Sports
Inter Squeeze Past Venezia To Put Pressure On Serie A Leaders Napoli
Inter Milan moved to within one point of Serie A leaders Napoli on Sunday after bouncing back from a painful defeat in the Italian Super Cup final by winning 1-0 at struggling Venezia and going second in the table.
Matteo Darmian shot the injury-hit champions to victory on the Venetian Lagoon with the only goal of the game in the 16th minute, moving Inter a point above Atalanta who were held to a goalless draw at Udinese on Saturday.
Italy defender Darmian tapped home his second goal of the season on the rebound after Lautaro Martinez’s shot was kept out by Venezia goalkeeper and Inter loanee Filip Stankovic.
“We work on getting up the pitch and it doesn’t matter who gets there. I found myself in front of goal and thankfully I managed to score and help the team win,” said Darmian.
Napoli can extend their lead at the top of the division to four points with a home win over Verona, although Antonio Conte will be without Khvicha Kvaratskhelia who has asked to be sold, with an 80-million-euro ($82 million) transfer to Paris Saint-Germain reportedly in the works.
However Inter will have two games in hand, the first against Bologna on Wednesday and the other their December fixture at Fiorentina which was stopped, following Edoardo Bove’s collapse on the pitch, and has yet to be rescheduled.
Inter have had problems closing out matches this season and Sunday’s narrow win, their sixth on the bounce in Serie A, came after Simone Inzaghi’s side threw away a two-goal lead in the Italian Super Cup final against AC Milan.
The away side dominated and should have won by more despite having Italy defender Francesco Acerbi and key midfielders Hakan Calhanoglu and Henrikh Mkhitaryan out injured, with Marcus Thuram, Benjamin Pavard and Federico Dimarco starting on the bench.
But Stankovic, the son of Inter legend Dejan, was excellent between the sticks and his brilliant save from Davide Frattesi in the 67th minute almost paid off moments later when the post denied USA midfielder Gianluca Busio and allowed Inter to escape with all three points.
“It wasn’t easy after losing the final the way we did, but the boys were brilliant because we came here tired with a host of players out but we played really well,” said Inzaghi.
Genoa continued their revival under Patrick Vieira with their first home win of the season, 1-0 over relegation rivals Parma, in front of new majority shareholder Dan Sucu.
Morten Frendrup’s wildly deflected strike in the 65th minute gave Genoa their third win since France and Arsenal icon Vieira replaced Alberto Gilardino in November.
Genoa are up to 11th on 23 points, a point behind Roma who snatched a last-gasp 2-2 draw at Bologna thanks to a controversial Artem Dovbyk penalty in the eighth minute of stoppage time.
Vieira’s team are also five points above the relegation zone after their first victory at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris since the final day of last season.
“We played well from the first minute to the last, everyone was waiting for this win for 233 days and we did it with a great performance,” said Vieira.
It was a propitious first appearance in front of home fans for Sucu who took over Genoa last month after he subscribed to a 45-million-euro capital increase which gave him 77 percent of the club.
That operation brought to an end the ownership of controversial investment company 777 Partners, who acquired 99.9 percent of Genoa in September 2021 but were issued with a winding up order by the United Kingdom’s High Court last year.
Sucu’s ownership is contested by another investment firm and 777 creditor, Advantage Capital (A-Cap), who say they were Genoa’s rightful owners after taking control of 777’s football assets.
A-Cap called the arrival of Sucu, who also owns Rapid Bucharest, a “non-approved clandestine operation” before Genoa said the takeover was final and that any news to the contrary was false.
Parma are a point and place above the bottom three and face three key clashes with fellow strugglers Venezia, Lecce and Cagliari in the next few weeks.
AFP
Former Super Eagles captain and Al-Ahli star, William Troost-Ekong, has converted to Islam.
Troost-Ekong was said to have recited the Shahadah in Doha, Qatar, where he plays for Qatar Stars League club Al-Ahli, as reported by a Qatari press, “Al-Arab” on Wednesday.
A respected Islamic cleric, Dr Muhammad Salah, also shared a video on his verified Facebook account wherein the defender recited the testimonies.
The 33-year-old defender first moved to the Arab region in the summer of 2024, when he signed for Saudi Arabia’s Al-Khaleej.
He joined Qatari side, Al-Ahli in January 2026 on a one-and-a-half-year contract and has since played 14 matches across all competitions, including a single appearance in the current season.
On the international stage, Ekong won 83 caps for Nigeria between 2015 and 2025, scoring 8 goals.
He reached the final of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Côte d’Ivoire and was named best player of that edition.
Troost-Ekong also represented Nigeria at the FIFA World Cup and Olympic Games, establishing himself as one of the country’s most experienced defenders of the past decade.
He enjoyed a distinguished international career with Super Eagles, making more than 70 appearances for the Super Eagles.
Senegalese football star, Sadio Mane, has launched a CFA11.7 billion ($20.4 million) agro-industrial project in his hometown of Bambali, southern Senegal, aimed at expanding mango processing and creating jobs.
The project, known as SM10 Agro, was launched on September 19 in Bambali, Sedhiou Region.
The complex will include a processing plant with an annual capacity of 8,500 tonnes of mangoes, producing mango pulp, dried fruit and mango butter.
It will also include a 500-hectare plantation of Kent mangoes.
The project is located in Casamance, Senegal’s leading mango-producing region, where limited processing facilities have contributed to significant post-harvest losses.
Senegal loses an estimated 30 to 45 percent of harvested fruit annually, with poor farming practices, harvesting and transportation challenges, and limited processing outlets among the factors contributing to the losses, Ecofin Agency reported.
Speaking at the launch, Mane said he wanted his legacy to extend beyond football.
“I don’t want to be remembered only for the goals I scored. Before the stadiums, the lights and the victories, there was, of course, Bambali. This is where my dreams began… We want to help create jobs and develop agriculture,” Mane was quoted as saying.
The facility is expected to allow more mangoes to be processed locally, including fruit that may not qualify for export to European Union markets because of phytosanitary requirements.
A 2023 study by the Initiative Prospective Agricole et Rurale, cited by Ecofin Agency, found that existing mango processing facilities in Casamance were concentrated mainly in the Ziguinchor region, while Sedhiou and Kolda remained poorly equipped despite producing local mango varieties.
The study also identified limited access to packaging and labelling services in Casamance as a challenge for processors, forcing some businesses to depend on Dakar for the services.
Mane’s investment comes as Senegal’s mango export industry recovers from recent difficulties linked to fruit-fly infestations and other phytosanitary problems.
Senegal exported about 27,000 tonnes of mangoes in 2021, but export volumes subsequently declined following problems that affected access to the European market.
Exports to Europe reportedly rose to more than 19,000 tonnes in 2026, up from about 14,000 tonnes the previous season, following improved phytosanitary measures, particularly efforts to control fruit flies.
Former Liverpool forward, Mohamed Salah, has been banned from driving for six months after failing to identify the person driving his Rolls-Royce when it was caught speeding in Cheshire, United Kingdom.
Court documents reported by the BBC showed that the vehicle was recorded travelling at 36mph in a 30mph zone in Wilmslow on March 27.
Salah, 34, failed to respond to a notice issued by Cheshire Constabulary requiring information about the driver and did not enter a plea.
He was prosecuted at Warrington Combined Court under the Single Justice Procedure, which allows magistrates to deal with certain cases without a public hearing.
A court spokeswoman said Salah was convicted of failing to provide information relating to the identification of the driver of the vehicle.
He was disqualified from driving for six months and ordered to pay £1,044.
The incident occurred three days after Salah announced his departure from Liverpool at the end of the 2025/26 season, bringing his nine-year spell at the club to an end.
Liverpool had described Salah as oneof the greatest players in the club’s history when it announced his departure on March 24.
Salah scored 257 goals in 442 appearances for Liverpool before leaving the club for Turkish side Trabzonspor after the 2025/26 season.
He currently plays for Trabzonspor in Turkey.
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