Pato scored a brace and threw himself cunningly to the ground to get Cristian Chivu sent off as AC Milan took charge of the Serie A title race by beating Inter 3-0 at the San Siro on Saturday.
It was Pato who was the show’s central figure as he produced two clinical finishes and a dubious fall to turn the game the way of the Rossoneri.
Substitute Antonio Cassano added a late penalty after he tumbled under a Javier Zanetti challenge.
Photo: Reuters
The result leaves Milan five points clear at the top of Serie A.
Milan got off to a flying start as Pato put them in front in the first minute.
Gennaro Gattuso played Robinho in behind Inter’s backline, and although Julio Cesar came out bravely to block, Pato was following up to slot home the loose ball.
The action was fast and furious early on with a point-blank volley from Clarence Seedorf appearing to hit Maicon’s hand in the box, but the referee waved away appeals for a penalty.
Inter had a great chance to level on 19 minutes as Pandev played in Giampaolo Pazzini, who got past his marker courtesy of a lucky bobble, only to blast his shot straight at goalkeeper Christian Abbiati.
On 38 minutes, a Mark Van Bommel blast from distance took a deflection off Chivu and beat Cesar, but crashed back off the bar.
A minute later Thiago Motta headed Sneijder’s corner goalwards only for Abbiati to claw the ball away from on the line. TV replays were inconclusive, but at least three-quarters of the ball was over the line, if not more.
However, the game hinged on a decision by the referee nine minutes into the second half as Pato was sent clear and ran across Chivu before theatrically flopping to the ground.
The referee adjudged the Romanian to have brought him down despite barely a hint of contact and showed him a straight red.
Pato stayed just onside on 62 minutes with Inter’s backline stretched to head home Ignazio Abate’s cross from 5m.
Milan threatened to run riot and Cesar had to make a crucial block to deny Robinho.
Sub Ivan Cordoba then got back to deflect Robinho’s shot behind after the Brazilian over-complicated matters in dummying Cesar rather than shooting sooner.
Cesar then saved again from Robinho as he once more strayed beyond Inter’s defense.
However, the goalkeeper could do nothing about Cassano’s penalty a minute from time.
Cassano then managed to get himself sent off as he was booked twice within a minute.
In other action, Brescia downed Bologna 3-1.
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
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB