Juventus virtually secured their 29th Serie A title on Sunday with a 1-0 win over AC Milan, who saw their own bid for Champions League soccer next season suffer a blow.
A second-half Arturo Vidal penalty settled what was a less-than-inspiring performance from both sides and left the champions requiring just four points from their remaining five games to defend the Scudetto.
However, Juve could wrap up the title next week if they beat Torino at home and SSC Napoli lose away to bottom side Delfino Pescara 1936.
Juve’s 24th win of the campaign restored their 11-point lead on Napoli, who beat Cagliari 3-2 earlier on Sunday, and dented Milan’s push for the league’s runner-up spot, which offers direct qualification to next season’s Champions League.
Milan remain third, but are now seven points behind Napoli and, arguably more importantly, are just one point ahead of ACF Fiorentina, who have ambitions to snatch the third and final Champions League spot, albeit one which does not offer direct qualification.
Milan had been unbeaten since a 4-2 reverse away to AS Roma days before Christmas but, missing suspended striker Mario Balotelli, showed little threat against a Juve side at full strength and feeling little pressure.
Neither side really dominated and it took Vidal’s 57th-minute strike from the spot, following a foul on Ghanaian midfielder Kwadwo Asamoah by Milan keeper Marco Amelia, to settle the game.
Milan’s defeat largely benefited Napoli, who after missing a hatful of chances to settle the game early, cemented second spot after Lorenzo Insigne came off the bench to score an injury-time winner against Cagliari.
Milan’s defeat also embellished Fiorentina’s 4-3 win over a fiesty Torino, a win secured when Brazilian midfielder Romulo came off the bench to clinch a late winner for Vincenzo Montella’s side.
Fiorentina’s win was all the more crucial given that Roma, one of several teams chasing a Europa League place, dropped points in a 1-1 draw at home to bottom side Pescara.
In Sunday’s early match, veteran Tommaso Rocchi saved Inter’s blushes with a late strike that secured a 1-0 win over a resilient Parma.
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