News & Neuigkeiten » all unearned, thanks to miscues

TURIN, Italy -- Gonzalo Higuain showed his best and worst sides as Juventus was held to a 1-1 draw against Lyon on Wednesday, with the Italian hosts missing the chance to ensure qualification for the Champions League knockout stage with two matches to spare.Higuain netted a penalty in the 13th minute but missed an open goal shortly before halftime. Juventus looked on course for the win but Corentin Tolisso leveled six minutes from time.It was the first goal Juventus has conceded in this seasons competition.Juventus slipped to second in Group H, two points behind Sevilla -- which beat Dinamo Zagreb 4-0 -- and four points above Lyon. Juventus visits Seville on Nov. 22, having drawn 0-0 at home to the Spanish side in September, and coach Massimiliano Allegri believes his side can still snatch top spot.It was important to win at home to mathematically qualify but in the Champions League you need a bit of luck, Allegri said. Were still in the fight for first place, so I think Juventus is on the right path in the Champions League as well as domestically.It would have been ideal to qualify tonight but maybe then in the end we would have gone to Sevilla tired and would have lost first place.Lyon can sneak into the last 16 if it wins its final two group games and results elsewhere go its way.Im happy about the goal because it gives us a small chance of qualification, Tolisso said. Now we have to try and beat Zagreb and hope that Juventus beats Sevilla and then that will set us up for our final group game at home to Sevilla.Juventus showed its attacking intent from the start, playing with a 4-3-1-2 formation, as Miralem Pjanics effort was hooked off the line by Mouctar Diakhaby -- although the Juventus player was harshly flagged offside.Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon was making his 100th Champions League appearance and he was called into an early save to deny Maciej Rybus.At the other end Anthony Lopes also pulled off a great stop to keep out Mario Mandzukics powerful strike.Juventus took the lead minutes later. Higuain burst down the left flank and threaded the ball through for Stefano Sturaro, who was barged over by Diakhaby.Higuain converted into the bottom left corner for his ninth goal for Juventus, since moving from Napoli in the offseason for an Italian record fee.It was also the Argentina forwards 100th goal for Italian clubs.Claudio Marchisio was making his first Champions League appearance since February, having spent six months out with a cruciate ligament injury, and he almost scored his first goal since his return but fired narrowly wide of the left post for Juventus.Higuain should have doubled his tally after Mandzukic burst forward into the area and unselfishly rolled the ball across the box but the Argentine blazed over an open goal from 15 yards (meters) out.His side was nearly made to pay immediately for his miss as Rachid Ghezzal controlled a throw in and shrugged off a couple of challenges but fired just the wrong side of the right-hand post.Lyon upped the pressure in the second half but never really tested Buffon, although the Italy goalkeeper was prevented from keeping his 43rd clean sheet in the competition when Tolisso headed in Ghezzals free kick. 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Thats when the enormity of the honour sunk in. CHICAGO -- Like too many ballplayers with interesting and sometimes controversial pasts, Aroldis Chapman would prefer that his game do the talking. If so, its always going to be a short conversation.Chapmans game involves throwing 100-plus-mph fastballs past hitters, rarely for more than an inning. Thats it. In Chicagos 5-2 win Saturday night against the Giants, 12 of the 16 pitches he threw registered three digits on the radar gun. What was rare is that at the end of an eventful week, the Cubs expensive new closer -- via Cuba, Cincinnati and finally New York -- stood still long enough to field a handful of questions.I love the responsibility. I love that it falls on my shoulders, Chapman said through a translator after closing out both of Chicagos NL Division Series wins at Wrigley Field to pick up his first two postseason saves. Yet a city desperate to break a century-and-counting World Series drought is already counting on even more.The pressure is on, but I can handle that. I understand the city and the fans are up and hyped up, Chapman added, but thats fine, too.To describe Chapmans arrival in July as rough does not do it justice.He came in a trade with the Yankees barely two months after serving a 30-game suspension as the first violator of MLBs new domestic violence policy. He was accused of choking his girlfriend and then firing a gun during an argument late last year in his Florida home, though charges were never filed.Making matters worse, his welcome-to-town news conference was a disaster. Theo Epstein, the Cubs popular president of baseball operations, went to great lengths to explain that the front office made clear the importance of his off-field behavior. Chapman said that was news to him. If so, it didnt affect his reception in the clubhouse.You notice when guys fit in, said backup catcher David Ross, the Cubs unofficial clubhouse judge. With him it was seamless. He doesnt speak great English, but hes always smiling. He made friends quick.It didnt hurt, of course, that Chapman posted 16 saves in 18 opportunities, with a 1.01 ERA heading into the postseason. Or that he averaged -- yes, averaged -- a pitch speed of 101 mph.Asked what impressed him most, Ross said: Other than his velocity? ... Hes got a calming presence. Moments never get too big for him, which calms everybody else doown.ddddddddddddEverybody on Chapmans side, anyway. When it comes to opposing pitchers, not so much.He has that mentality, fellow Cubs closer Hector Rondon said. Were in the same role, but hes different from me. Me, I dont care where anybody else is looking, Im focusing only on home plate.Aroldis, he looks at the hitter, Rondon added, like hes showing who is in charge.Chapman comes by that toughness honestly. Hes the son of a boxing coach who didnt take up baseball until he was 13. But he was selected to Cubas vaunted national team at age 17 and was a bona fide star soon after, thanks to a breakout performance at the 2007 Pan Am Games. A year later, he made his first attempt to defect.The Chicago Tribune reported last week that after Chapman was caught trying to escape, he cooperated with the Cuban government in the prosecutions of four men accused of offering to smuggle him out. All four were convicted of human trafficking and sent to prison; two alleged in a 2013 lawsuit that Chapman was an informant for Fidel Castro and should be held responsible for their torture while in prison.The newspaper also said Chapmans cooperation allowed him to return quickly to the national team. In the summer of 2009, while in Netherlands for a game, he took advantage of that reprieve and defected. Chapman hasnt addressed the newspapers report, but he told The New York Times earlier this year he isnt interested in rehashing the past.That likely includes Game 2 of the 2010 NLDS, when Chapman allowed 3 runs -- all unearned, thanks to miscues by the Reds outfielders -- against the Phillies in what turned out to be a three-game sweep. Ditto for the skull fracture he suffered after being struck by a line drive in a March 2014 spring training game against the Royals.Few things serve a closer better than a short memory. Chapman checks that box, too. Big as the moments he experienced this weekend and in postseasons past may have seemed, he cant wait to find out whats next.In Cincinnati, maybe the crowds werent the same, Chapman said finally. But already, I love this.---Jim Litke is a sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jlitke(at)ap.org and at https://Twitter.com/JimLitke . ' ' '