Marco Donadel’s stunning strike helped Fiorentina to a 2-1 home win over Bari on Saturday which dragged the surprise strugglers off the bottom of Serie A.
The midfielder netted a rare goal after 34 minutes when his curling effort from 30m went in off the post.
Forward Alberto Gilardino grabbed the second on the rebound eight minutes from time to settle a bad-tempered encounter and hand the Florence side their second win in eight league games. Alessandro Parisi pulled one back for Bari in stoppage-time.
Fiorentina, who reached the Champions League round-of-16 last season, have since been beset by a series of problems.
Their form tailed off at the end of the campaign and long-time coach Cesare Prandelli left to manage Italy, with new boss Sinisa Mihajlovic hampered almost immediately when forward Stevan Jovetic was ruled out for six months with knee trouble.
Other injuries and a lack of quality recruits in the transfer window contributed to their poor start this term, while the club’s owners have clashed with fans and fallen out with the city council over a new stadium.
Striker Adrian Mutu was supposed to offer a ray of light next Friday when his drugs ban ends, but the Romanian is now being investigated by police over an alleged assault and Fiorentina have vowed action if he is found guilty.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was