Inter still have a say in this season’s Serie A title race after winning 2-1 at Udinese on Sunday to stay two points behind league leaders AC Milan.
Ivan Perisic and Lautaro Martinez made sure that the champions bounced back from Wednesday’s traumatic defeat at Bologna and stayed on the heels of Milan, who earlier were fired to a 1-0 win over ACF Fiorentina by Rafael Leao.
Milan need seven points from their final three games to snatch the scudetto from their city rivals as they have the better record in the two league derbies with Inter, meaning the seven-time European champions would stay ahead of Inter should they end up locked on the same points.
Photo: AFP
“No, no, we just need to do our jobs. Now we need to move on to the next match and win,” said Martinez after being asked if Inter were feeling the pressure. “We’re all here for the same objective. We need to win our matches and hope that they drop points.”
Sunday’s match was the toughest left in Inter’s run-in, while Milan have to play Hellas Verona and Atalanta BC in their bid to secure the crown.
Simone Inzaghi’s side dealt well with a tricky team who had rattled in 17 goals in their six games last month, taking the lead in the 12th minute through Perisic’s header and doubling their advantage seven minutes before halftime.
After Martinez was denied, Edin Dzeko made the most of contact from Pablo Mari’s lunging tackle and earned his team a penalty, which was smashed against the post by Martinez before the Argentine nodded in the rebound via a deflection off goalkeeper Marco Silvestre’s arm.
Ignacio Pussetto pulled one back for the hosts after Gerard Deulofeu’s free-kick was saved by Samir Handanovic, but Inter held on to claim the points.
Portugal forward Leao struck with eight minutes remaining against Fiorentina to ensure Milan are still favorites for a first scudetto since 2010-2011.
“It’s the best moment of my career as a player,” Leao told DAZN after his 10th league goal of the season, which unleashed a wave of relief at a packed San Siro.
Until Leao scored it had looked to be a frustrating day for the hosts, Olivier Giroud missing the first of a series of good chances with 15 minutes on the clock when he somehow fluffed his dinked finish wide after being slipped perfectly through by Franck Kessie.
Nerves started to get to the home fans after a series of misplaced passes in good positions curtailed promising attacks, and the huge crowd had their heads in their hands two minutes after halftime when Leao smashed over from close range after being fed by Giroud.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic was introduced in the 65th minute in an attempt to force the winner, and after Mike Maignan saved Arthur Cabral’s 76th-minute header Leao made it party time.
He collected Viola goalkeeper Pietro Terracciano’s awful kick, charged toward goal and slotted home a finish which could be crucial to an enthralling title race.
In Turin, Leonardo Bonucci put Juve in next season’s UEFA Champions League with a brace in their 2-1 win over Venezia which also dealt a huge blow to the survival hopes of Serie A’s bottom team.
Italy defender Bonucci struck in each half at the Allianz Stadium to put Juve 10 points clear of fifth-placed AS Roma, who drew a largely drab match with Bologna 0-0 ahead of the second leg of their UEFA Europa Conference League semi-final with Leicester City on Thursday.
“We needed the win to make sure that the last three games aren’t too difficult,” Bonucci told Sky Sport Italia.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
RSS