AS Roma coach Rudi Garcia succeeded where his three predecessors failed by taking his team to a 2-0 win over archrivals SS Lazio on Sunday and maintaining their 100 percent record in Serie A alongside SSC Napoli, who won 2-1 at AC Milan.
Mario Balotelli missed the first penalty of his career after Miguel Britos and Gonzalo Higuain scored early in each half for the visitors, whose last away win in the fixture was 27 year ago.
Balotelli later scored the Rossoneri’s consolation and was sent off for arguing with the referee after the final whistle.
Photo: Reuters
Federico Balzaretti and Adem Ljajic, from the penalty spot, gave Roma their first derby win for two-and-a-half years, while Lazio’s misery was complete when substitute Andre Dias was sent off after only three minutes on the pitch.
Carlos Tevez and Fernando Llorente scored in a five-minute spell before halftime to give champions Juventus a 2-1 win over Hellas Verona and the Argentine saw another effort hit the post, roll along the line and hit the other upright, before bouncing away.
Giuseppe Rossi, sidelined for nearly two years by successive knee-ligament injuries, continued his impressive return by scoring his fourth goal of the season in ACF Fiorentina’s 2-0 win at Atalanta BC after Matias Fernandez had put them ahead.
Diego Milito, making his first appearance after a seven-month injury layoff, scored twice after coming on as a second-half substitute as Inter walloped Serie A newcomers UC Sassuolo 7-0 away.
Milito was one of four Argentines to score, alongside Rodrigo Palacio, Ricky Alvarez and Esteban Cambiasso, in Inter’s biggest Serie A win since 1966 when they beat Brescia by the same score. Saphir Taider and an own-goal by Raffaele Pucino completed the rout.
Also on Sunday, Torino won 2-1 away to 10-man Bologna, while Catania were held to a goalless draw by Parma.
Roma, backed by US investors, splashed out 66 million euros (US$89 million) on new signings in the summer, over three times more than Lazio, whose fans again protested by entering the Stadio Olimpico after kickoff.
There was little to choose between the sides in the first half, with Gervinho heading wide for Roma the closest effort.
Germany international forward Miroslav Klose nearly put Lazio ahead early in the second half, before Roma took control.
Balzaretti struck the post and, in the next move, fired Roma ahead when he met Francesco Totti’s chipped cross with an angled left-foot drive at the far post.
Roma captain Totti, starting his 22nd season at the club, was never far from the action and he was denied a clear run on goal in the 81st minute when he was barged over by Dias, who was dismissed.
Serbia international forward Ljajic made sure of the points for Roma when he won and converted a stoppage-time penalty. Totti, the usual penalty taker, missed a chance to score his 10th derby goal as he had just been substituted to a standing ovation.
Roma had failed to win their previous five meetings against Lazio, during which Luis Henrique, Zdenek Zeman and Aurelio Andreazzoli all occupied the hot seat.
Injury-plagued Milan were quickly in trouble as Britos put Napoli ahead in the sixth minute and it got worse when Higuain, signed from Real Madrid in the summer, scored his third league goal for Napoli early in the second half.
Balotelli, who had converted the previous 21 penalties he had taken in official matches, saw his spot-kick saved by Pepe Reina just after the hour.
He also hit the crossbar, had another penalty appeal turned down and saw a dipping shot turned over by Reina, before curling in a consolation in stoppage-time.
Already booked, Balotelli completed his evening by arguing with the referee after the final whistle and was shown a second yellow card.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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