Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored twice as Inter went clear at the top of Serie A with a 2-0 win at Palermo on Saturday.
After a scoreless first half, Ibrahimovic put Inter in front less than 30 seconds into the second half, curving a shot from beyond the area in off the far post.
For his second goal, Ibrahimovic struck a fierce free-kick through a hole in Palermo’s wall in the 62nd minute. Palermo goalkeeper Alberto Fontana was lined up to stop the shot, but couldn’t even get a hand on a ball that traveled at an estimated 124kph.
Ibrahimovic also scored two goals on the final day of last season to secure Inter’s third straight Serie A title.
“That counted more, but this was very important,” he said. “Two goals and first place. We’ve got to continue like this, especially next week against Juventus.”
Inter lead with 27 points, three ahead of Juventus, who routed Genoa 4-1 on Thursday to temporarily join Inter atop the standings.
AInter coach Jose Mourinho moved away from his preferred 4-3-3 formation and lined up a 4-1-3-2, with Julio Ricardo Cruz joining Ibrahimovic up front.
Palermo threatened early with Fabrizio Miccoli and Fontana made a save from a low shot from Ibrahimovic in the 28th minute, Inter’s only serious threat of the first half.
Inter defender Ivan Cordoba picked up a yellow card in the 66th minute that will rule him out of next week’s Juve game and Inter goalkeeper Julio Cesar did well to stop a free-kick from Miccoli, while Inter midfielder Esteban Cambiasso nearly curved in a free-kick in the 76th minute. Ibrahimovic had another chance in added time, with Fontana leaping to make a difficult save.
Freddie Freeman homered and drove in four runs, Shohei Ohtani also went deep and Roki Sasaki earned his first major league win as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 10-3 on Saturday night for their seventh straight victory. The Dodgers have won the first two games of the series to improve to 5-0 against Atlanta this year. Los Angeles’ three-game sweep at home early in the season left the Braves 0-7. Sasaki allowed three runs and six hits over five innings. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up a home run to Ozzie Albies, but received plenty of offensive support in his
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
A man fell from the 6.4m-high Clemente Wall in right field at PNC Park in Pittsburgh during Wednesday night’s game between the Pirates and the Chicago Cubs. Right after Andrew McCutchen hit a two-run double in the seventh inning to put the Pirates ahead 4-3, players began waving frantically for medical personnel and pointing to the man, who had fallen onto the warning track. The fan was tended to for approximately five minutes by members of both the Pirates and Cubs training staffs as well as PNC personnel before being removed from the field on a cart. The team issued a statement shortly
PAINFUL VICTORY: Ruud said that felt pain in his rib during the warmup and was put on painkillers so that he could finish the match against Argentine Francisco Cerundolo With the help of painkillers, Casper Ruud overcame a rib ailment to defeat Francisco Cerundolo in straight sets and reach the Madrid Open final on Friday. Ruud is to face Jack Draper, who beat Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 7-6 (4) in the other semi-final to make his third final of the year. Ruud received treatment on his rib three games into the match and went on to win 6-4, 7-5 on the Caja Magica center court. The 15th-ranked Norwegian saved 15 of the 18 break points he faced against the 21st-ranked Argentine. Ruud said he felt something in his rib during the warmup, just before
RSS