst Big Tour ti-tle of the season. What a Pleasure did the only double clear today and it was a great way to win her fi rst Big Tour title. I m very happy because I ve had her for three years and we grew up in the sport together.

7 We built up a good relationship as I guided her through the Small, then Medium and now Big Tours, said the rider. She had done really well this season, but was a bit unlucky in the Big Tour as she always dropped a barrier each time. But today, her ride was perfect and she jumped her heart out, he , in the Open Class, Mohamed Nasser al-Qadi and his 12-year-old gelding Galwaybay Merbreaker swept away the rest of the fi eld with a brilliant time of while conceding no errors. The pair were faster than their closest opponent Nasser al-Ghazali, who was astride Hurry , with Mohammed Khalifa Al-baker in the saddle, booked the remain-ing spot on the podium with a ride that lasted for Tour | Competition with winning round, Art. | 130/145cm | Prize-Money QR45,000 1: Horse: What A Pleasure; Rider: Nasser al-Ghazali, Faults: 0, Time: , Wiining Round Faults: 0, Time: 2: Ulano; Faleh Suwead al-Ajami 4; , 4; 3: Verona; Mohamed Khalifa Albaker 0, ; 4; Class | Table A, One round against the clock, FEI Art.

8 | 115/125cm | Prize-Money QR25,000 1: Horse: Galwaybay Merbreaker; Rider: Mohamed Nasser al-Qadi, Faults: 0; Time: 2: Hurry Up; Nasser al-Ghazali, 0, 3: Jumb; Mohamed Khalifa Albaker, 0. al-Ghazali scoops Big Tour class with What A PleasureSPOTLIGHTN asser al-Ghazali astride bay mare What A Pleasure clears a hurdle during the 12th round of Longines Hathab Qatar Equestrian Tour at Al Shaqab Nasser al-Qadi and his 12-year-old gelding Galwaybay Merbreaker won the Open Class United s Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring against Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League in Manchester yesterday. (Reuters)CRICKETGulf Times Sunday, March 13, 20222 Khawaja shines as Aussies dominate Pakistan I do have four family members in the crowds, I have a big family in Karachi because my mother is from here FOCUSAFPK arachiUsman Khawaja said he felt elated at scoring a hundred in the country of his birth Pakistan and was pleased with the chants of Khawaja, Kha-waja from the crowds on the opening day of the second Test in Karachi yes-terday.

9 Khawaja s unbeaten 127 was the cornerstone of Australia s domi-nating 251-3, with Steve Smith also contributing 35-year-old has made the most of a recall to the national side, missing out on a hundred in the fi rst Test at Rawalpindi by three runs after scor-ing centuries in both innings in his return match against England. Look, it s very nice, they were say-ing Khawaja, Khawaja and they said that in Rawalpindi as well, said Kha-waja who was born in Islamabad be-fore migrating with his parents to Aus-tralia as a four-year-old. ( The fans) have been great and very supportive, I couldn t have asked for more. Khawaja said a few of his relatives were also in the stands at the National Stadium. I do have four members of the family in the crowds, said Kha-waja. I have a big family in Karachi because my mother is from here.

10 His unbeaten 127 included 13 boundaries and a six with Smith pro-viding support at the other end until he fell to a sharp Hasan Ali delivery with seven balls left in the day. The ball made Smith play and bare-ly carried to slip where Faheem Ashraf pounced to his left for a brilliant grab. Pakistan could have claimed another wicket on the day s fi nal ball but Imam-ul-Haq put down night-watchman Nathan Lyon at short leg off Shaheen Shah Afridi. All-rounder Ashraf recalled after missing the fi rst Test due to injury snagged the fi rst breakthrough, getting the ball to nip away and drawing an edge from David Warner (36) straight into the gloves of keeper Mohamed Rizwan. Marnus Labuschagne was run out for nought nine deliveries later. But from then until the second last over of the day Australia looked in com-plete control with Khawaja leading the charge.