Felipe Anderson scored once and set up two other goals as SS Lazio beat visiting UC Sampdoria 3-0 on Monday in a key match for third place and Serie A’s final UEFA Champions League berth.
Lazio took sole possession of third, three points ahead of Sampdoria and SSC Napoli.
In the first Serie A match after the holiday break, the 21-year-old Anderson provided a cross from the left flank that Marco Parolo used one touch to redirect inside the near post in the 38th minute.
Photo: EPA
Three minutes later, Anderson scored himself with a splendid, curving, low shot from well beyond the area.
It was more Anderson in the second half as the Brazilian dribbled by three defenders before providing a cross in the 66th for Filip Djordjevic to tap in.
Anderson has been involved in eight of Lazio’s last nine league goals, scoring four and assisting in the rest. He scored twice in a 2-2 draw at Inter in the Biancocelesti’s final match before the winter break.
“This year I’m healthy and with the support of my teammates, my coach and my family I’ve been able to express my talent,” said Anderson, who joined Lazio from Brazilian club Santos.
It was only the second loss of the season for Sampdoria, who produced just two shots at the Stadio Olimpico.
“Felipe Anderson seemed like Cristiano Ronaldo,” Sampdoria coach Sinisa Mihajlovic said. “They were just better than us.”
“Anyhow, if we’re going to lose, better to do it against Lazio than any other club,” added Mihajlovic, who helped Lazio win a Scudetto 15 years ago as a player.
The rest of the league was to play yesterday, with leader Juventus hosting Inter, second-placed AS Roma at Udinese, Napoli traveling to AC Cesena and AC Milan hosting US Sassuolo.
Juventus hold a three-point lead over Roma, who are provisionally six points in front of city rivals Lazio ahead of Sunday’s Rome derby.
ANFIELD BLUES: Kylian Mbappe arrived at Anfield on a run of 21 goals in 17 games, but he managed just three attempts in the match, none of them hitting the target Kylian Mbappe has been nearly unstoppable this season, but he hit a roadblock in their UEFA Champions League match at Anfield on Tuesday. For the second year running, the Real Madrid forward had a night to forget at Merseyside as Liverpool won 1-0. Mbappe looked a shadow of the player who has been tearing defenses apart all season. “We were lacking that threat in the final third,” said Madrid coach Xabi Alonso, without naming Mbappe individually. The FIFA World Cup winner for France rarely looked capable of finding a breakthrough against a Liverpool team who have been so defensively fragile for much of the
Jemimah Rodrigues on Thursday hit an unbeaten 127 as India pulled off a record chase of 339 against Australia to set up a Women’s World Cup final against South Africa. Rodrigues and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, who hit 89, put on 167 runs for the third wicket as India won with nine balls and five wickets to spare at DY Patil Stadium, on the outskirts of Mumbai. The hosts finished on a total of 341-5 in reply to Australia’s impressive 338 and ensured there would be a new name on the 50-over trophy tomorrow. Amanjot Kaur hit the winning boundary to trigger wild celebrations
LOCAL SUCCESS: In the doubles, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in straight sets Elena Rybakina on Monday punched her ticket to the WTA Finals last four with an impressive 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 victory over second seed Iga Swiatek in round-robin play in Riyadh. After cruising past Amanda Anisimova in her opener on Saturday, Rybakina claimed her second win of the week to guarantee herself top spot in the Serena Williams Group. Anisimova on Monday rallied back from a set and a break down to triumph 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in her all-American battle with seventh seed Madison Keys, who has been eliminated from the competition. “Madi was playing so well, it was quite a battle out there,”
Jannik Sinner on Thursday eased past Francisco Cerundolo 7-5, 6-1 at the Paris Masters to set up a quarter-final clash with Ben Shelton, while reigning champion Alexander Zverev earned a straight-sets win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the third round. A maiden crown in the French capital would return Sinner to No. 1 in the world rankings after current incumbent Carlos Alcaraz suffered a shock early exit at the hands of Britain’s Cameron Norrie. The Italian four-time Grand Slam champion is yet to drop a set in the tournament as he hones in on what would be a fifth title of the
RSS