bowlstar » to Mikhail Baryshnikov.

BARCELONA, Spain -- Malaga held on to beat Athletic Bilbao 1-0 to kick off the Spanish league on Saturday after new coach Javi Gracias winning debut was almost spoiled by two of his players earning red cards in a wild finale. Moses Malone Jersey . Gracias first victory with Malaga was followed by positive starts for Valencia manager Nuno Espirito Santo, Espanyols former player-turned-manager Sergio Gonzalez and Joaquin Caparros at Granada. A 10-man Valencia salvaged a 1-1 draw at Sevilla with a late goal, while Sergio Garcia scored in stoppage time as a 10-man Espanyol drew 1-1 at Almeria. Granada managed to come from behind to beat visiting Deportivo La Coruna 2-1. Malaga scored in the 34th minute when Luis Alberto converted the rebound from his own penalty after goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz blocked his spot kick. The season opener was far from spectacular, but Malagas balanced defence did well to neutralize Bilbaos talented set of attacking players. "We werent brilliant, just efficient," said Gracia, who took over Malaga after his Osasuna was relegated last season. "We didnt have possession of the ball, it was theirs. But I think that through 96 minutes we played defence well. We played the last minutes in disadvantage and we kept fighting." Roque Santa Cruz earned the penalty to set up Albertos winner by poaching Carlos Gurpeguis backpass and drawing a foul from Iraizoz in the area. Malaga limited Bilbao to Mikel Ricos header by the far post in the 65th and Guillermo Fernandezs header into the arms of goalie Carlos Kameni in the 87th. That was until tempers flared near the end, when Malaga lost two players with direct red cards and gave Bilbao its best chance of the match. Sergio "Duda" Barbosa was first sent off for shoving Bilbaos Iker Muniain to the turf in the 88th, and Vitorino Antunes compounded that error by earning his exit with a dangerous tackle to cut down Fernandez two minutes into stoppage time. Iraizoz came forward in the final minute and thought he had grabbed an unlikely equalizer when he headed into the net, but the referee disallowed the goal because a line judge apparently ruled a Bilbao player offside on the free kick. Even Gracia praised Iraizoz and questioned the referees decision to annul the keepers goal. "I saw a great goal by Gorka," said Gracia. "I saw the line judge lift his flag, but I dont know why." Bilbao must quickly regroup from its stumble. The Basque club hosts Napoli on Wednesday in the second leg of their Champions League playoff after they drew 1-1 in their first meeting. In Seville, Valencias Pablo Piatti went close in the eighth with a shot that bounced off both posts, but forward Aleix Vidal put Sevilla ahead in the final minute of the first half following Victor "Vitolo" Machins precise long pass to spring Carlos Bacca on the break. Sevilla lost goalkeeper Antonio "Beto" Bastos to a left thigh injury in the first half. He was replaced by signing Mariano Barbosa. Valencia played a man down from the 66th after Rodrigo de Paul received a direct red card for elbowing Vidal in the face, ending the Argentines European debut just one minute after he had gone on as a substitute. Sevilla, however, failed to take advantage of the sending off, and Valencia substitute Lucas Urban chested a deflected shot over the goal line in the 88th to secure a point. Espanyol appeared to be finished after defender Aritz Arbilla got his second booking in the 33rd minute and Almerias Fernando Soriano fired the ball in off the upright in the 52nd. But Garcia controlled a long pass with his chest before unleashing a low shot that grazed a defender and squirmed inside the post four minutes into injury time. Granada rallied to ruin Deportivo La Corunas return to the top flight on a night when neither goalkeeper had a good day. Deportivo struck first in the 20th when Granada goalie Stole Dimitrievski let Ivan Cavaleiros shot slip by. Granada forward Ruben Rochina levelled with a long strike in the 55th before defender Jean-Sylvain Babin completed the comeback in the 77th when he flicked in a free kick while keeper German Lux made no effort to reach either the cross or his header. Trey Burke Jersey .Lets go back to the Avs, who have become one of the funnest teams to watch in this years playoffs. James Ennis III Jersey . Still, Milan remained five points behind city rival Inter Milan in the race for fifth place and the final Europa League berth, after Inter beat 10-man Parma 2-0. Meanwhile, Paul Pogba led the way as Juventus stayed on course for a third consecutive title with a 1-0 win over relegation-threatened Bologna. https://www.cheap76ers.com/256e-bobby-jones-jersey-76ers.html .com) - The surging Montreal Canadiens will try to match their longest winning streak of the season when they visit the Florida Panthers for Saturdays clash at BB&T Center.Each week, The Reporters put their thumbs out to the good and the bad in the world of sports. This week, they discuss Chad Johnson signing in Montreal, RA Dickeys excuses, Marc Bergevins dance moves, and the NCAAs decision to provide meals to athletes. Dave Naylor, TSN 1050 My thumb is up to the Montreal Alouettes who this week signed former NFL star Chad Johnson - aka Ochocino - despite the fact he is 36 and hasnt played in the NFL since 2011. Why is my thumb up when so few ex-NFL stars ever succeed in Canada? Well, because theres really no down side to it. If Chad Johnson is truly as motivated and well-conditioned as he claims ... then hell be a welcomed addition to the Als and the CFL. And if hes not, well, hell be gone. Montreal has proven no one makes its team based on whats on the back of the jersey - just ask Ahman Green, Dominic Rhodes and others the Als signed - and then cut, when they couldnt cut it against CFL competition. Will Chad Johnson be the exception to the rule? At least it should be fun finding out. Huit-cinq anyone? Steve Simmons, SUN Media My thumb is down to RA Dickey, the erstwhile Blue Jays ace, the former Cy Young award winner who seems to lead the Major Leagues in just one category - excuses. With RA, theres always something. Something wrong. Its either too cold or its too hot. The roof at Rogers Centre is either open or closed. The wind is blowing in or its blowing out. Its day or its night. Everything, it seems, affects the knuckleball. He would be one of the three bears of pitching but with him, iits not often just right. Toni Kukoc Jersey. Dickey has made four starts for the Jays in this young season, and he already owns a 6.26 earned run average. Im sure he has a plausible explanation for that: I just dont want to hear one. Michael Farber, Sports Illustrated My thumb is up to Marc Bergevin, Canadiens general manager and dancin fool. After Montreals Game 1 overtime win in Tampa, cameras caught Bergevin doing a shimmy and a shake, touching off a dance craze now known as the Marcarena. Somehow I cant imagine Bergevins predecessors, Pierre "go go" Gauthier and disco Bob Gainey, men who were neither hip nor hop, busting moves in a luxury box. But thats Bergevin, who has been blessed with a sense of fun. When he played, he would often check into hotels as Denis Lemieux, the goalie from Slap Shot. Maybe Bergevin should switch aliases - to Mikhail Baryshnikov. Dave Hodge, TSN My thumb is down to NCAA President Mark Emmert, who congratulated himself and his organization for changing a dumb rule that used to prevent schools from providing meals to athletes, but allowed snacks. As Emmert pointed out, a bagel was considered a snack unless it had cream cheese on it, and then it was considered a meal. Well, maybe my thumb should be up to Emmert and the NCAA for giving their heads a shake, but no, its down for looking at what they can and cant provide to the athletes and thinking that the term "meal-ticket" actually and only refers to food. Never mind cream cheese, they should spread some money around, too. ' ' '