Inter Milan's hopes of lifting the Italian Cup for the third consecutive year were dealt a potentially fatal blow after they were thrashed 6-2 by AS Roma in the first leg on Wednesday.
Roma, last year's beaten finalists, were 3-0 up after 16 minutes through Francesco Totti, Daniele De Rossi and Simone Perrotta -- all World Cup winners with Italy last year -- before Hernan Crespo pulled one back for the recently crowned Serie A champions.
Further goals from Brazilian winger Mancini and Christian Panucci made it 5-1 before Crespo grabbed his second of the match.
Panucci then pounced again a minute from time to restore Roma's four-goal cushion and give Inter a mountain to climb in the second leg at the San Siro next week.
Inter coach Roberto Mancini lamented his side's woeful start at the Olympic stadium.
"To lose three goals in the first quarter of an hour or so gave us too much to do," Mancini said.
"Roma started superbly and we were awful."
Roma were the only side to beat Inter Milan during its championship winning season in Serie A.
SSC Napoli will have to wait one more week to seal the Serie A title after on Sunday being held to a goalless draw at Parma, while closest rivals Inter drew 2-2 in a dramatic game with SS Lazio. Antonio Conte’s team stayed one point ahead of Inter and were unfortunate not to win after twice striking the woodwork through Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Matteo Politano, while Scott McTominay also had a free-kick tipped onto the crossbar. The away side thought they would be handed a chance to take the points from the penalty spot in the 96th minute when David Neres
Omar Marmoush’s stunning long-range strike on Tuesday upstaged Kevin de Bruyne on the Manchester City great’s Etihad farewell. Marmoush let fly from about 30m to put City ahead in their 3-1 win against AFC Bournemouth in the Premier League. The victory moved Pep Guardiola’s team up to third in the standings and left qualification for the UEFA Champions League in their own hands heading into the last round of the season. “It’s really important. To be in the Champions League after what happened [this season] will be really nice,” the City manager said. De Bruyne was making his final home appearance for City before
Brighton & Hove Albion’s Jack Hinshelwood on Monday sealed a dramatic 3-2 victory against Liverpool to leave the English Premier League champions without a win since clinching the title. Arne Slot’s side took the lead through Harvey Elliott’s early opener before Yasin Ayari equalized at the American Express Stadium. Dominik Szoboszlai restored Liverpool’s advantage just before halftime, but Brighton staged a late fightback as Kaoru Mitoma leveled before Hinshelwood came off the bench to net with his first touch. Liverpool have taken just one point from their three matches following the title-clinching rout of Tottenham Hotspur on April 27. The Reds have lost at
Logan O’Hoppe, Taylor Ward and Matthew Lugo homered, and the Los Angeles Angels spoiled Clayton Kershaw’s season debut, beating the Los Angeles Dodgers 11-9 on Saturday night to take the first two games of the three-game series. Kershaw allowed three runs and threw 38 pitches in the first inning. The three-time National League Cy Young Award winner lasted four innings, giving up five runs on five hits with three walks and two strikeouts. Shoulder, toe and knee injuries limited Kershaw to seven games last season, and his 2025 debut was delayed as he recovered from multiple offseason surgeries. O’Hoppe had two hits with
RSS