VALENCIA: Real Madrid stayed within one point of La Liga leaders Barcelona with a 2-0 win at Valencia on Sunday as second-half goals by Alvaro Carreras and Kylian Mbappe settled a largely uneventful contest.

Real dominated possession but found chances hard to come by, with Valencia keeper Stole Dimitrievski rarely called into action as the visitors struggled to turn control into threat.

It took them until the 65th minute to break the deadlock through Carreras before Mbappe wrapped up the points in stoppage time.

Barcelona lead the table on 58 points, with Real second on 57. Valencia are 17th, a point above the drop zone.

Mbappe offered the main outlet with sporadic runs down the left but clear openings were limited.

Real coach Alvaro Arbeloa was forced to improvise, missing suspended winger Vinicius Jr and injured trio Jude Bellingham, Rodrygo and Eder Militao.

The absences opened the door for academy players Raul Asensio, David Jimenez and Gonzalo Garcia to start, with Mbappe providing the lone spark for an uninspiring Real side.

“Playing at Valencia is always like going to the dentist,” Arbeloa told reporters. “We knew how difficult the match would be, how demanding they would be. It was a very serious and committed match. I’m happy.”

Arbeloa further added that Mbappe is the best player in the world at the moment, and reiterated that the Frenchman could live up to his boyhood idol Cristiano Ronaldo’s legacy at Madrid.

Valencia’s fans, some of whom had waved white handkerchieves during the match in protest at the club’s situation, headed for the exits with Los Che 17th, one point above the drop zone.

Earlier, Atletico Madrid slipped further adrift in the title race after a 1-0 home loss to Real Betis.

Antony struck in the 28th minute with a fierce effort from the edge of the box, earning Manuel Pellegrini’s side a valuable win Atletico are a distant third in the table on 45 points, three points ahead of fourth-placed Villarreal, who have two games in hand. Betis sit fifth on 38 points.

Elsewhere, Athletic Bilbao beat Levante 4-2, Sevilla and Girona shared a 1-1 draw, and Getafe won 2-0 at Deportivo Alaves.

Published in Dawn, February 10th, 2026

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MELBOURNE: Australia slumped to their worst Davis Cup result under long-serving captain Lleyton Hewitt, suffering a 3-1 humiliation away to lowly Ecuador in the first round of qualifiers on Sunday.

With Australia’s number one Alex De Minaur opting out of the tie in Quito, the 28-times champions crashed out when Rinky Hijikata and Jordan Thompson were beaten 7-6(7/5), 6-4 by Gonzalo Escobar and Diego Hidalgo in the decisive doubles rubber.

Lacking a player in the top 200, Ecuador set up their unlikely triumph on home clay by claiming both the opening singles rubbers on Saturday.

Alvaro Guillen Meza downed Hijikata in three sets before 257th-ranked Andres Andrade shocked world number 86 James Duckworth, also in three.

Ecuador next face Britain in the second round of qualifiers in September.

With De Minaur leading the charge, Australia reached back-to-back finals in 2022-23 and the semi-finals in 2024.

However, the Ecuador shock continues the team’s decline following their failure to reach the eight-nation Finals in 2025, Hewitt’s 10th year in charge.

Meanwhile, Dhakshineswar Suresh won both his singles matches and partnered Yuki Bhambri to victory in the doubles as India beat Netherlands 3-2 in Bengaluru.

The 25-year-old held his nerve under immense pressure in the final rubber against Guy de Ouden to win 6-4, 7-6(7/4) and guide India to the second round of qualifiers for the first time since the new Davis Cup format began in 2019.

“It’s just a different feeling when youre playing for your country,” Suresh, who has a world ranking of 470, told the Davis Cup website after the win.

“You are not playing for yourself, you’re playing for the whole nation.”

India meet South Korea in the next round in September after the Koreans defeated Argentina 3-2. The United States beat Hungary 4-0 while Britain also secured a 4-0 win over Norway and Canada beat Brazil 3-2.

In Tatabanya, Hungary, Christian Harrison, the Australian Open doubles champion, paired with Austin Krajicek to claim the clinching point for record 32-time winners the US with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Fabian Marozsan and Zsombor Piros.

Harrison, making his Davis Cup debut, said: “I had such a good time this week, I already forgot about the Australian Open.”

The US will travel to the Czech Republic for a place in the Final 8.

France progressed 3-1 at home to Slovakia after Arthur Rinderknech sealed the vital victory 7-5, 7-6(8/6) against Alex Molcan in the second match of the day following Benjamin Bonzi and Pierre-Hugues Herbert’s doubles win.

France’s next tie will be a trip across the Atlantic Ocean to Canada.

In Plovdiv, Belgium swept aside hosts Bulgaria 4-0 to set up a meeting with Austria.

The Czechs beat visiting Sweden 3-1, with Petr Nouza and Patrik Rikl’s opening doubles win enough to ensure their country’s progression.

Published in Dawn, February 10th, 2026

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HYDERABAD: After the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) approached the Hydera­bad Municipal Corporation (HMC), in writing, to seek control of Niaz Stadium for its up-gradation purposes, HMC informed PCB late last month that a formal meeting should be held in this regard to discuss the proposal in detail.

This has come as a latest development regarding Niaz Stadium’s long delayed infrastructural development and up-gradation which hosted the unveiling ceremony of Hyderabad’s team into 11th edition of Pakistan Super League only on Saturday night.

PCB’s Chief Operating Officer (CEO) Sumair Ahmed Syed wrote to Hyderabad Mayor Kashif Ali Shoro on Jan 15 after the visit of Director Domestic Operations in the backdrop of Nov 29, 2025 visit to the stadium. He conceded the historical importance of the stadium which he said renders it a valuable sporting asset at both provincial and national levels.

A joint inspection of PCB’s Director and local administration as well as HMC representatives revealed that ground needed up-gradation and technical intervention particularly in respect of pitches, outfield and allied infrastructure to restore it to an operational standard suitable for high level cricket activities.

PCB’s immediate objective is to upgrade the stadium to a standard suitable for premier domestic cricket tournaments including President’s and Quaid-e-Azam trophies.

PCB has urged HMC to hand over the stadium to it for purposes of up-gradation, technical intervention, maintenance and operational management under a mutually agreed arrangement.

The joint visit followed a meeting between Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Sindh irrigation minister Jam Khan Shoro and PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi. They had discussed the stadium’s much-awaited development and up-gradation.

“Yes, following our meeting PCB officials visited the ground late last year”, said Jam Khan told Dawn. He said the stadium could again be handed over to PCB for developing infrastructure at par with international stadia. “We, however, expect PCB will not disappoint people of Hyderabad this time round and will really go on to develop the ground as required under certain agreement”, he replied in a cautious tone.

Jam in fact alluded to almost two decades back handing over of stadium to PCB in July 2007 under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) whereby PCB committed to rebuild stadium from scratch to bring it at par with modern day requirements of international cricket.

HMC is custodian of Niaz Stadium. In response to Jan 15’s communication, its Municipal Commis­sioner Zahoor Lakhan wrote to Sumair Ahmad Syed that HMC appreciates efforts of PCB for rehabilitation and holding domestic and international matches there.

Published in Dawn, February 10th, 2026

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