Inter beat Chievo 2-0 at San Siro on Saturday to bounce back from their horror week with three points.
The champions moved temporarily at least up to second, closing the gap on leaders and city rivals AC Milan to just two points ahead of yesterday’s games.
It was the old guard of Esteban Cambiasso and Maicon who proved decisive as Inter showed they could still have a say in the scudetto chase.
Inter coach Leonardo sprang a surprise by leaving Wesley Sneijder, Diego Milito and Thaigo Motta on the bench, but he could at least recall Lucio to the backline.
The hosts were soon pushing forward as Japan fullback Yuto -Nagatomo got free down the left on 15 minutes and hit an perfect cross into the box where Samuel Eto’o somehow failed to make contact.
A minute later and the other Inter fullback Maicon played in Giampaolo Pazzini behind the defense, but he rushed his shot on the turn and dragged it wide of the far upright.
Inter struck from a half cleared corner as Lucio pulled the ball back to Maicon, who crossed for Cambiasso to send a right-foot shot goalward with a deflection off Marco Andreolli deceiving Stefano Sorrentino in goal.
Maicon made the points safe with the second six minutes from time with a poked finish after a scrappy goalmouth scramble.
In the late game, AS Roma reignited their Champions League hopes with a crucial 2-1 victory at fourth-placed Udinese.
Francesco Totti scored both Roma goals, in a match that finished controversially.
Udinese looked to have won it when they netted deep into injury time.
However, it was then disallowed for a handball by Kwadwo Asamoah, even though TV replays suggested he handled as a direct result of being fouled by Simone Perrotta.
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