Edinson Cavani followed up last week’s hat-trick against SS Lazio by converting a second-half penalty on Sunday to give SSC Napoli a 1-0 win at UC Sampdoria and end their opponents’ unbeaten record in Serie A.
Fabrizio Miccoli scored a brilliant hat-trick, including an astonishing long-range volley, as US Citta di Palermo hammered AC Chievo Verona 4-1 to claim their first win of the season.
Torino scored four goals in 15 minutes in the second half to win 5-1 at Atalanta BC, who hit the woodwork twice and took the lead as they dominated the first half, while Bologna thrashed Catania 4-0.
Photo: EPA
Cagliari, playing a home match in front of their supporters for the first time this season, lost 2-1 to Delfino Pescara 1936 to remain winless.
Napoli’s win kept them neck and neck with leaders and reigning champions Juventus, who thrashed AS Roma 4-1 on Saturday.
The leading pair each have 16 points from six games, four more than Lazio and Inter, who both won 2-1 at home.
Inter enjoyed a fortuitous 2-1 win over 10-man ACF Fiorentina.
Argentine striker Diego Milito fired Inter ahead from a penalty harshly awarded for a handball by Gonzalo Rodriguez in the 17th minute and Antonio Cassano slotted in a second just after the half hour.
Romulo headed Fiorentina back into the game before halftime and despite having Rodriguez sent off in the 62nd minute, the visitors dominated the remainder of the match and were unlucky not to salvage a point.
Lazio beat AC Siena 2-1 thanks to first-half goals from Ederson, the Brazilian’s first since joining from Olympique Lyonnais, and Cristian Ledesma, who converted a penalty.
Napoli coach Walter Mazzari was sent off in the first half when he lost his temper after the referee failed to send off Pedro Obiang for a dangerous high tackle on Pablo Cannovaro.
Cavani, who missed a penalty against Lazio, made no mistake in the 67th minute after Marek Hamsik was tripped, the Uruguay international taking his tally to six in Serie A.
In Sicily, Miccoli opened his account by curling a free-kick around the wall in the 13th minute. Marco Rigone leveled in the 28th minute, but Miccoli put Palermo back in front with an individual goal just before the hour and he completed the scoring with a volley from near the halfway line which sneaked under the crossbar.
Luigi Giorgi also scored to ease the pressure on Palermo coach Gian Piero Gasperini, whose predecessor Giuseppe Sannino was sacked after only three games at Italy’s most volatile club.
The only sour note for Palermo was a red card for Franco Brienza in the 62nd minute.
About 5,000 fans were allowed to watch Cagliari’s game as the Is Arenas, where the Sardinian club has moved this season, was partially opened.
Cagliari’s first game was played behind closed doors, while their match against Roma the previous weekend was called off by local authorities after club president Massimo Cellino defied a municipal order not to allow fans to attend. Roma were awarded a 3-0 forfeit win.
There was little joy for Cagliari, though, after Christian Terlizzi and Vladimir Weiss scored in the second half to put the visitors 2-0 ahead, before Mauricio Pinilla pulled one back from the penalty spot.
In the lunchtime fixture, Udinese and Genoa played to a lackluster 0-0 draw.
‘REMARKABLE’: Gaelic football is a traditional Irish sport that blends the skills of soccer and rugby, and hurling is an ancient sport played with a wooden stick and ‘sliotar’ The Taiwan Celts Gaelic Football Club marked a milestone achievement at the Asian Gaelic Games in Bangkok on Nov. 23 and 24, with two sides advancing to the knockout stages and competing at hurling for the first time. The event brought together 68 teams from 16 clubs across Asia, with more than 800 players in men’s and women’s tournaments. Gaelic football is a traditional Irish team sport that blends the skills of soccer, rugby union and basketball. Hurling is an ancient Irish sport played with a wooden stick, called a hurley, and a small ball, or sliotar. The Taiwan Celts’ women’s team reached
LIVERPOOL WIN: The 50th Champions League goal by Mohamed Salah helped the leaders of the Premier League to keep their perfect record intact Real Madrid’s big stars on Tuesday turned on the style to revive the Spanish giant’s faltering UEFA Champions League title defense. Galacticos Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham all scored in a thrilling 3-2 win against Serie A leaders Atalanta BC. However, Madrid still had to ride their luck as Mateo Retegui fired over from in front of goal in stoppage-time when handed a golden chance to level the game. It was only Madrid’s third win in the competition’s revamped league phase and leaves the 15-time champions in the unseeded playoff positions in 18th place. “It’s a very important win. Not everyone wins
TO NO AVAIL: The Denver Nuggets’ Serbian center Nikola Jokic surpassed his 53-point performance in the 2023 Western Conference semi-finals against Phoenix The Washington Wizards withstood a 56-point explosion from Denver star Nikola Jokic to beat the Nuggets 122-113 on Saturday and snap their 16-game NBA losing streak. Jokic, who won his third NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) award last season, posted a career scoring high — surpassing a 53-point performance in game four of the 2023 Western Conference semi-finals against Phoenix and a 50-point regular-season best against Sacramento in 2021. The Serbian big man added 16 rebounds and eight assists, but it was all to no avail as Washington, buoyed by 39 points from Jordan Poole, won for the first time
Taiwan’s Lin Cheng-jing won a bronze medal in the clean and jerk in the women’s under-49 kg division at the 2024 IWF World Weightlifting Championships in Bahrain on Saturday. Lin won her first medal at a World Weightlifting Championships for lifting 107kg in the clean and jerk in her weight class, 2kg more than Rosegie Ramos of the Philippines. However, Ramos won bronze for the combined lift after topping Lin by 5kg in the snatch. Ri Song-gum of North Korea won gold in the division’s combined lift with a total of 213kg, while Xiang Linxiang of China took silver with
RSS