AS Roma bounced back from last week's dire 3-0 defeat at Siena to beat Reggina 2-0 on Saturday and keep their faint title hopes alive.
Goals from Cristian Panucci and Brazilian winger Alessandro Mancini secured a comfortable yet unspectacular victory that reduced Roma's deficit to leaders Inter Milan to five points.
Mancini had the first clear chance of the match, forcing Andrea Campagnolo into a fine one-handed save.
But Reggina did not hold out for long as Roma went ahead on 21 minutes.
From a quickly-taken corner, captain Francesco Totti crossed deep to the back post where veteran defender Panucci arrived late to score from a tight angle, heading the ball back across goal and in off the far post.
Reggina had the better of things after the break without ever really looking like finding the net, before Roma's French winger Ludovic Giuly created the winner.
Giuly twisted, turned and then shot to the far post, but Campagnolo parried his effort only for Mancini to slot the loose ball into the empty yet.
Earlier, Bosnian striker Zlatan Muslimovic struck in the last minute to deny Champions League chasing Fiorentina a crucial victory as Atalanta secured a 2-2 draw.
Young attacking star Giampaolo Pazzini opened the scoring for the Viola on 29 minutes as he turned home a right-wing cross from Riccardo Montolivo, but Muslimovic levelled matters just a minute later.
Franco Semioli scored his first league goal of the season to give the visitors the lead again on the hour mark when he headed home a cross from Swiss midfielder Zdravko Kuzmanovic.
But in the last minute, Muslimovic slid home a dangerous low cross from Argentine Fernando Tissone to keep alive Atalanta's UEFA Cup hopes.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two