Month: March 2021

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JAPAN PLANS TO CAP DAILY ARRIVALS AT 2,000 AHEAD OLYMPICS

Japan plans to cap the number of daily arrivals into the country at around 2,000 ahead of the Olympics, according to a newspaper headquartered in Japan.

The country will allow exceptions to its ban on international travellers after its Covid-19 state of emergency is lifted in Tokyo, Nikkei reported on Monday.

The newspaper report added that the proposed number will include Japanese nationals returning to the country, citing individuals familiar with the matter.

Japan has temporarily suspended exemptions allowing foreign athletes to train in the country ahead of the Games as it closed its borders to contain a surge in Covid-19 cases.

The state of emergency in the capital has been extended until March 21st.

More than 70,000 people – including athletes, coaches and media representatives – are expected to enter the country for the Games, Nikkei reported earlier, citing estimates in Japan.

Test events for the Olympics are to start in April. The Games are scheduled to begin on July 23rd.

Last month, Olympic officials unveiled the first of many Covid-19 rules for the Games, starting by banning singing and chanting during events and mandating participants to wear masks at “all times” except when eating, sleeping or outdoors.

Japan has had more than 441,200 Covid-19 cases with the death toll at more than 8,300.

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WESTHAM STILL ON COURSE FOR TOP FOUR AFTER 2-0 WIN AGAINST LEEDS

Goals from Jesse Lingard and Craig Dawson kept West Ham in the hunt for a top-four Premier League finish with a 2-0 win over Leeds at the London Stadium.

The Hammers are back up to fifth after Lingard converted the rebound from his own missed penalty and fellow January signing Dawson crashed in a fine header.

A year ago on Sunday West Ham played their final match before lockdown, a 1-0 defeat at Arsenal which left them out of the relegation zone only on goal difference.

Since then, West Ham have collected 60 points from 34 games and transformed themselves from a side battling the drop to one mounting a genuine challenge for European qualification.

Goals from Jesse Lingard and Craig Dawson kept West Ham in the hunt for a top-four Premier League finish with a 2-0 win over Leeds at the London Stadium.

The Hammers are back up to fifth after Lingard converted the rebound from his own missed penalty and fellow January signing Dawson crashed in a fine header.

A year ago on Sunday West Ham played their final match before lockdown, a 1-0 defeat at Arsenal which left them out of the relegation zone only on goal difference.

Since then, West Ham have collected 60 points from 34 games and transformed themselves from a side battling the drop to one mounting a genuine challenge for European qualification.

The visitors then had the ball in the net twice in the space of two minutes, only for both goals to be chalked off.

First, Costa crossed for Tyler Roberts to tap home but a flag was raised and VAR’s lines confirmed that the Portuguese winger’s knee had strayed offside when Patrick Bamford flicked the ball on.

Moments later Bamford was presented with a tap-in but the ball had just gone out of play when Raphinha cut it back from the byline.

But Leeds’ boom or bust policy was exposed again as West Ham took the lead in the 20th minute with virtually their first attack.

Lingard played a neat one-two with Said Benrahma and skipped into the area, where Luke Ayling clumsily brought him down.

Lingard had wanted to take the spot-kick he won against Sheffield United last month, only for skipper Declan Rice to pull rank.

This time Lingard was allowed to take it, but Rice might well be back on penalties next time as Leeds keeper Ilan Meslier saved the Manchester United loanee’s weak effort.

Fortunately for a relieved Lingard, the ball bounced straight back to his feet and he gratefully tucked in the rebound.

Eight minutes later West Ham doubled their lead, Dawson arriving at the far post to head in Aaron Cresswell’s corner.

The transformation of Dawson has almost been as impressive as that of West Ham – the centre-half who could not get a game in the Championship at Watford earlier this season could soon be a Champions League player.

He almost added a third before half-time but this time his header, from another Cresswell corner, came back off a post.

Bamford should have halved the deficit at the start of the second half when he was put through by Diego Llorente.

The striker had time to let the ball run into his stride and open his body to curl the ball around Lukasz Fabianski, only to send it the wrong side of the post.

At the other end Pablo Fornals took aim from 25 yards and his volley looped over Meslier bounced off the crossbar.

Leeds continued to create chances but Fabianski saved a fierce drive from Raphinha, Bamford lifted a sitter over the crossbar and Dawson capped a man-of-the-match display by clearing a late deflection off Vladimir Coufal off the line.

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CHELSEA CONTINUE UNBEATEN RUN WITH WIN OVER EVERTON

Jorginho’s penalty and a Ben Godfrey own goal secured Chelsea’s 2-0 Premier League win over Everton that could prove pivotal to the Champions League qualification race.

Kai Havertz starred in a false nine role at Stamford Bridge, with the Germany playmaker twice denied a goal before winning Chelsea’s penalty.

New boss Thomas Tuchel’s stunning start to life in west London extended to an 11th match without defeat and a ninth clean sheet.

Where Chelsea were leaky and hesitant under Frank Lampard, Tuchel has quickly recalibrated the Blues into a mean defensive machine.

Chelsea have conceded just two goals on Tuchel’s watch, and their second win over a Merseyside opponent in five days tightened the Blues’ grip on fourth place in the league table.

After Thursday’s comprehensive 1-0 win over Liverpool at Anfield, here was another assured victory over a north-west rival.

Everton still boast a game in hand on Chelsea, but the Toffees now trail Tuchel’s men by four points.

Carlo Ancelotti pitched up at his old club Chelsea with Everton buoyant from three straight victories, but the visitors were outmatched on the night.

Havertz was desperately unlucky to have the opening goal taken away from him.

The Germany playmaker impressed throughout the first half in his false nine role, and certainly deserved a goal for his troubles.

But instead of his first Premier League strike in 15 top-flight appearances, Godfrey was credit with an own goal.

Havertz’s cute diversion of Marcos Alonso’s cross had certainly outfoxed Jordan Pickford and looked to be heading for the corner of the goal, before Godfrey’s intervention sent the ball crashing into the other side of the net.

Callum Hudson-Odoi deserved just as much credit as anyone else for the goal however, with the England winger thriving in his natural left-wing environment.

The 20-year-old jinked one way then the other, dropped off his marker Mason Holgate and collected a pass from Kurt Zouma – and that was just for starters.

Spinning on his heel to face the goal, Hudson-Odoi then threaded the perfect through-ball for the onrushing Alonso.

The Spain left-back’s cross set the goal in motion, but Hudson-Odoi’s stunning movement and precision passing had unlocked an otherwise tight Everton defence.

Alonso should have doubled Chelsea’s lead before half-time, having raced clear in latching onto Mateo Kovacic’s fine ball over the top of the Everton defence.

The 30-year-old’s shot took a slight deflection which reduced the power, and allowed Pickford to palm the ball just around his far post.

Chelsea boss Tuchel spent much of the half screaming at Reece James to tuck in off the right flank when the play was on the left wing. Tuchel was determined to see James attack with more aggression on the ball, and eventually called James and Havertz over to detail his instructions on a notepad.

Despite the manager’s frustrations however, Chelsea were good value for their half-time lead.

Havertz had the ball in the net again, shortly after the interval. The lively forward was also denied a goal here however, as a neat finish was chalked off for handball.

Chelsea did not have to wait long for their second goal though, and Havertz was involved once more.

The former Bayer Leverkusen star latched onto Kovacic’s raking through-ball in the Everton penalty area, and was felled by Toffees stopper Pickford.

Jorginho stepped up to the penalty spot and delivered his trademark skip-step finish, sending the frustrated Pickford the wrong way.

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SERIE A: INTER MILAN GO SIX POINTS CLEAR AFTER 1-0 WIN AGAINST ATALANTA.

Milan Skriniar scored the only goal as Inter Milan moved back six points clear in Serie A with a 1-0 win over Atalanta on Monday. Inter extended their winning streak to seven league games as they push for a first title since 2010. Antonio Conte’s side are ahead of second-placed AC Milan, who beat Hellas Verona 2-0 on Sunday, with champions Juventus 10 points off top spot, with a game in hand, after a 3-1 win over Lazio. Skriniar found a way through after 54 minutes sending in off fellow defender Alessandro Bastoni after a corner resulted in a scramble on front of goal in the San Siro.

“Knowing that the closest direct pursuers had won it’s inevitable that there was pressure, these are three important points,” said Conte.

Atalanta are fifth, outside the Champions League berths, and 13 points off top spot with 12 games left to play this season.

“We put in a great performance and lost on a corner,” lamented coach Gian Piero Gasperini whose side are one point off fourth-placed Roma.

“Against Inter and Juventus we always lack that little detail we don’t yet have, but we are close.”

In a clash between the two biggest scoring teams in Serie A the defenders decided the tie with Atalanta’s Berat Djimsiti giving little space to the Inter attackers.

Romelu Lukaku and Lautaro Martinez lead the Inter attack, the best in the Italian top-flight with 63 goals.

Atalanta are second best with 60, with forward Duvan Zapata starting up front, being replaced by fellow Colombian Luis Muriel for the final 20 minutes.

Chances were few in the first half.

Atalanta goalkeeper Marco Sportiello used his head to clear for a corner off a Cristian Romero cross after quarter of an hour.

Inter goalkeeper Samir Handanovic denied a Zapata header six minutes before the break and Marcelo Brozovic was cleared off the line just after.

Josip Ilicic replaced Ruslan Malinovskyi after the break for Atalanta with Conte sending on Christian Eriksen in place of Arturo Vidal.

And the Dane’s corner which resulted in the goal, Skriniar’s third in the league this season.

Inter threated a second just after but Romero slid in to deny a Lukaku finish just before the hour.

“One goal but we missed sensational opportunities,” said Conte.

“It was a very tactical match.”

Atalanta broke their four-match winning run in Serie A as they remain in the running in the Champions League and the Italian Cup final.

Inter are without European commitments with nothing left to target but the league and are next at relegation-threatened Torino.

Atalanta play at home against promoted Spezia before their Champions League last 16, second leg visit to Real Madrid.

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BETIS BEAT ALAVES IN LA LIGA THRILLER

Real Betis rallied from two goals down at home to defeat Alaves 3-2 in Spain’s La Liga on Monday, staying in the fight for European qualification spots.

Betis’ fourth victory in a row moved them within three points of fifth-placed Real Sociedad and six points behind fourth-placed Sevilla.

Joselu opened the scoring on 11 minutes and Edgar Mendez made it 2-0 for the visitors on 24 minutes.

But Betis got back into the game on the hour when Ruben Duarte brought down Nabil Fekir and striker Borja Iglesias converted the penalty.

Joaquin equalised nine minutes from time with a header and it seemed struggling Alaves would have to settle for a point.

But on 88 minutes Emerson fizzed a cross into the area and Iglesias met it with a bullet header to seal the win.

“I’m very happy to help the team,” said Iglesias.

“I have a lot of confidence at the moment. We all believe in ourselves and that showed with the way we were able to come back into the game.”

Betis visit rivals Sevilla in the Seville derby on Sunday.

It was the fourth straight loss for Alaves who remain second last in the 20-team standings, two points from safety, having only claimed victory once in their last 12 league games.

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Bayern Confirm Interest In Dortmund Striker Haaland

Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich confirmed their interest in Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland as manager Hansi Flick admitted a transfer is ‘very much possible’.

Haaland has emerged as one of the hottest commodities in Europe, and put it on full display against Bayern at the weekend.

The Norwegian international scored twice in nine minutes to stun Bayern into an early deficit.

Bayern manager Flick was asked about Haaland one day replacing Lewandowski, with a deal far from out the picture.

He told Sky Germany before the game: “Very, very much is possible in life, nothing can be ruled out.

“But that is a long way off. He has a long-term contract in Dortmund and is an option for many top clubs.”

Bayern prized Lewandowski away from their rivals in 2014, having also done the same with Mario Gotze and Mats Hummels.

But Gotze and Hummels both ended up returning to Dortmund.

Bayern are not the only ones interested in 20-year-old Haaland, who improved to 19 goals in as many Bundesliga games.

Manchester United last season failed in a move for the forward, despite Ole Gunnar Solskjaer meeting with the player.

And now United are joined by City and Chelsea in the pursuit for the serial goalscorer.

Real Madrid are also linked with Haaland, with the view of replacing frontman Karim Benzema, 34.

Haaland’s contract expires in 2024, but a £65million release clause is understood to come into play two years beforehand.

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RICHARLISON HEADER EARNS EVERTON THIRD STRAIGHT WIN AT WESTBROM

Richarlison continued Everton’s Champions League charge in a 1-0 win at West Brom.

The striker’s second-half header lifted the Toffees into the Premier League’s top four following a third straight win.

Victory ended the plucky Baggies’ mini-revival to keep them nine points from safety as theThe Toffees continued to improve after the break but did allow Diagne to nod over after Kyle Bartley glanced on Darnell Furlong’s long throw.

Everton’s extra quality had started to tell though and Gylfi Sigurdsson made an instant impact after coming off the bench to set up the winner after 65 minutes.

The midfielder’s first touch was a corner which was cleared back to him and he produced an excellent delivery with his second for Richarlison to steal ahead of Bartley and head in from four yards.

Albion now had to chase the game, but Everton, marshalled by the outstanding Ben Godfrey, held firm after a late scare in stoppage time.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles’ cross found Diagne and he turned to fire in, only to be ruled marginally offside.

Mbaye Diagne’s stoppage-time goal was ruled out for offside as Sam Allardyce’s side remained second bottom.

Everton moved into the Champions League spots, at least until Liverpool and Chelsea faced off later on Thursday night, after Richarlison’s fourth goal in four games.

They rode their luck at times against the energetic hosts, but Carlo Ancelotti’s side secured another win and third successive clean sheet.

Yet, buoyed by a three-game unbeaten run, it was the Baggies who started brightly and Jordan Pickford clawed away Diagne’s hanging header after three minutes

Purposeful and aggressive, Albion ensured Everton remained on the back foot and Conor Townsend seized on Andre Gomes’ misplaced pass only for Diagne to eventually shoot over.

While the Toffees were sloppy the Baggies forced them into mistakes, but when Pickford collided with Michael Keane they could not take advantage.

After just three wins in their previous 26 games, Allardyce had long admitted the Baggies were in must-win territory and his team had responded, yet the longer they failed to make their dominance count the stronger Everton became.

While their final ball had been awful, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin starved of any service, they did come to life in the final seven minutes of the half.

That it took the Toffees 38 minutes to carve out their first chance was a tribute to Albion’s efforts, but the hosts survived a scare when Calvert-Lewin slipped in Richarlison and his strike deflected narrowly over.

It was a warning and Calvert-Lewin let the Baggies off the hook three minutes later.

Pockets of space had begun to open up, but when the ball deflected into the striker’s path he hesitated and shot straight at Sam Johnstone from 15 yards.

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LEMINA STRIKE EARNS FULHAM 1-0 VICTORY AT ANFIELD

Fulham went level on points with Brighton & Hove Albion as Mario Lemina’s strike earned a 1-0 win that extended Liverpool’s losing run at Anfield.

Josh Maja twice went close for the visitors early on, first shooting wide from Kenny Tete’s cross before being denied by Alisson at point-blank range.

Ademola Lookman also had a close-range strike deflected over by Neco Williams.

An impressive first-half display was rewarded in stoppage time, when Lemina drilled in a low shot following a corner.

Liverpool improved in the second half, with the returning Diogo Jota having a volley brilliantly saved by Alphonse Areola.

Substitute Sadio Mane’s looping header struck a post and Xherdan Shaqiri also shot narrowly wide but Fulham held on for their second Premier League win at Anfield.

A sixth consecutive home league defeat for Liverpool drops them to eighth on 43 points.

Fulham, unbeaten in eight away league matches, stay 18th but are now level with Brighton on 26 points, having played one match more.

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SERIE A ROUND UP: MILAN BEAT VERONA TO CLOSE GAP ON INTER, NAPOLI WIN

Rade Krunic and Diogo Dalot scored in either half as AC Milan beat Hellas Verona 2-0 to close the gap on Serie A leaders Inter before next week’s Europa League trip to Manchester United.

Krunic curled in a free-kick after 27 minutes with Manchester United loanee Dalot doubling the visitors’ account five minutes after the break to pull Milan three points behind Inter, who host in-form Atalanta on Monday.

Champions Juventus are four points behind Milan in third, with a game in hand, after claiming their seventh straight win at home, 3-1 against Lazio on Saturday.

Despite the absence of key players including star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic and defender Theo Hernandez, Milan kept the pressure on their city rivals two weeks after their 3-0 derby defeat.

Rafael Leao started up front in Ibrahimovic’s absence, and the Portuguese forward threatened after quarter of an hour with a header which went over the bar.

The breakthrough came when Krunic was brought down just outside the box. The Bosnian midfielder dusted himself down and whipped a 27th-minute free-kick past a stunned Marco Silvestri from a tricky angle for his first league goal in Milan colours.

Defender Dalot also got off the mark in Serie A five minutes after the break, blasting in an Alexis Saelemaekers cross.

Milan took a valuable three points before they travel to Manchester for the first leg of their Europa League last 16 tie with United before hosting Napoli in the league next weekend.

Verona, in eighth, fell to their first home defeat since losing to Inter before Christmas.

Earlier Roma moved up to fourth, one point ahead of Atalanta thanks to a Gianluca Mancini goal, ahead of their Europa League tie against Shakhtar Donetsk in Rome.

Mancini jumped highest to turn in a Lorenzo Pellegrini corner after 24 minutes at the Stadio Olimpico, beating second choice ‘keeper Federico Marchetti who replaced Mattia Perrin.

Roma sit nine points behind Inter after the win.

“One more step is missing to beat the big teams, we need to improve because something more is needed to reach the Champions League,” said Mancini.

Bottom side Crotone ended their seven-match losing streak with a 4-2 win over coronavirus-hit Torino.

The Turin club’s last two games, against Sassuolo and Lazio, were unplayed because of a Covid-19 outbreak.

Earlier, Alvaro Morata scored twice and set up another as Juventus warmed up for next week’s Champions League game against Porto with a 3-1 comeback win over Lazio on Saturday.

Cristiano Ronaldo started on the bench before next week’s key last 16, second leg game against the Portuguese in Turin with Juventus trailing 2-1.

Champions Juventus fell behind to an early Joaquin Correa goal following a Dejan Kulusevski passing error midfield.

But Morata set up Adrien Rabiot to pull the hosts level before the break with the Spaniard scoring twice in a three-minute spell before the hour mark.

Andrea Pirlo’s side are third, seven points behind leaders Inter who host Atalanta on Monday, and one point adrift of AC Milan who play Hellas Verona on Sunday.

“Today we started the game 20 minutes late but it was normal because many were out of position and many returned (from injury),” said Pirlo.

“But there was a great reaction, we didn’t get down and despite the many absences we played an excellent match.

“For us it was a final, an important match for the standings and we’re happy.” Paulo Dybala remains out injured along with defender Giorgio Chiellini and midfielder Matthijs de Ligt, while Rodrigo Bentancur positive for coronavirus.

But Juan Cuadrado started after missing three league games with Arthur and Leonardo Bonucci also returning off the bench in the second half.

Morata started up front alongside Kulusevski, with Ciro Immobile leading the Lazio attack alongside Correa.

And the Argentine pounced after quarter of an hour after Kulusevski gave the ball away, shaking off Merih Demiral to beat Wojciech Szczesny in the Juventus goal.

Szczesny denied Luis Alberto a second eight minutes later.

Rabiot pulled a goal back six minutes before the break, picking up a Morata through ball to fire in a powerful left footed angled drive over Pepe Reina.

Both sides had chances after the break with Reina denying Federico Chiesa, Szczesny clearing from Correa and a Sergej Milinkovic-Savic header rattling the bar.

Chiesa set up Morata for the second after 57 minutes with the Spaniard completing a brace from the penalty spot three minutes later after Milinkovic-Savic brought down Aaron Ramsey in the box.

Morata made way for Ronaldo for the last 20 minutes with Arthur and Weston McKennie also coming off the bench in place of Ramsey and Cuadrado with Bonucci coming on for the final eight minutes.

Lazio’s top striker Immobile threatened but was unable to add to his 14 goals this campaign, drawing a blank for a fourth straight game as the Romans fell to their third defeat in four matches.

“It’s a defeat that hurts,” said Lazio coach Simone Inzaghi whose side’s hopes of Champions League football next season took a knock as they sit seventh, six points adrift of Atalanta in fourth place.

“We compromised the game alone, giving away an avoidable penalty. We made some mistakes and at Juventus, with some mistakes you don’t win.” Sassuolo’s Europa League hopes further dwindled with a 2-0 loss at midtable rivals Udinese stretching their winless run to three games.

Spanish forward Fernando Llorente scored his first goal for Udinese just before the break with Argentine Roberto Pereyra firing in a second deep into injury time.

Sassuolo, in ninth, have won just two of 11 league games played since after Christmas. Udinese are four points behind in 10th place.

Spezia snatched a 1-1 draw at home against Benevento, in a match between promoted sides vying to stay in the top flight next season.

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KANE, BALE BOTH HIT BRACE TO HELP SPURS SECURE 4-0 VICTORY AGAINST PALACE.

Gareth Bale and Harry Kane starred with braces to help Tottenham make it three Premier League wins in a row and boost their top four hopes after a 4-1 home success over Crystal Palace.

The duo combined twice with Kane the architect for both goals by the Real Madrid loanee before the England captain hit a wonder strike and then created history with another in the 76th minute.

Son Heung-min assisted Kane’s second and it was their 14th goal combination in the Premier League this season to beat the previous record of 13 set by Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton for Blackburn back in the 1994-95 season.

Christian Benteke had threatened to spoil proceedings for Jose Mourinho’s side when he equalised just before half-time, but two quickfire goals after the break ensured Spurs were able to secure a fifth straight victory.

Dele Alli was back on the bench after his second league start of the season at Fulham in midweek while the visitors listed the returning Wilfried Zaha as a substitute.

Bale showed no early ill-effects on his third consecutive start and should have had an assist in the sixth minute but Son headed straight at Palace goalkeeper Vicente Guaita.

The Welsh attacker had slalomed between two opponents to create the chance and it was a sign of things to come.

After a brace in Tottenham’s win over Burnley last weekend, Bale added to his tally again with 25 minutes on the clock.

Palace captain Luka Milivojevic was dispossessed by Lucas Moura deep inside his own half and Kane dropped a shoulder to beat the midfielder and race into the area where he squared for Bale to tap in.

It was a poor way for the visitors to concede and not long after the hosts almost produced a superb team move but Sergio Reguilon sliced wide on the volley.

A flurry of corners in quick succession saw Palace build some momentum and in the first minute of stoppage time they levelled against the run of play.

Ebere Eze found Milivojevic in space and the captain atoned for his earlier error with a fine delivery into the area where Benteke headed home for his fifth goal of the season.

Zaha was introduced at the break, but he was largely a spectator during a lightning-quick start to the second period where Tottenham scored twice in the space of three minutes.

First Bale doubled his tally for the night when he nodded home from Kane’s header across the face of goal after another excellent Reguilon cross in the 49th minute.

It made it 10 goals for the season for the Spurs number nine and back-to-back braces at home, but soon the focus was on the creator.

A slick move was concluded in style when Matt Doherty cut back for Kane in space and he produced a 25-yard curler into the top corner to leave Guaita with no chance.

The Bale and Kane show was ended in the 70th minute when the Real Madrid loanee was replaced but it had been another impressive showing to continue his return to form.

A minute before the substitution Zaha had almost reduced the deficit but his shot from outside the area hit the post.

There was still time for one more Spurs goal and it proved a record-breaking effort when Son squared for Kane to head in from close range for their 14th goal combination in the Premier League this season.

It bettered Shearer and Sutton’s efforts of 13 for Blackburn 26 years ago and ensured the 4-1 win for Tottenham moved them up to sixth in the table while Palace remain in 13th.