Lazio and Fiorentina drew 1-1 in the capital’s Stadio Olimpico on Saturday in a result that helped neither team in their respective Serie A battles.
Lazio remain one place above the relegation zone and now sit three points ahead of 18th-placed Livorno, although having played a game more.
Fiorentina, meanwhile, saw their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League for a third year in a row hit as the draw leaves them six points off fourth-placed Juventus, but again having played a game more.
Lazio led almost from start to finish as Sebastiano Siviglia gave them a seventh minute lead in fortunate circumstances as his near post flick from a corner looped up over French goalkeeper Sebastien Frey and in off the far post.
But young Brazilian forward Keirrison made up for his late miss against AC Milan in midweek to poke home an injury time equalizer from close range.
In the day’s other game Catania boosted their own survival hopes while denting Bari’s chances of European soccer next season with a 4-0 thrashing in Sicily.
Midfielder Adrian Ricchiuti opened the scoring on four minutes before Argentine Cristian Llama doubled their advantage five minutes before the interval.
Japan forward Takayuki Morimoto ended Bari’s comeback hopes nine minutes from time and top scorer Jorge Martinez rounded things off in injury time.
Japan’s Shohei Ohtani is the record-breaking baseball “superhuman” following in the footsteps of the legendary Babe Ruth who has also earned comparisons to US sporting greats Michael Jordan and Tom Brady. Not since Ruth a century ago has there been a baseball player capable of both pitching and hitting at the top level. The 30-year-old’s performances with the Los Angeles Dodgers have consolidated his position as a baseball legend in the making, and a national icon in his native Japan. He continues to find new ways to amaze, this year becoming the first player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases
Zhang Shuai yesterday said that she nearly quit after losing 24 matches in a row — now the world No. 595 is into the quarter-finals of her home China Open. The 35-year-old is to face Spain’s Paula Badosa as the lowest-ranked player to reach this stage in the history of the tournament after Badosa reeled off 11 of the last 12 games in a 6-4, 6-0 victory over US Open finalist Jessica Pegula. Zhang went into Beijing on a barren run lasting more than 600 days and her string of singles defeats was the second-longest on the WTA Tour Open era, which
Francesco Bagnaia yesterday profited from a mistake by rookie Pedro Acosta to win the Japan MotoGP sprint and close the gap on overall championship leader, Jorge Martin. Spaniard Acosta crashed with four laps to go while leading the field at Motegi, allowing defending world champion Bagnaia to take first ahead of Enea Bastianini and Marc Marquez. Spain’s Martin finished fourth and saw his overall lead over Italian Bagnaia in the championship standings cut to 15 points. “I am very happy because with these conditions, it’s not very easy to win and gain points,” Bagnaia said after a sprint race that took place under
Naomi Osaka is braced for a “battle” after yesterday setting up a clash with Coco Gauff in the round-of-16 of the China Open, while top seed Aryna Sabalenka also marched on. Osaka defeated 60th-ranked American Katie Volynets 6-3, 6-2 and next faces Gauff in a showdown of former US Open champions in Beijing. World No. 2 Sabalenka swatted aside Ashlyn Krueger 6-2, 6-2 for her 14th consecutive victory and plays another American in 24th-ranked Madison Keys. Looking ahead to the Gauff meeting, four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka said: “She’s very athletic, obviously.” “For me, my strongest traits are being aggressive and also my serve,
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