AS Roma came from behind to beat Udinese 2-1 on Sunday and leapfrog city rival SS Lazio in the battle for second spot in Serie A.
Teenager Stipe Perica put Udinese in front, but Radja Nainggolan leveled in the final minute of the first half and Vasilis Torosidis scored what proved the winner in the 65th minute after a defensive blunder from the visitors.
Both sides also hit the woodwork, with Roma doing so twice in the final 10 minutes.
Photo: AFP
Roma moved back into second, a point above Lazio. The two meet in the penultimate match of the season next weekend, four days after Lazio play Serie A champion Juventus in the Coppa Italia final.
Cagliari were relegated as they lost 1-0 at home to US Citta di Palermo, a result that guaranteed Atalanta BC safety despite a 4-1 loss to Genoa.
Cagliari needed a win and for Atalanta to lose to have any hope of survival, but Franco Vazquez scored for Palermo in the ninth minute to consign the Isolani to the second division.
Iago Falque scored twice for Genoa, including a stunning second.
In the early game, Domenico Berardi netted another hat-trick against AC Milan to fire US Sassuolo to a 3-2 win. Milan had canceled out a two-goal deficit, but had Giacomo Bonaventura and Suso sent off.
Berardi scored four against Milan last season in Massimiliano Allegri’s last game in charge before his dismissal.
Elsewhere, Torino beat AC Chievo Verona 2-0, and Hellas Verona won 2-1 against Empoli.
Roma knew they needed a win to maintain second spot heading into next week’s derby match.
However, were on the back foot in the 19th minute when Kostas Manolas lost the ball to Cyril Thereau, whose effort was saved by Roma goalkeeper Morgan de Sanctis, but Perica volleyed in the rebound. It was the 19-year-old’s first goal since his arrival on loan from Chelsea in January.
Roma should have leveled almost immediately, but Udinese goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis did brilliantly to beat away Francesco Totti’s powerful free-kick.
Roma laid siege to the Udinese goal and got a deserved equalizer when Nainggolan was left completely unmarked to volley home Totti’s cross after Miralem Pjanic had touched the ball back to his captain.
Udinese almost instantly restored their lead, but Guilherme’s fierce free-kick crashed off the crossbar.
Udinese gifted Roma the lead shortly after the hour when Thomas Heurtaux completely missed Nainggolan’s weak cross as he jumped to head it away and teammate Silvan Widmer scuffed his attempted clearance, allowing Torosidis to bundle in from close range.
Roma should have sealed the match in the final 10 minutes as Nainggolan flicked Juan Iturbe’s low cross onto the base of the far post with his heel before Jose Holebas’ effort was deflected onto the crossbar.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
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