A second-half goal from defender Milan Skriniar was enough to earn Inter a 1-0 win over Atalanta BC on Monday, with the victory sending manager Antonio Conte’s side six points clear at the top of the Serie A standings.
The league leaders looked nervy in the first half, and had goalkeeper Samir Handanovic to thank for making a fine save to prevent Atalanta striker Duvan Zapata giving the visitors the lead.
Nine minutes after the interval, Skriniar pounced on a loose ball from a corner to fire Inter in front, with Conte’s side digging in defensively late on to see out the victory.
Photo: AP
The seventh league win in a row took Inter one step closer to a first Serie A title in 11 years. They have 62 points, six clear of rivals AC Milan in second, and 10 ahead of third-placed champions Juventus. Atalanta stay fifth.
“We played against an Atalanta team that takes points from all the big clubs,” Conte told Sky Sport Italia. “They prepared for this more wisely than in previous matches against us, they knew we could hurt them.”
“This was three important points against an excellent team,” he said.
Reigning champions South Korea yesterday struck with eight minutes left to seal a 2-1 win over a “proud” China to reach the Asian Games men’s soccer final. The South Koreans are to face either hosts Japan or Uzbekistan for gold on Saturday as they pursue a fourth consecutive title. Uzbekistan and Japan were tied 1-1 as of press time last night. Bae Jun-ho was their hero, ghosting in at the back post to head in a dramatic 82nd-minute winner at Nagai Stadium. Men’s soccer at the Asian Games consists of under-23 squads with three overage players. “We were expecting a challenging match but we persevered,”
China’s Wang Xiyu, fresh from conquering top seed Alexandra Eala, toppled Zhang Shuai to win Asian Games women’s tennis singles gold yesterday — and a ticket to the Los Angeles Olympics. The 25-year-old Wang breezed past her compatriot 6-2, 6-1 in 66 minutes at the Higashiyama Park Tennis Center in Nagoya. Tennis is one of seven sports at the Games where the winners receive an Olympic qualification place. Wang paid tribute to the 37-year-old Zhang, who has won multiple Grand Slam doubles titles and has now added a second Asian Games singles silver medal to the one she won in 2018 in
Novak Djokovic on Monday advanced to the China Open final after Daniil Medvedev was disqualified late in the second set, when a ball that came off the Russian’s racquet hit a spectator. Taiwanese player Hsieh Su-wei and her partner, Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko, yesterday defeated Chinese duo Wang Xiyu and Jiang Xinyu 6-1, 1-6 and 10-4 to reach women’s doubles round of 16. Hsieh was the only Taiwanese player to advance as compatriots Wu Fang-hsien, Chan Hao-ching and Liang En-shuo were eliminated in round of 32. A man sitting in the stands behind Medvedev’s side of the court was seen holding
Hong Kong’s men’s rugby sevens team romped to a third consecutive Asian Games gold with a dominant display in a 26-0 victory over China yesterday. Wing Harry Sayers scored a pair of first-half tries, added to by Dafydd Phillips to put Hong Kong in charge 21-0 at the break. When flying wing Juan Esono Mba Oyana scored Hong Kong’s fourth try straight from the second-half kick-off the result was beyond doubt. “Amazing, amazing. The Asian Games has been a dream of mine for so long now,” said Sayers. Hong Kong’s success was built not only on scoring prowess but also a defense that conceded
RSS