The Sport Matrix: Tuesday 21 October 2014

United have Blind faith after late goal

Daley Blind spared Manchester United’s blushes against West Bromwich last night as he scored his first goal for the club late on in a 2-2 draw. A Saido Berahino strike looked to have secured three points for the hosts at The Hawthorns after Marouane Fellaini cancelled out Stéphane Sessègnon’s opener, but Blind netted a curling effort three minutes from time. Louis van Gaal’s side have still yet to win away this season.

Mourinho: Spain to blame for Costa

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho is furious at Spain coach Vicente del Bosque and believes Diego Costa’s hamstring problem was exacerbated on international duty. Costa is out of tonight’s Champions League game against Maribor with the injury that has hampered him all season. “It’s up to them to take good care of the players or to think in selfish ways,” he said at his pre-match press conference.

Celtic’s Zaluska assaulted in street

Celtic’s Lukasz Zaluska was left bloodied in the street after being attacked in Glasgow, reportedly by another Scottish Premiership player. The goalkeeper was targeted in Ashton Lane in the early hours of yesterday morning. A Police Scotland spokesman refused to comment on rumours about who assaulted the 32-year-old. “Police inquiries are ongoing, including the monitoring of CCTV,” a statement read.

‘Royals’ snub in World Series radio battle

The popular song “Royals” by New Zealand artist Lorde is getting caught up in the fervour over baseball’s forthcoming World Series between the San Francisco Giants and Kansas City Royals.

Two San Francisco radio stations say they won’t play the song for the duration of the World Series. A Kansas City station responded with plans to play the Grammy-winning track every hour from 7am to 7pm today, the first day of the series.

“A few angry San Franciscans who don’t have a song called ‘Giants’ won’t rain on our parade,” Tony Lorino, programme director of KZPT in Kansas City, said on the station’s website.

Williams back on top in Finals win

Serena Williams seemed to be fit and healthy again as she made it 16 straight wins at the WTA Finals by beating Ana Ivanovic 6-4, 6-4. The three-time defending champion is now five wins behind Martina Navratilova’s all-time record of 21 in a row at the end-of-season tournament.