Juventus went back to the top of Serie A after holding on for a 2-1 victory against Fiorentina in Turin on Tuesday.
With previous leaders Udinese and Lazio not playing until yesterday, Juve took advantage of the opportunity to move back to the summit, although it wasn’t an entirely convincing performance.
They should have had the match wrapped up at halftime, but led only through a Leonardo Bonucci goal.
Photo: AFP
Fiorentina came storming back in the second period and eq-ualized through Stevan Jovetic, but Alessandro Matri grabbed the winner eight minutes later as Juve maintained their unbeaten start to the season.
Cheered on by a boisterous home crowd Juventus started the game at break-neck speed, but they seemed to be lacking in composure.
Simone Pepe connected with nothing but air when presented with a good chance to shoot and only goalkeeper Artur Boruc to beat.
Stephan Lichsteiner’s cross from the right then somehow went all the way through to Mirko Vucinci, but he shinned the ball well wide.
Fiorentina’s defending had been awful so far and it got worse on 13 minutes as Juve took the lead.
Andrea Pirlo’s corner along the ground somehow found Arturo Vidal around the penalty spot.
His shot lacked power, but Boruc spilled it and Bonucci was the only player to react to the loose ball in the six-yard box.
There could have been a second on 22 minutes when Vidal’s cross from the right found Matri, but he volleyed just over.
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
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but