Paul Pogba scored with a stoppage-time header to give Serie A leaders and titleholders Juventus a 2-1 win over Bologna on Wednesday and extend their unbeaten league run to 49 games.
AS Roma, involved in a row on Tuesday after a train was diverted from its normal route to drop the team off at Parma, lost 3-2 in heavy rain as they continued their topsy-turvy season.
Zdenek Zeman’s side have the best attacking and worst defensive record in the league with 22 goals scored and 19 against in 10 games.
Photo: EPA
Inter moved into second place after second-half goals from Diego Milito (penalty), Rodrigo Palacio and Fredy Guarin gave them a 3-2 win at home to US Sampdoria,while SSC Napoli lost 1-0 at Atalanta BC and dropped to third.
A spectacular volley by Chile midfielder Carlos Carmona was enough for Atalanta to beat Napoli, who were missing Uruguay striker Edinson Cavani through injury and again suffered away from home.
Napoli have a 100 percent home record, but have managed only two wins in five games on their travels.
Irrepressible 35-year-old Antonio Di Natale scored twice for Udinese, a penalty and a last-gasp equalizer, in a 2-2 draw with Catania, taking his league tally to six.
Juventus have taken 28 points from a possible 30 and are four ahead of Inter, with Napoli on 22. Far from convincing, Juventus went ahead early in the second half when Pogba chipped the ball into the area and Emanuele Giaccherini headed the ball into the path of Fabio Quagliarella to score from close range.
Bologna equalized when an attempted clearance by Paolo De Ceglie landed at the feet of Saphir Taider, who fired a low shot past Gianluigi Buffon from just outside the area.
Nineteen-year-old former Manchester United midfielder Pogba maintained Juventus’ 100 percent home record when he stooped to head in Sebastian Giovinco’s in-swinging cross in the second minute of injury time.
Roma, who came from two goals down to beat Genoa 4-2 10 days ago and did the opposite in a 3-2 defeat to Bologna at the weekend, this time scored first through Argentine Erik Lamela.
On a barely playable pitch, Parma replied through Ishak Belfodil, later sent off in the 85th minute, and Marco Parolo in a three-minute spell before halftime and Cristian Zaccardo extended their lead in the 65th minute.
Francesco Totti pulled one back, scoring at the second attempt after his penalty was saved by Antonio Mirante.
Roma traveled by train to the match, but other passengers were not amused when it made a diversion to Parma on its way to Milan, causing a 40-minute delay.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
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