Maverick forward Mario Balotelli’s impressive return to Serie A continued when he scored a late penalty for the second straight game on Sunday to give his new club AC Milan a 1-1 draw at Cagliari.
The Italy international won the penalty after being pulled down by Davide Astori and he sent Michael Agazzi the wrong way to make it three goals in two games for fifth-placed Milan since his move from Manchester City.
Astori, already booked for a previous foul on Balotelli, was sent off as Cagliari faded in the second half after dominating the opening 45 minutes and taking the lead with a Victor Ibarbo header.
Photo: AFP
Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri described his team’s result as “a useful point against a good team.”
US Citta di Palermo and AS Roma, who fired their coaches after losing their previous games, failed to win, but Inter beat AC Chievo Verona 3-1 to ease the pressure on coach Andrea Stramaccioni.
Pablo Osvaldo missed a penalty for Roma in their 3-1 defeat at UC Sampdoria as they remained winless in the league this year.
Photo: EPA
Palermo stayed level on points at the bottom with AC Siena after drawing 1-1 with Delfino Pescara 1936, who are also down in the relegation zone.
Alberto Malesani, taking over as Palermo’s third coach of the season following the dismissal of Gian Piero Gasperini, saw his side fall behind to a 73rd-minute header by Birkir Bjarnason.
Diego Fabbrini, signed on loan from Udinese last month, leveled in the 80th minute for the Sicilians, who have 18 points from 24 games, three behind Pescara who are 18th in the table.
Paraguay midfielder Marcelo Estigarribia gave Sampdoria the lead against Roma in the 55th minute as Aurelio Andreazzoli moved into the hot seat on an interim basis following the dismissal of Zdenek Zeman.
Osvaldo then won a penalty for Roma, insisted on taking it, despite protests from the usual taker Francesco Totti, and weakly sent it into the arms of Sergio Romero.
That was followed by three goals in five minutes as Gianluca Sansone curled in a free-kick for Sampdoria, Erik Lamela volleyed one back and 19-year-old Argentine Mauro Icardi restored the two-goal lead with a header.
Diego Milito scored his first goal of the year early in the second half to complete Inter’s win over Chievo.
Antonio Cassano, overlooked by Italy since Euro 2012, gave Inter a second-minute lead, helped by a blunder by Chievo goalkeeper Cristian Puggioni.
Luca Rigoni leveled in the 21st minute after being left unmarked to head in, but Inter, who had won only one of their previous seven league games, quickly regained the lead when Andrea Ranocchia headed in from a corner.
Siena drew 1-1 at Bologna after going ahead through midfielder Innocent Emeghara. Panagiotis Kone replied for 15th-placed Bologna, both goals coming in an eight-minute spell before halftime.
Genoa’s point from their 0-0 draw at Parma kept them one point clear of the danger zone in 17th place.
Also on Sunday, Udinese beat Torino 1-0 and Atalanta BC were held to a goalless draw at home by Catania.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Robinson Cano spent 17 seasons playing in the MLB in front of all kinds of baseball fans, but he said there is something special about his stint with the Mexican Baseball League’s Diablos Rojos. He is not alone. The league last week opened its 100th season, aiming to keep an impressive growth in attendance that began after the national team’s surprise run at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, and is already surpassing some first-division soccer clubs. After finishing third in the 2023 tournament, many casual fans, some of them soccer enthusiasts disappointed after Mexico were eliminated in the first round in the 2022
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
CUNNINGHAM CONNECTS: In the Eastern Conference, the Pistons snapped their record 15-game playoff losing streak by beating the Knicks to level their series at 1-1 Kawhi Leonard on Monday scored 39 points on 15-of-19 shooting as the Los Angeles Clippers evened their first-round NBA Playoffs series against the Nuggets with a 105-102 win in Denver. “It feels like he didn’t miss a shot,” James Harden said. “His shot-making ability is elite.” Good thing, too, because his teammates were a combined 26 of 66 for a 39 percent clip. “I made shots tonight,” Leonard said. “I just keep playing, try to stay in the zone no matter if I’m making or missing shots.” The fifth-seeded Clippers needed every bit of his brilliance to snatch the homecourt advantage in the series
RSS