Filippo Inzaghi scored a hat trick on Sunday as AC Milan beat Torino 5-1, lifting the Rossoneri into a tie with Juventus for second place in Serie A.
Inzaghi scored in the 13th, 37th and 60th minutes at the San Siro — with his first two goals set up by passes from David Beckham.
Milan and Juventus both now have 64 points, 10 behind leader Inter.
Meanwhile AS Roma captain Francesco Totti found the net twice to move into the top 10 on Serie A’s all-time scoring list.
Totti’s goals in a 3-2 win over 10-man Lecce gave him 175 for his career — played entirely with Roma.
He moved past Amedeo Amadei, who led Roma to the 1942 title, on the all-time scorers list. Silvio Piola, who won the World Cup with Italy in 1938, tops the list with 274 goals.
Inzaghi, who has scored nine goals in his last six games, improved his tally to 149.
Totti’s goals helped put Roma back in the hunt for fourth place and Serie A’s final Champions League spot.
Fiorentina, meanwhile, wasted an opportunity to close in on fourth place with a 3-1 loss at Udinese.
Gaetano D’Agostino scored twice for Udinese after Ghana forward Kwadwo Asamoah opened the scoring against Fiorentina.
Genoa are fourth with 57 points. Fiorentina are next with 55 points and Roma have 52.
Inzaghi’s first goal came off a cross Beckham and his second, also a header, followed a deft chip from the former England captain. He completed his hat trick after taking an upfield pass from Ronaldinho on the hour mark.
Ambrosini was tripped by Torino goalkeeper Matteo Sereni to set up a penalty by Kaka in the 68th, Ivan Franceschini pulled one back for Torino in the 80th and Ambrosini took a pass from Kaka before finding the target in the 89th.
Roma opened the scoring when Totti redirected in a rebound off a free kick in the third minute. Matteo Brighi made it 2-0 in the 12th.
Lecce pulled one back with a bouncing shot from Gianni Munari in the 31st and Dimitris Papadopoulos equalized in the 55th with an angled shot. But four minutes later, Roma were awarded a controversial penalty and Totti scored from the spot.
Fiorentina struggled from the start in Udine.
Asamoah beat Sebastien Frey in the 10th minute and D’Agostino scored from a penalty to make it 2-0 in the 47th.
Fiorentina’s Dario Dainelli scored with a header in the 67th but D’Agostino restored Udinese’s two-goal lead in the 69th.
In other games it was:
• Atalanta 0, Reggina 1
• Cagliari 2, Napoli 0
• Catania 2, Sampdoria 0
• Palermo 4, Bologna 1
• Siena 0, Chievo Verona 2
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) is considering reducing its pitch clock by two seconds to help players better adjust to the rules applied at the World Baseball Classic (WBC). The proposal aims to shorten the pitch timer from 25 seconds to 23 seconds with the bases empty, and from 20 seconds to 18 seconds with runners on base. Currently, the WBC mandates that pitchers deliver a pitch every 18 seconds with the bases empty and 15 seconds with runners on base. The issue was raised during a pre-season CPBL managers’ meeting on Tuesday by Rakuten Monkeys bench and batting
‘SETTING THE TONE’: Donovan Mitchell said that their determination to dominate had nothing to do with past results, but was about a potential post-season clash The Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday boosted their NBA-best record with a 142-105 romp past the New York Knicks, tightening their grip on the Eastern Conference lead with an all-around dominant display. Donovan Mitchell scored 27 points to lead six Cavs players to score in double figures, connecting on five of seven three-pointers as Cleveland drilled 19 from beyond the arc. “I think the biggest thing was just try to set the tone early,” Mitchell said, adding that the determination to dominate had nothing to do with the Knicks’ first-round playoff win over the Cavs two seasons ago and everything to do with
BELGIANS ADVANCE: Club Brugge gave Atalanta a lesson in efficiency, as Gian Piero Gasperini’s team had 29 efforts at goal, compared with seven from the visitors Seldom has a player’s sending off had such an influence on a game. AC Milan was to left rue Theo Hernandez’s second yellow card — for diving — as Feyenoord advanced to the UEFA Champions League last 16 at the former European champion’s expense with a 1-1 draw in the second leg of their playoff on Tuesday, giving the Dutch team a 2-1 win on aggregate. Bayern Munich, Club Brugge and Benfica also won their playoffs, eliminating Celtic, UEFA Europa League winner Atalanta BC and French team AS Monaco respectively. “In soccer everything changes in a second,” said Milan forward