Juventus spurned the chance to go nine points clear of title challengers AS Roma as SSC Napoli crept closer to second place and AC Milan got back on winning terms in Serie A action on Sunday.
On a day of several surprises in Italy’s top flight, Juventus failed to capitalize after Roma’s fourth consecutive league draw, the champions settling for a point in a scoreless draw at Friuli Stadium, which saw Udinese end a six-game losing streak to the Turin giants.
Juventus are now seven points in front of Roma, but coach Massimiliano Allegri said they were ultimately lucky to escape with a point.
Photo: EPA
“In the first half we played badly... There was improvement in the second half, but it wasn’t easy because Udinese were playing with a lot of intensity,” Allegri said. “It was a fair result because we also risked losing this game.”
In Sunday’s late game, on-loan Roma striker Mattia Destro made his debut for Milan as Filippo Inzaghi’s strugglers beat Parma 3-1 to end a five-game winless streak.
Jeremy Menez hit a brace for the hosts, including a first half penalty, either side of a close-range strike by former Milan midfielder Antonio Nocerino in the 24th minute.
Menez then turned on the style to set up 2006 World Cup winner Cristian Zaccardo to slam home Milan’s third in the 76th minute.
Milan moved up four places into eighth to sit 21 points behind Juventus and 10 behind Napoli in the third and last Champions League qualifying spot.
“It’s clear we can still improve, but we played well today and I’m happy for the lads. We collected three very important points,” Inzaghi said. “We’re coming off a difficult period that has knocked some of our confidence, and we need to get back into a winning stride.”
Rafael Benitez’s Napoli held on for a precious 2-1 win at AC Chievo Verona to finish the weekend as the only top-five side to take all three points and close the gap on stuttering Roma, who were held 1-1 by Empoli.
Manolo Gabbiadini helped give the visitors an 18th minute lead when his shot came off the head of Bostjan Cesar in comical fashion to finish in the back of the net.
After Miguel Britos scored an own goal for Napoli, Gabbiadini rescued the points with a 62nd minute winner.
“It’s our third win in a row, the team is growing in confidence, but we have to keep on focusing on just one game at a time and then see where it takes us,” Benitez said.
Both UC Sampdoria and SS Lazio saw their bids for a third-place finish dented by respective defeats to Torino and AC Cesena.
Samuel Eto’o’s debut for Sampdoria, the Cameroonian replacing Eder on 71 minutes, ended in a chastening 5-1 defeat away to Torino, with former Juventus striker Fabio Quagliarella notably hitting a hat-trick to send Giampiero Ventura’s side up to ninth in the table.
Humbled Sampdoria coach Sinisa Mihajlovic said: “I want to say sorry to the fans, I hold my hands up for this terrible performance today. I can only take my hat off to Ventura and to his team. They were superior on all fronts.”
Lazio outclassed Milan 2-1 last week, but were humbled by league strugglers Cesena 2-1, with Danilo notably scoring a bizarre own goal for Stefano Pioli’s men before Miroslav Klose slammed home a late consolation.
Elsewhere, Paulo Dybala and Andrea Belotti struck one apiece in either half for US Citta di Palermo to secure a 2-1 home win over Hellas Verona to move up to seventh place, nine points off third.
Atalanta BC moved five points clear of Chievo in the relegation zone after a 2-1 home win over Gianfranco Zola’s on-form Cagliari, with Mauricio Pinillo hitting an injury-time winner.
Earlier, Inter’s Champions League qualification hopes were kept in check by a 3-1 defeat away to US Sassuolo when both sides finished with 10 men.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Matvei Michkov did not score on Monday, but the Philadelphia rookie had a hand in both goals as hosts the Flyers earned a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale got the goals for the Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points), who won their third straight. Michkov and Travis Konecny assisted on both. Ivan Fedotov stopped 28 shots to earn his first win since March 1, ending a personal six-game losing streak. Zachary L’Heureux got the lone goal for Nashville. Michael McCarron and Brady Skjei got the assists for the Predators (27-39-8, 62 points), who have just four goals in their