Sports
Lukaku keeps Napoli top of Serie A with Roma winner
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Romelu Lukaku ensured Napoli maintained their one-point lead at the top of Serie A with the only goal in Sunday’s 1-0 win over his old club Roma.
Belgium striker Lukaku poked home his fifth Napoli goal seven minutes after half-time in Naples, handing veteran Claudio Ranieri a defeat on his return to management with his boyhood club Roma.
Napoli lead Atalanta, Inter Milan and Fiorentina by a point in a crowded title race which is yet to offer up a clear favourite for the Scudetto.
Lazio can join the chasing trio on 28 points with a home win over Bologna in Sunday’s late match, with Juventus four points off the pace in sixth.
Napoli were the better team at the Stadio Maradona and should have been ahead as early as the second minute when Khvicha Kvaratskhelia somehow sent a free header wide from less than six yards out.
Kvaratskhelia was also involved four minutes after half-time with a pinpoint cross from which Lukaku glanced just wide.
Ranieri has a job on his hands at Roma, who are four points above the relegation zone in 12th, but his team were unlucky not to level in the 66th minute when Artem Dovbyk thwacked a header off the bar.
– Reborn Kean –
Moise Kean continued his revival at Fiorentina by netting in a 2-0 win at Como which was his team’s seventh in a row in Serie A.
The 24-year-old has been reborn in Florence after failing to score a single goal at Juventus last season and has scored seven times in his last four matches in Italy’s top flight.
“Obviously people look at the goal, but the whole team has worked very hard with him… he’s developing and starting to reap the rewards,” said Fiorentina coach Raffaele Palladino.
Kean’s 68th-minute strike was his ninth in 12 league appearances under Palladino, whose team host champions Inter next weekend.
Fiorentina didn’t have things all their own way, and had David de Gea to thank for a superb triple save on the hour mark when they still only led by Yacine Adli’s 20th-minute opener.
Como are one point and place above Lecce, who are just inside the relegation zone and take on bottom side Venezia on Monday, after a fifth defeat in a worrying seven-match winless run.
– Vieira denied –
Patrick Vieira was denied a winning start as Genoa manager after a late penalty gave fellow Serie A strugglers Cagliari a 2-2 away draw.
Roberto Piccoli lashed home his spot-kick two minutes from the end after being fouled by Aaron Martin, snatching a point for Cagliari with his team’s second penalty of the game.
“My players delivered an good performance and focused on what we practised in training,” said Vieira.
“I’m disappointed for then because I think they deserved to win today.”
Vieira, who replaced sacked Alberto Gilardino on Wednesday, was heading for a debut win at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris after goals in each half from Morten Frendrup and Fabio Miretti which put Genoa ahead in the 59th minute following Razvan Marin’s early penalty for the away team.
The draw leaves Genoa in 16th, level with Cagliari and two points above Lecce.
AFP
A Supercomputer has projected the leading countries tipped to win the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The tournament will be jointly hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada, making it the first World Cup to feature an expanded 48-team format.
The 2026 edition will include 12 groups made up of four nations each, alongside a record total of 104 matches.
The competition is scheduled to kick off on June 11 and conclude on July 19, with the final set to take place at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, United States.
According to the Opta Supercomputer, Spain has emerged as the top favourite to win the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
La Roja were predicted to lift the trophy in 16.1 per cent of the 10,000 tournament simulations carried out by the Supercomputer.
France, England and Argentina were also ranked among the strongest contenders, with each nation winning the competition in more than 10 per cent of the simulations.
Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Belgium completed the top ten list of favourites tipped to win the tournament.
Meanwhile, co-hosts the United States, Mexico and Canada were considered unlikely to emerge as champions based on the Supercomputer’s simulations.
Arsenal is planning to begin discussions with Atletico Madrid regarding a transfer for Julian Alvarez, as reported by sources in Spain.
Barcelona seems to be leading the race to acquire Alvarez during the summer transfer window, with the Argentine international reportedly favoring a transfer to the Spanish champions.
Nevertheless, Barcelona has yet to reach an agreement on a transfer fee for Alvarez, and RAC1 indicated on Tuesday that their initial offer of €100 million (£86.4m) has been turned down by Atletico.
As per AS, Atletico is dissatisfied with Barcelona’s public pursuit of Alvarez and is now ‘blocking’ the 26-year-old’s transfer to Camp Nou.
The report suggests that Arsenal has been in communication with Alvarez’s agent, and the Premier League champions are set to commence formal negotiations with Atletico, who are demanding a transfer fee of €150m (£129.6m).
Atletico has firmly stated that Alvarez is not available for transfer, and in response to Arsenal’s recent interest in the former Manchester City forward, a representative from the Spanish club informed Libertad Digital on Tuesday: ‘Two weeks ago it was PSG, last week Barcelona, now Arsenal. We are counting on Julian for the upcoming season.’
Meanwhile, Atletico is preparing for the possibility of Alvarez’s departure, and AS reports that the club has already inquired about signing Victor Osimhen from Galatasaray.
After spending a season on loan at Galatasaray from Napoli, Osimhen made a permanent move to the Turkish club last summer for €75m (£63m).
With the 2026 FIFA World Cup set to kick off across the United States, Canada and Mexico, football’s lawmakers, the International Football Association Board (IFAB), have approved a series of rule changes aimed at reducing time-wasting, improving officiating and speeding up the game.
FIFA referees chief Pierluigi Collina confirmed that several new regulations will be enforced at the tournament, including restrictions on goalkeeper “tactical timeouts” and expanded VAR powers.
The new rules are designed to reduce time-wasting, discourage gamesmanship and improve decision-making at the World Cup. FIFA also hopes the measures will cut down on excessive stoppage time, which became a major talking point at the 2022 tournament.
The 2026 World Cup will be the first edition featuring 48 teams, making it the largest tournament in FIFA history.
Here is the full list of law changes that will be used at the 2026 World Cup.
- Five-second throw-in countdown
Referees can begin a visible five-second countdown if players delay taking throw-ins. If the countdown expires, possession will be awarded to the opposition.
- Five-second goal-kick countdown
Teams that deliberately waste time during goal-kicks risk conceding a corner kick. The referee will also use a visible five-second countdown.
- Time-limited substitutions
Substituted players must leave the pitch within 10 seconds using the nearest exit point.
Failure to comply means the replacement player cannot enter until the next stoppage after one minute of play.
- One-minute off-field treatment rule
Players who receive on-field medical treatment must stay off the pitch for 60 seconds after play resumes. Goalkeepers and certain injury situations are exempt.
- VAR can review second-yellow red cards
VAR officials can now review dismissals caused by clearly incorrect second yellow cards.
- VAR can review mistaken identity
Video Assistant Referees can intervene if the wrong player is punished with a yellow or red card.
- VAR can review wrongly awarded corners
Competitions can allow VAR reviews for clearly incorrect corner-kick decisions, provided the review is immediate and does not delay play.
- VAR can review attacking fouls before set-pieces
VAR can now intervene if an attacking foul occurs before a corner or free-kick that directly leads to a goal, penalty or major disciplinary incident.
- Red-card sanction for covering the mouth during confrontations
Players who cover their mouths during confrontational exchanges with opponents can now face a straight red card under new anti-discrimination measures.
- Goalkeeper tactical timeouts restricted
Players will no longer be allowed to leave the pitch for team talks when a goalkeeper goes down injured.
The measure will be enforced at the World Cup as part of FIFA’s anti-time-wasting crackdown.
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