A Luca Toni goal gave AS Roma a thrilling 2-1 home win over Inter on Saturday that took them within a point of the Serie A leaders and kept the three-way title race wide open approaching the final stretch.
The striker controlled a mishit Rodrigo Taddei shot and fired home in the 72nd minute as the hosts continued their remarkable recovery from the disarray they found themselves in at the start of the season.
Inter’s Diego Milito had equalized just six minutes earlier with a goal that looked offside, after Roma’s Daniele De Rossi opened the scoring in the 17th by capitalizing on a blunder by goalkeeper Julio Cesar.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Champions Inter hit the woodwork three times, the last occasion from Milito deep in stoppage time.
“This is a great, beautiful night,” Toni told Sky television. “We’ve been chasing for a while. It was important to win tonight to try to realize a dream. Now we’re a point away we’ll see what happens.”
Roma were on top for most of the first half, with Mirko Vucinic and John Arne Riise going close after De Rossi tapped the ball in when Cesar spilled a Nicolas Burdisso header.
Former Roma defender Walter Samuel then roused Inter when he headed against the crossbar in the 42nd minute.
Argentine forward Milito, back after missing Wednesday’s 3-0 win over Livorno with a hamstring problem, also hit the upright before scoring a goal that should probably have been disallowed for offside against Goran Pandev earlier in the move.
Toni struck soon after to extend Roma’s unbeaten league run to 21 games while the post denied Milito at the death.
Roma captain Francesco Totti came off the bench in the closing stages to make his return from a long-standing knee problem.
Inter, who meet CSKA Moscow in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final on Wednesday, may be suffering from fatigue because of their packed fixture list, having only won two of their last nine league games.
Elsewhere Palermo consolidated fourth place with a 3-1 home win over Bologna courtesy of a Fabrizio Miccoli hat-trick.
The striker nutmegged keeper Emiliano Viviano on 10 minutes and then restored his side’s advantage with a penalty in the 43rd after Adailton had been on target from a free kick for Bologna.
Miccoli then sealed victory for the Sicilians 11 minutes from time.
Palermo have 51 points, four more than fifth-placed Sampdoria who hosted Cagliari yesterday.
Taiwan’s top women’s badminton doubles duo, Hsieh Pei-shan (謝沛珊) and Hung En-tzu (洪恩慈), achieved a straight-sets victory over Japan’s Kaho Osawa and Mayui Tanabe at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Super 300 Macau Open on Sunday. The Taiwanese pair won the final 21-18, 21-12, marking the duo’s second title this year after their win at the BWF Super 300 Taipei Open in May. The match on Sunday was their first encounter with the Japanese duo, ranked No. 63 in the world. Hsieh and Hung, ranked No. 12, began the opening game well. Hung, who plays left-handed, performed strongly at both the net and the
Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko upset top-seeded Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday night to reach the National Bank Open quarter-finals. “Your support was incredible,” Mboko told the crowd in French after a chorus of “Ole, Ole, Ole” chants echoed around the venue. “I’m really happy to win today ... It’s incredible. I’m so happy to beat such a great champion.” Gauff dropped to 2-3 since winning the French Open. She followed the major victory with opening losses in Berlin and Wimbledon, then overcame double-fault problems to win two three-set matches in Montreal. Gauff had five double-faults on Saturday after having 23 in
Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen on Thursday said that he is staying with the Red Bull team next year, ending months of speculation over his future. “Some people just like to stir the pot, some people just like to create drama, but, for me, it’s always been quite clear, and also for next year,” the four-time champion said ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix. “I’m discussing with the team already the plans — the things that we want to change for next year, so that means that I’m also staying with the team for next year,” he said. Verstappen has a contract with
Alex Michelsen on Thursday rallied for a 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 upset victory over third-seeded Lorenzo Musetti in the men’s singles, converting his seventh match point to reach the fourth round of the Canadian Open. Michelsen reached the last 16 of a Masters 1000 for the first time with his second win over a top-10 player in eight attempts. The 20-year-old American survived nearly 50 unforced errors and converted just two of nine break chances, but it was enough to vanquish Italy’s Musetti, a two-time Grand Slam semi-finalist ranked 10th in the world. “It feels really good,” the 26th-ranked Michelsen said. “I’ve put
RSS