Cristiano Ronaldo on Sunday converted a penalty to seal a hard-fought 2-1 win for Juventus against SS Lazio in Rome to pull 11 points clear in Serie A.
Juventus had trailed after an Emre Can own-goal after an hour, before substitute Joao Cancelo pulled the champions level and then earned the penalty which Ronaldo slotted in with two minutes to go.
An eighth straight Serie A title beckons for Massimiliano Allegri’s side who soared clear of second-placed SSC Napoli who were held to a goalless draw at AC Milan on Saturday.
Photo: AP
Inter are 19 points behind the leaders after losing 1-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday.
Lazio drop to eighth place — three points off the UEFA Champions League spots — after their second consecutive defeat after losing to Napoli by the same score the previous weekend.
“It must have been the kitman’s fault, giving us 10 shirts of different colors because we couldn’t pass the ball to each other,” Allegri said.
“For 60 minutes it was the worst Juventus of the year,” captain Giorgio Chiellini added. “Paradoxically after the goal disadvantage we found the motivation to win it. We’ve got players who make the difference. [Goalkeeper Wojciech] Szczesny kept us on our feet, we were lethal in the end.”
Can conceded the own-goal before the hour mark when he ducked down and instead deflected the ball into his own net off a corner, but Allegri’s side could count on the depth of their bench with second-half substitutes Cancelo and Federico Bernardeschi proving pivotal.
A solo run by Bernardeschi down the left set up the equalizer which Cancelo fired in off a rebound after Lazio goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha had initially cleared a Paulo Dybala shot.
Ronaldo — whose penalty against AC Chievo Verona was saved the previous weekend — finished off to score in his eighth consecutive away match to bring his league tally to 15 goals.
Inter fell at Torino with defender Armando Izzo scoring the only goal, as Roma threw away a three-goal lead to draw 3-3 against Atalanta BC.
Roma could have overtaken AC Milan in fourth place, but Colombian forward Duvan Zapata continued his goal-scoring streak to snatch a point.
Roma had been three goals up following an Edin Dzeko brace, with Stephan El Shaarawy adding a third five minutes prior to halftime, before the Romans faded under the driving rain in northern Italy.
“What drives me crazy is the lack of consistency from this team, even during the same match,” Roma coach Eusebio di Francesco said. “It’s absurd to see a team with the same players put in such a different performance from one half to the next. We were fortunate to get a draw.”
Dzeko broke through after just three minutes for his first goal in Serie A since October, adding a second half an hour later, with teenage compatriot Nicolo Zaniolo providing two assists.
Zaniolo set up El Shaarawy to make it 3-0 five minutes before halftime, but Timothy Castagne headed Atalanta back into the game before the interval.
Di Francesco’s men struggled after the break with former Roma defender Rafael Toloi nodding in Atalanta’s second just before the hour mark off a Papu Gomez cross.
Zapata missed a chance for a third 10 minutes later when he sent his penalty-kick over the bar, but a minute later he fired in his 14th goal in the past eight league games.
Atalanta are now seventh, three points off the European places.
Yu Yao-hsing on Tuesday nabbed Taiwan’s only goal in the final round of qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, as they fell 3-1 to Sri Lanka at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Early goals from Sri Lanka in the first half left Taiwan struggling to get on the board, and Christopher Tiao’s own goal at 53 minutes sealed the team’s fate in the third round of qualifiers. While acknowledging that the defeat, Taiwan’s sixth in Group D, was disappointing, head coach Matt Ross said he saw reasons to stay positive about the team’s development. “There were lots of positive signs in terms of the
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli yesterday vowed to “keep raising the bar” after winning the Japanese Grand Prix to become the youngest driver in Formula One history to lead the championship standings. The 19-year-old Italian took advantage of a mid-race safety car to jump into the lead after a dreadful start from pole position, crossing the line ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Antonelli’s Suzuka victory came two weeks after the first grand prix win of his career in China, and sent him top of the championship standings after three races, nine points ahead of team-mate George Russell. Mercedes are struggling to
INDIGESTION: Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for a third consecutive time after a 4-1 defeat to Bosnia on penalties in a loss Gattuso said was ‘difficult to digest’ Coach Graham Arnold on Tuesday challenged his players to “shock the world” after Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup with a nerve-shredding 2-1 win over Bolivia in an intercontinental playoff in Mexico, as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Sweden and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) also secured their places at the finals. Iraq, whose preparations were disrupted by the war in the Middle East, sealed their first appearance at the finals in 40 years and are to play in Group I against France, Senegal and Norway. Goals from Ali al-Hamadi
Teng Kai-wei, the only Taiwanese player on an opening-day roster in this year’s Major League Baseball (MLB) season, took his first win of the year with the Houston Astros in his season debut. Teng entered in relief in the top of the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, with the Astros trailing 5-0. He pitched 2-1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts, as Houston scored 11 runs during his outing to snatch an 11-9 comeback victory. The win is the Astros’ first of the season and the third of Teng’s MLB career. “It’s my first time pitching for the Astros, so
RSS