SS Lazio were humbled in their attempt to take a stranglehold on third spot in Serie A when AC Siena climbed off the foot of the table with a confident 3-0 home win on Monday.
Swiss forward Innocent Emeghara headed the Tuscans into a sixth-minute lead from Matteo Rubin’s cross and the pair combined again to set up Alessandro Rosina for the second midway through the first half.
Emeghara topped off an explosive display with a third after the break.
Photo: AFP
Lazio were unrecognizable from the side who have again surprised in the upper echelons of Serie A this term and even a change of formation to 4-2-4 failed to inspire the side from Rome.
They stay joint third, level on points with resurgent AC Milan in Italy’s final UEFA Champions League qualifying spot, having wasted the chance to make up ground on the top two after leaders Juventus lost to AS Roma and SSC Napoli drew with UC Sampdoria at the weekend.
Siena, who started the season with a six-point deduction for match-fixing, rocketed up to third from bottom and are now just four points adrift of safety after their seventh victory of the campaign.
MAREK HAMSIK ROBBED
AFP, MILAN, Italy
SSC Napoli forward Marek Hamsik has been robbed of a luxury Rolex watch by three masked men at gunpoint, according to Italian media reports.
ANSA news agency said Hamsik escaped uninjured from the attack, which happened on Sunday following his side’s scoreless home draw against UC Sampdoria in Serie A.
The report said Hamsik had momentarily stopped in his BMW X6 car on the motorway as he drove his wife to the airport after the game at the Stadio San Paolo and was approached by three masked men on scooters.
They smashed his car window, before taking Hamsik’s luxury watch after threatening him with a gun.
The wife of the Slovakia international fell victim to robbers several years ago and the player is not the first from the club to be targeted by criminals.
The club’s star striker, Uruguayan Edinson Cavani, and Swiss defender Valon Behrami have both been robbed in recent years, while the partner of former Napoli forward Ezequiel Lavezzi — who is now playing for Paris Saint-Germain — was also mugged.
Napoli have not commented on the incident.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
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