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
Manchester City beat Arsenal in their major Premier League title race clash at the Etihad thanks to Erling Haaland’s winner.
Pep Guardiola’s side defeated their rivals 2-1 on Sunday afternoon to move to within three points of the league leaders.
Rayan Cherki opened the scoring in the first half, before Kai Havertz pounced on a Gianluigi Donnarumma’s error to equalise.
And then during a tense second half, Haaland managed to find the all-important winner to sink the Gunners in Manchester.
Man City now know they can move to the top of the Premier League table with a win over Burnley on Wednesday, live on talkSPORT.
Erling Haaland’s goal is the difference and Man City now have the chance to move to the top of the Premier League.
They’ll be celebrating tonight – but not too hard, ahead of their meeting with Burnley on Wednesday, live on talkSPORT.
As for Arsenal, it’s a nightmare evening for them.
The Gunners had the quadruple in their sights a few weeks ago, but now, after losing four of their last six, hopes are doomed.
There will be no Carabao Cup, no FA Cup, and now potentially no Premier League following their dismal run.C CB.
Real Sociedad edged Atletico Madrid 4-3 on penalties to win the Copa del Rey for a fourth time in the club’s history after a 2-2 draw in a gripping final on Saturday in Seville.
After Alexander Sorloth and Julian Alvarez missed from the spot for Diego Simeone’s Atletico, Pablo Marin smashed home his kick to claim victory for the Basque side.
Ander Barrenetxea had headed Real Sociedad ahead after just 14 seconds, with Ademola Lookman levelling for Atletico.
Mikel Oyarzabal put the Basque side ahead from the penalty spot before the break but Alvarez rescued Atletico and forced extra time and ultimately penalties with a superb strike.
La Real’s season seemed set to be one of struggle until American coach Pellegrino Matarazzo was appointed in December, and he resuscitated their campaign.
At La Cartuja stadium it was a battle between two teams that often attack fast and direct, and Real Sociedad certainly did that, netting the quickest ever goal scored in a Copa del Rey final.
Goncalo Guedes scampered away down the left on to a long ball, crossing for Barrenetxea to head beyond Juan Musso before the Rojiblancos had even touched the ball.
Simeone’s side, who last won the competition back in 2013 near the start of his 14-year reign, wrestled their way back level through Lookman.
Antoine Griezmann laid off the ball to him on the edge of the box and without much on, the Nigeria international spied a route to goal and drilled into the bottom corner.
Lookman almost created a goal for Griezmann but Real Sociedad scrambled to block the 35-year-old French forward, who is leaving Atletico at the end of the season for MLS side Orlando City.
Atletico goalkeeper Musso, chosen ahead of the fit-again Jan Oblak after he impressed during the Slovenian’s recent injury absence, handed La Real the lead again just before the break.
Musso clumsily clattered Guedes fists first as the Portuguese leapt for a header and the Basque side were awarded a penalty.
Oyarzabal, who scored from the spot when they won the 2020 edition, without their fans present because of the global pandemic, sent Musso the wrong way.
After a first half in which they struggled, Atletico began to build some pressure after the interval.
Griezmann lashed over and Lookman whipped a shot high and wide as La Real tried to stave off the Rojiblancos, who dominated the ball.
Alvarez forces extra time
Simeone called for his battering ram, sending on Norwegian target man Sorloth to try and force a way through.
Eventually the goal they craved came from the guile of former Manchester City striker Alvarez instead.
The Argentina forward took a neat touch to spin on the edge of the box and then another to plant the ball in the top corner for his 19th goal of the season.
With La Real caving Johnny Cardoso should have won it for Atletico in stoppage time. The American fired a golden opening wide of the far post with just goalkeeper Unai Marrero to beat.
Musso made a fine save to thwart Icelandic striker Orri Oskarsson as he tried to turn home a rebound in extra time.
At the other end Alvarez crashed a shot off the crossbar from long range, with both teams creating enough opportunities to win it before penalties.
Marrero denied both Sorloth and Alvarez on Atletico’s first two penalties, with Musso stopping one from Oskarsson to give Atletico a chance.
However Marin made no mistake with Real Sociedad’s fifth penalty to spark wild celebrations.
Atletico’s last realistic chance of silverware this season, and something for Griezmann to celebrate on his departure, is in the Champions League where they face Arsenal in the semi-finals.
AFP
Manchester United beat Chelsea 1-0 away at Stamford Bridge to put a huge 10-point gap between Michael Carrick’s Red Devils in third and Liam Rosenior’s hapless Blues in sixth
United take three vital points at Stamford Bridge to further strengthen their ambitions of European football next season.
Matheus Cunha scored the only goal of the game shortly before half-time to maintain interim manager Michael Carrick’s impressive tenure since taking charge in January.
For the Blues, who saw a goal ruled out and twice hit the woodwork, they remain in sixth but failed to make a dent in the four-point gap between them and fifth-placed Liverpool.
The result means Liam Rosenior’s side are on a run of four successive top-flight defeats for the first time since the 1990s – doing so without scoring a single goal.
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