Napoli move 18 points clear atop Serie A; Lazio held

Napoli's Georgian forward Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (R) shoots to open the scoring during the Italian Serie A football match between Napoli and Atalanta on Saturday at the Diego-Maradona stadium in Naples. (AFP)
Napoli's Georgian forward Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (R) shoots to open the scoring during the Italian Serie A football match between Napoli and Atalanta on Saturday at the Diego-Maradona stadium in Naples. (AFP)
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Updated 12 March 2023

Napoli move 18 points clear atop Serie A; Lazio held

Napoli move 18 points clear atop Serie A; Lazio held
  • Kvaratskhelia lived up to his “Kvaradona” nickname when he bedazzled the Atalanta defense on the hour mark

MILAN: The comparisons with Diego Maradona keep coming for Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. And, just like the Argentina great, Kvaratskhelia appears to be leading Napoli to the Serie A title.

There were, indeed, echoes of Maradona in Kvaratskhelia’s opening goal in a 2-0 win over Atalanta which sent Napoli 18 points clear at the top of Serie A.

Kvaratskhelia lived up to his “Kvaradona” nickname when he bedazzled the Atalanta defense on the hour mark. He collected the ball from Victor Osimhen, weaved his way into the area, twisting and turning between defenders, and blasted into the roof of the net.

“Kvara displayed the fabulous quality he has. He scored a goal worthy of Maradona today,” Napoli coach Luciano Spalletti said. “He’s just phenomenal one on one.

“The way he sways past opponents it’s impossible to tell which way he’ll go, then he shoots with precision and power. This time you can bring up the best ever player.”

Maradona led Napoli to its only two Italian league titles in 1987 and 1990.

Also, Lazio missed the chance to trim the gap slightly and leapfrog second-placed Inter Milan when it was held to 0-0 at Bologna.

Atalanta’s fifth loss in seven matches diminished further its chances of qualifying for the Champions League. Atalanta was placed sixth, five points below fourth-placed Roma ahead of the Giallorossi’s match against Sassuolo on Sunday.

Napoli were looking to bounce back from losing to Lazio last weekend, their second league loss.

They play Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League last 16 on Wednesday, leading 2-0 from the first leg, but coach Luciano Spalletti opted not to rotate his squad.

Napoli dominated and almost broke the deadlock in spectacular fashion at the start of the second half but Osimhen’s overhead kick was straight at Atalanta goalkeeper Juan Musso.

Instead, after Kvaratskhelia’s wonder effort, Amir Rrahmani sealed the win in the 77th with a header.

LAZIO HELD

Lazio could have moved into second on Saturday. Instead, it could end the round outside the top four.

The draw at Bologna left it third, a point behind Inter and two ahead of Roma and AC Milan ahead of the Rossoneri’s match at home to lowly Salernitana on Monday.

Lazio host Roma in the city derby next weekend.

In Bologna, the host had the best chance of the match in the 28th minute when Giorgos Kyriakopoulos crossed from the left to the back post where Lewis Ferguson incredibly headed onto the upright from point-blank range.

WINNING WAYS

Udinese got back to winning ways by 1-0 over Empoli.

Rodrigo Becão headed in early in the second half to help Udinese to their first win since January.

 

 


Barcelona win Women’s Champions League with stunning comeback against Wolfsburg

Barcelona win Women’s Champions League with stunning comeback against Wolfsburg
Updated 8 sec ago

Barcelona win Women’s Champions League with stunning comeback against Wolfsburg

Barcelona win Women’s Champions League with stunning comeback against Wolfsburg
EINDHOVEN, Netherlands: Midfielder Patricia Guijarro ignited a stunning second-half comeback as Barcelona overturned a 2-0 deficit to beat Wolfsburg 3-2 and win their second Women’s Champions League title on Saturday.
“We didn’t make it easy for ourselves,” Barcelona and England defender Lucy Bronze said in a pitchside interview after securing her fourth Champions League crown.
She won it three years in a row with Lyon.
Fridolina Rolfö capped the fightback by calmly firing the winner into the far corner of the net after a mix-up in the Wolfsburg defense in the 70th minute.
Guijarro is one of 15 Spanish players, including Bonmati and four other Barcelona teammates, who renounced playing for Spain last year, citing differences with their coach. They have not played since their participation in this summer’s Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand are in serious doubt.
Wolfsburg led 2-0 at the break thanks to goals from Ewa Pajor and Alexandra Popp.
But Barcelona kept believing they could win, easing the pain of last year’s final when the Catalan team never recovered after Lyon scored three times in the first 35 minutes. Barcelona lost 3-1.
“We have grown up. We didn’t break down,” Guijarro. “We have improved from last year.”
Bronze added: “We were never worried about scoring three goals.”
Barcelona earned their second league crown — the first was in 2021 — from their fourth final since 2019 in front of 33,147 fans at PSV Stadium, a record crowd for a women’s game in the Netherlands.
Guijarro’s double in the 48th and 50th minutes swiftly overturned a first half in which Wolfsburg’s pressing play and clinical counterattacking earned two goals.
First, the Barcelona midfielder slammed the ball into the roof of the net in the 48th. Aitana Bonmatí then made room for herself on the right before crossing for Guijarro to head past Merle Frohms for the equalizer. Guijarro was named player of the match but wasn’t satisfied until Rolfö sealed the win.
“I thought, two goals, we needed more. We needed to keep going,” she said.
It was a remarkable turnaround for coach Jonatan Giráldez’s Barcelona in a thrilling match.
Wolfsburg took the lead inside three minutes when tournament top scorer Ewa Pajor robbed Bronze of the ball close to the Barcelona penalty area and fired a powerful shot that goalkeeper Sandra Paños touched but could not stop from flying in. The goal improved Pajor’s tally in the competition to nine.
It was a rocky start for Bronze, who returned to the Barcelona lineup for the first time since she was injured in the semifinal first leg against Chelsea and underwent knee surgery.
Wolfsburg doubled their lead when veteran forward Alexandra Popp ran into space between two defenders and headed a cross from the left by Pajor past Paños from close range in the 37th. Popp equaled Ada Hegerberg’s record of scoring in four finals.
Wolfsburg goalkeeper Merle Frohms made sure her team went into the break without conceding by racing off her line in stoppage time to smother an effort by Salma Paralluelo.
But she couldn’t stop Barcelona’s onslaught after the break.
“It really hurt,” Wolfsburg coach Tommy Stroot said. “We did so many things right. We were so close to have a big sensation here tonight, to win the title.”
With Barcelona leading and the minutes ticking down, Giráldez brought on two-time Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas, who has recently recovered from an ACL injury. Barcelona’s vocal fans in Eindhoven roared as Putellas replaced Bonmatí.
It was Putellas who accepted the trophy from England coach Sarina Wiegman after Wolfsburg players formed a guard of honor for their opponents as they walked up to collect their medals.

Ageing hero Ibrahimovic to leave Milan at season’s end

Ageing hero Ibrahimovic to leave Milan at season’s end
Updated 03 June 2023

Ageing hero Ibrahimovic to leave Milan at season’s end

Ageing hero Ibrahimovic to leave Milan at season’s end
  • "Tomorrow (Sunday) evening after the final game of the season... AC Milan will say goodbye to Zlatan Ibrahimovic with a brief ceremony," Milan said in a statement
  • The veteran striker's representatives would not comment when asked by AFP if he would retire once leaving Milan

MILAN: Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s time at AC Milan is coming to an end after the Serie A club announced on Saturday that he would say his farewells following their last match of the season against Verona.
“Tomorrow (Sunday) evening after the final game of the season... AC Milan will say goodbye to Zlatan Ibrahimovic with a brief ceremony,” Milan said in a statement.
“AC Milan would like to thank Zlatan for the magnificent time that we have spent together.”
The veteran striker’s representatives would not comment when asked by AFP if he would retire once leaving Milan.
However Italian media report that Ibrahimovic could join Monza next season, which would reunite him with former Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi and his right-hand man Adriano Galliani.
Former Italian prime minister Berlusconi, who sold Milan for 740 million euros in 2017 after three decades of glory and bought Monza for a relative pittance the following year, took Ibrahimovic to Milan on loan from Barcelona in 2010.
The Swede won Serie A that campaign, which had been Milan’s most recent league title until pipping local rivals Inter Milan on the final day of last season.
Ibrahimovic was a key figure in Milan’s resurgence to the top of Italian football after his return to the club as a free agent in late 2019, helping to bring them back from the doldrums and eventually win the Scudetto last season.
He has hardly featured for Stefano Pioli’s side this term after being plagued with injuries, returning in February following surgery on his left knee in May.
In July he signed a deal which netted him around one million euros ($1.02 million) in fixed salary, with large bonuses linked to appearances and achievements.
But the 41-year-old has only started one match and netted once for Milan this season, a 3-1 win at Udinese in March in which he became the oldest goal scorer in Serie A history.
He then picked up a calf injury in a pre-match warm up in April and will end his Milan career sidelined due to the knock.
Milan sit fourth in Serie A ahead of Sunday night’s match at the San Siro and are assured of Champions League football next season.
They lost to Inter Milan in the Champions League semifinal last month.


Ilkay Gundogan double secures FA Cup for Manchester City over United at Wembley

Manchester City’s Ilkay Gundogan lifts the trophy as he celebrates with his teammates after winning the FA Cup. (Reuters)
Manchester City’s Ilkay Gundogan lifts the trophy as he celebrates with his teammates after winning the FA Cup. (Reuters)
Updated 03 June 2023

Ilkay Gundogan double secures FA Cup for Manchester City over United at Wembley

Manchester City’s Ilkay Gundogan lifts the trophy as he celebrates with his teammates after winning the FA Cup. (Reuters)
  • Pep Guardiola’s men completed a domestic double at Wembley
  • Only Inter in Istanbul in a week’s time now stand between City and historic treble

LONDON: Manchester City are one game away from a historic treble after Ilkay Gundogan scored twice to beat Manchester United 2-1 in the FA Cup final on Saturday.
Pep Guardiola’s men completed a domestic double at Wembley and can become just the second side, after United in 1998/99, to win the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League in the same season should they beat Inter Milan to become European champions for the first time on June 10.
Gundogan scored the fastest goal in FA Cup final history after just 12 seconds.
United levelled on 33 minutes through Bruno Fernandes’ penalty after Jack Grealish was harshly penalized for handball.
But the City captain, in what could be his final game for the club on English soil with his contract expiring at the end of the season, volleyed home the winner six minutes into the second-half.
“Everyone knows the FA Cup is the most beautiful domestic club competition in the world, so to win this trophy again and complete the double is amazing for us,” said Gundogan.
“We have a chance to do something special and win the treble and we do not want to let this opportunity pass us by.”
The first ever major final between the Manchester giants had the most explosive of starts.
Most of the 83,000 crowd were still taking their seats from the pre-match festivities when Victor Lindelof’s headed clearance sat up perfectly for Gundogan to volley home a stunning strike after just 12 seconds.
That appeared to set the tone for the Premier League champions.
Rodri headed into the side-netting moments later before Erling Haaland failed to get a clean connection on Gundogan’s enticing cross.
United were barely able to get across the halfway line in the first half hour, but got the break they needed to get back into the game.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s header back across the City box brushed the arm of Grealish and referee Paul Tierney was instructed to review the incident by VAR.
Despite City’s protestations, Tierney pointed to the spot and Fernandes coolly sent Stefan Ortega the wrong way.
The Portuguese’s celebrations in front of the City fans were met with a flurry of objects thrown from the stands, one of which struck Lindelof.
City boss Pep Guardiola was also showing his fury at the officiating as VAR did not intervene seven minutes before half-time when Kevin De Bruyne was wiped out by Fred inside the area and no penalty was awarded.
At the other end, United passed up a great chance to turn the game around before half-time when Raphael Varane fired high and wide at the back post from a corner.
Having fought so hard to gain a foothold, United were made to pay for another slow start in the second-half.
Gundogan was the goalscorer again as he fired home from De Bruyne’s free-kick.
But more questions will be asked of whether David De Gea remains the right man to be United’s number one goalkeeper after the 32-year-old Spaniard’s sluggish attempt to keep it out.
De Gea did at least make a big saves to keep United in the game from De Bruyne and Haaland, while Gundogan was denied a rare FA Cup final hat-trick by the offside flag.
United rallied in a tense finale as Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho flashed efforts inches off target.
The ball came back off the City bar in a goalmouth scramble deep into stoppage time.
However, the Red Devils could not find the goal to deny Guardiola an 11th major trophy as City boss and protect the unique legacy of Alex Ferguson’s great side 24 years ago.
Only Inter in Istanbul in a week’s time now stand between City and matching the greatest achievement English club football has ever seen.


Verstappen takes pole for Spanish Grand Prix

Verstappen takes pole for Spanish Grand Prix
Updated 03 June 2023

Verstappen takes pole for Spanish Grand Prix

Verstappen takes pole for Spanish Grand Prix
  • The championship leader took his fifth pole of a season already dominated by Red Bull to start ahead of Ferrari's Spanish driver Carlos Sainz
  • "Not bad," said Verstappen, with his customary understatement

MONTMELO, Spain: World champion Max Verstappen claimed his maiden pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix after leading qualifying Saturday on the Montmelo circuit outside Barcelona.
The championship leader took his fifth pole of a season already dominated by Red Bull to start ahead of Ferrari’s Spanish driver Carlos Sainz with Britain’s Lando Norris of McLaren in third.
“Not bad,” said Verstappen, with his customary understatement. “It’s very nice to come here and get my first pole. I like the circuit and I have a lot of good memories here.”
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton took fifth place on the grid, ahead of Canadian Lance Stroll of Aston Martin.
Local hero Fernando Alonso could only set the ninth fastest time after damaging his car when going off the track in the second qualifying period.
Frenchman Esteban Ocon of Alpine, who took third place in Monaco last weekend, will start in seventh, ahead of German Nico Huelkenberg of Haas, while Australian Oscar Piastri will complete the top 10 in a McLaren.
Qualifying was contested on a slippery track at the start of the session and it featured several big surprises.
First it was Monaco’s Charles Leclerc who was eliminated in Q1 and he will only start in 19th and penultimate place.
Then Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate, Mexican Sergio Pérez, who made a mistake and took a lap in the gravel, was taken out in Q2 and will start in 11th, ahead of Briton George Russell, who also disappointed with the other Mercedes.


Al-Ahly and Wydad set for battle in all-Arab CAF Champions League final

Al-Ahly and Wydad set for battle in all-Arab CAF Champions League final
Updated 03 June 2023

Al-Ahly and Wydad set for battle in all-Arab CAF Champions League final

Al-Ahly and Wydad set for battle in all-Arab CAF Champions League final
  • Egyptian and Moroccan giants will face off in first leg of Africa’s showpiece final in Cairo on Sunday

DUBAI: The only thing that can be said with certainty as Africa looks forward to its Champions League final is that the trophy will be won by an Arab team.

But, then, it usually is, as Al-Ahly of Egypt and Wydad AC of Morocco, who meet in Sunday’s first leg in Cairo, know better than most.

This will mark the third time in seven editions that these two giants of African and Arab football have met with the trophy sitting on the sidelines. They also locked horns in the semifinal of the 2020 edition when the Egyptians ran out comfortable winners.

There have been 16 Arab champions in the last 25 years, and in that time there was only 2009 when none from the region reached the final. Instead, TP Mazembe, from the Democratic Republic of Congo, defeated Nigeria’s Heartland.

We are in familiar territory for the two finalists, but the situation has changed since last year when Wydad ran out 2-0 winners in a single game on home soil. To start with, this is a home-and-away affair, with Egypt hosting on Sunday and the action moving to Morocco a week later.

Al-Ahly, who already hold the record for continental titles, with 10 trophies in the bank, are in a better place than they were in May last year. Then, in the dying days of the Pitso Mosimane regime, the Red Giants reached the final, but were struggling to cope with the demands of competing in the league, Africa and also the Club World Cup. Ahead of the last final, the league was slipping away and criticism was increasing.

This time, however, Al-Ahly also have lots of games in hand — they have played five games fewer than Pyramids in second — but are still a point clear.  Their league record has been amazing, with 19 wins, five draws and no defeats in the 24 games so far.

Under Swiss boss Marcel Koller, who replaced Mosimane’s short-lived successor Ricardo Soares in September, the Egyptians have been a winning machine. The league is almost in the bag. Adding the Champions League really will make it a perfect season.

The early stages of the African journey were rough and they only made it through in second, four points behind Mamelodi Sundowns, and ahead of Al-Hilal of Sudan only due to a better head-to-head record. 

The knockout stages have been more comfortable, however. Raja CA, Wydad’s Casablanca neighbors, were defeated 2-0 over two legs in the quarterfinals, while Esperance de Tunis were beaten 4-0. Take away the seven goals conceded in the group stage in two games against Mamelodi, then Al-Ahly have conceded just eight times in 32 league and Champions League games this season. The size of Wydad’s task is there for all to see.

Even after the 1-0 league win over Ceramica Cleopatra on Monday, Koller was still demanding more.

“After scoring, we lost our concentration and neglected defense, and we could have been punished since they got several chances to even the score,” the Swiss boss said. “I am saying it clearly: We need more determination and concentration in the Wydad game. If we repeat the same performance against Ceramica, we will not achieve our target.”

There is a boost for the club, which had been sweating on the fitness of all four goalkeepers, but first choice Mohamed El-Shenawy has recovered from a calf injury.

Al-Ahly may be glad that Wydad squeezed past Mamelodi on away goals in the semifinals, as the South Africans were impressive in the group stages. It also gives a chance for revenge for last year.

Wydad are going for a second successive championship and a fourth in total. That win in May started a great few months for Moroccan football. Not long after Walid Regragui led Wydad to the title, he left to take over the national team. It barely needs to be said again, but at the World Cup he took the Atlas Lions to the last four. Left-back Yahia Attiyah Allah and Yahya Jabrane both played their part in that magical run to the semifinals and will be in action against Al-Ahly.

After winning their group, they eliminated Tanzania’s Simba on penalties and then needed away goals to get past Mamelodi. With four games of the league season remaining, they are fighting for the title with FAR Rabat and are currently just a point behind.

There have been plenty of changes on the sidelines, with three successors to Regragui before Sven Vandenbroeck took over in May. The Belgian, who has extensive experience in Africa, was last seen in charge of Abha in Saudi Arabia, but now has the opportunity to be the first from his country to win the biggest club prize in African club football.

“I don’t feel a huge pressure. It is logical to play for all titles when you take the charge of a team that has a long history of winning trophies,” Vandenbroeck said. “Ahly will be seeking revenge for the last time. So, the most important thing for me is to remain calm and unified as a group.”

After Regragui, Vandenbroeck has big shoes to fill, but there are also unrelenting demands on Al-Ahly to keep winning. It is all set for a fascinating encounter.