Felipe Caicedo on Sunday snatched a late winner to keep SS Lazio third in Serie A with a 2-1 victory over US Sassuolo, while England defender Chris Smalling scored and set up two other goals for city rivals AS Roma in a win against Brescia to move fourth.
The two Roman outfits are now third and fourth respectively before Cagliari, a point behind in fifth place, were due to play at lowly US Lecce yesterday after their game was washed out.
“It’s an important success,” Lazio coach Simone Inzaghi said. “Third place consolidated? It’s still early, we are there and the others, too, every day things can change.”
Photo: Reuters
Serie A top-scorer Ciro Immobile struck to put Lazio ahead on 34 minutes with his 15th league goal this season, but struggling Sassuolo pulled a goal back through Francesco Caputo just before halftime.
Ecuador’s Caicedo came off the bench to seal a fifth consecutive league win in stoppage-time to keep Lazio seven points behind Inter in third place.
Roma are now two points behind their local rivals after Smalling sparked their 3-0 win over bottom club Brescia.
Smalling, on loan from Manchester United, headed in the first from a corner in the 48th minute at the Stadio Olimpico in the capital.
The 30-year-old then provided the cross that allowed fellow defender Gianluca Mancini to volley in eight minutes later, with Edin Dzeko completing the rout on 66 minutes after Smalling’s headed assist.
“Long may this continue, because we’ve got some big ambitions this season and we need to keep improving each game,” Smalling said. “I’m enjoying my football and I think the team, as you can see, is enjoying our football, too. We need to keep going because there is a long way to go yet.”
Roma coach Paulo Fonseca praised the former Fulham player after his second league goal this season and hinted he might remain beyond this season.
“He’s fine here, he’s a very nice player and I think he wants to stay with us,” the Portuguese coach said.
Brescia, coached by 2006 FIFA World Cup winner Fabio Grosso, remain rooted to the bottom of the table.
Italy forward Mario Balotelli was dropped for the game because of his lack of commitment in training and Grosso insisted he would not take back the 29-year-old until he changed his attitude as the promoted side fight for top-flight survival.
“Mario can be a protagonist in this team if he has the will, the determination and the enthusiasm, which he has so often lacked,” Grosso said. “When you are at the bottom of the table like us you need more than a player who knows how to hit the ball hard and score when he can. We need someone ready to work for the team, fight hard for the 90 minutes.”
Samuel di Carmine scored the only goal as Hellas Verona piled the pressure on ACF Fiorentina, despite Franck Ribery returning after his suspension. The Tuscany side are in 10th place with just one point from their past three games.
Claudio Ranieri’s UC Sampdoria moved out of the relegation zone with a 2-1 comeback win over 10-man Udinese.
A Manolo Gabbiadini free-kick before halftime and a 75th-minute Gaston Ramirez penalty gave the Genoa side their third win of the season.
Ilija Nestorovski had put Udinese ahead before the half-hour mark.
In Sunday’s other match, Bologna were held to a 2-2 draw at home by 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