Wesley Sneijder netted his first Inter goal in stoppage time to hand the Serie A champions a fortunate 2-1 win over in-form Udinese on Saturday.
The Dutch midfielder, signed from Real Madrid at the end of the transfer window, curled the ball in from a tight angle to send Jose Mourinho dancing down the San Siro touchline and put his side top of the table after seven matches.
“It’s a goal the team deserved. In the end we’ve played a great game against a great side,” Mourinho told Sky television.
Dejan Stankovic shrugged off a back injury to give hosts Inter the lead midway through an entertaining first half when he ran on to Samuel Eto’o’s pass and rifled the ball into the top corner.
The Serb, who grabbed the equalizer in the 1-1 draw at Rubin Kazan in the Champions League in midweek, later went close with two other efforts but by then Inter had already been pegged back. Serie A top scorer Antonio Di Natale bagged his ninth goal of the campaign on 27 minutes when Cristian Chivu played the Udinese striker onside and he calmly fired home.
Bari drew 0-0 at home with struggling Catania in Saturday’s other game to move to the safety of mid-table.
Bari now have eight points from seven games in their first season the top flight after an eight-year absence.
Their best chance of the first half fell to Vitalii Kutuzov on 29 minutes when the Belarus striker dispossessed Catania’s Argentine defender Nicolas Spolli, but his effort came back off the post..
There was less entertainment for the crowd at the San Nicola Stadium after the break as both sides tired on a pitch which deteriorated due to a rainstorm the day before.
Bari again came close with 10 minutes to go as substitute Riccardo Meggiorini fired into the area before Honduran Edgar Alvarez nodded the rebound above the bar.
Bari, whose takeover by a US property tycoon collapsed during the week, have drawn with Inter and AC Milan this term.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite