Dusan Vlahovic on Sunday made sure that Juventus stayed two points behind Serie A leaders Inter with the decisive late goal in a 2-1 win at 10-man US Salernitana 1919, as troubled SSC Napoli crashed to a 3-0 defeat at Torino.
Serbia striker Vlahovic thumped home a perfect header in the first minute of stoppage-time to snatch the points for Juve, completing a fine comeback from a goal down at the Stadio Arechi.
“We gave everything tonight and we deserved to win. We never give up, we give everything right to the end,” Vlahovic told DAZN. “Our aim is to get back into the Champions League, after that we’ll take each game as it comes and see where we end up.”
Photo: Reuters
The 23-year-old’s seventh goal of the season came at the end of a battle in soaking Salerno, where the hosts fought bravely even after losing goalscorer Giulio Maggiore to a second booking in the 53rd minute.
Maggiore had shot Salernitana ahead six minutes before halftime, but substitute Samuel Iling-Junior put the away side level with a powerful close-range finish in the 65th minute, setting up a blockbuster finale.
Vlahovic made sure that Juventus kept pace with Inter, who were controversial winners over Hellas Verona on Saturday and have a much tougher run of fixtures over the next month.
Salernitana, who were hammered 6-1 by Juve in the Coppa Italia last week, stay bottom of the division after an unfortunate defeat, their fifth in seven matches.
Furious Napoli supporters launched flares onto the pitch at the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino during the latest embarrassing loss which left them languishing in ninth place and came via goals from Antonio Sanabria, Nikola Vlasic and Alessandro Buongiorno.
Last season’s historic scudetto has now been forgotten as Napoli sink further into the abyss with each passing week, their third defeat in four matches in all competitions fully deserved after a shambolic display in Turin.
Without Nigeria striker Victor Osimhen, Walter Mazzarri’s side failed to score for the fourth straight match and are completely unrecognizable from the team which charged to title glory last season.
“We have to apologize to the fans for the performance ... we’re trying to find ways to stimulate the team and get back to some sort of normality,” Napoli sporting director Mauro Meluso said.
Meluso spoke to DAZN after a series of post-match summits with Mazzarri and the team, and said that the coach — who was suspended for Sunday’s match — would not be sacked.
“I, the club and the team have total faith in the coach, so we’re not having thoughts in that direction,” Meluso said.
Mazzarri was brought in to clean up the mess left by predecessor Rudi Garcia, but Napoli are now a full 20 points behind league leaders Inter and closer to the relegation zone than the top of the table.
A sumptuous early strike from Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Olivier Giroud’s 31st-minute penalty set third-placed AC Milan on the way to a 3-0 win at Empoli, which was sealed by Chaka Traore with two minutes remaining.
Missing a host of players to injury and the Africa Cup of Nations, Milan took advantage of their closest rivals for the top four dropping points.
Stefano Pioli’s team are six points ahead of fourth-placed ACF Fiorentina, who lost 1-0 at US Sassuolo on Saturday, and a further point in front of Bologna in fifth following their draw at Genoa.
Milan have had a bumpy campaign riddled with injuries and questions over Pioli’s future, but Sunday’s win was their fifth in six matches in all competitions.
“It’s in the difficult moments that you learn if people have given up on you, and that wasn’t the case here,” Pioli said. “When things don’t go well we stay together and we give each other a hand.”
SS Lazio warmed up for their derby with Roma in the Coppa Italia quarter-finals by winning 2-1 at Udinese.
Maurizio Sarri’s side are seventh, one point ahead of AS Roma, who were held to a 1-1 home draw by sixth-placed Atalanta BC.
‘SOURCE OF PRIDE’: Newspapers rushed out special editions and the government sent their congratulations as Shohei Ohtani became the first player to enter the 50-50 club Japan reacted with incredulity and pride yesterday after Shohei Ohtani became the first player in Major League Baseball to record 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season. The Los Angeles Dodgers star from Japan made history with a seventh-inning homer in a 20-4 victory over the Marlins in Miami. “We would like to congratulate him from the bottom of our heart,” top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters in Tokyo. “We sincerely hope Mr Ohtani, who has already accomplished feat after feat and carved out a new era, will thrive further,” he added. The landmark achievement dominated Japanese morning news
When Wang Tao ran away from home aged 17 to become a professional wrestler, he knew it would be a hard slog to succeed in China’s passionate but underdeveloped scene. Years later, he has endured family disapproval, countless side gigs and thousands of hours of brutal training to become China’s “Belt and Road Champion” — but the struggle is far from over. Despite a promising potential domestic market, the Chinese pro wrestling community has been battling for recognition and financial stability for decades. “I have done all kinds of jobs [on the side]... Because in the end, it is very
No team in the CPBL can surpass the Taipei Dome attendance record set by the CTBC Brothers, except when the Brothers team up with Taiwanese rock band Mayday. A record-high 40,000 fans turned out at the indoor baseball venue on Saturday for Brothers veteran Chou Szu-chi’s first farewell game, which was followed by a mini post-game concert featuring Mayday. This broke the previous CPBL record of 34,506 set by the Brothers in early last month, when K-pop singer Hyuna performed after the game, and the dome’s overall record of 37,890 set in early March, which featured the Brothers and the
With a quivering finger, England Subbuteo veteran Rudi Peterschinigg conceded the free-kick that sent his country’s World Cup quarter-final into extra-time before smashing his plastic goalkeeper on the floor in frustration. In the genteel southern English town of Tunbridge Wells, 300 elite players have gathered to play the game they love. “I won’t say this is the best weekend I’ve ever had in my life, but it’s certainly in the top two,” said Hughie Best, 58, who flew in from Perth, Australia, to compete and commentate at the event. Tunbridge Wells is the “spiritual home” of Subbuteo, which was invented there in 1946