Davide Frattesi on Monday fired Inter one step closer to the Serie A title with his last-gasp winner in their 2-1 comeback victory at struggling Udinese.
Italy midfielder Frattesi poked home the decisive goal in the fifth minute of stoppage-time in Udine to maintain Inter’s 14-point lead at the top of the table with seven matches left in the season.
Inter looked to be heading for a draw as they toiled to add to Hakan Calhanoglu’s penalty, scored nine minutes after halftime, which leveled Lazar Samardzic’s freak deflected opener for Udinese.
Photo: Reuters
“We absolutely don’t think we’ve won it yet. We have other matches to play and we need to go out and get it,” Frattesi told Sky Sport. “I’m really happy, it’s a really big win towards [what] we need to do. You can’t win every match 4-0, [so] it’s important that you also manage to win the tough matches.”
AC Milan are Inter’s closest challengers and Monday’s victory ensured that the champions-elect could seal their 20th Scudetto in a hotly anticipated derby with their local rivals in a fortnight’s time.
Claiming the league crown with a sixth straight derby win would be revenge for Calhanoglu who is detested by Milan supporters after switching sides of the northern Italian city three years ago.
“In all honesty I don’t like talking about the other side from where I came,” Calhanoglu said. “I respect them and I have a good relationship with the players. What happened in my first year here is history. I’m concentrated on my teammates because they’re fantastic... That’s what matters.”
Meanwhile, Udinese are in a desperate fight for survival as they are two points above the relegation zone and have to face Napoli, Roma and Bologna before the end of the season.
Tallon Griekspoor on Friday stunned top seed Alexander Zverev 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/4) in the second round at Indian Wells, avenging a devastating loss to the German at Roland Garros last year. Zverev, the world No. 2 who is heading the field of the prestigious ATP Masters event with No. 1 Jannik Sinner serving a three-month drugs ban, is the first Indian Wells men’s top seed to lose his opening match since Andy Murray in 2017. It was a cherished win for Griekspoor, who had lost five straight matches — including four last year — to the German. That included a five-setter
Donovan Mitchell on Wednesday scored 26 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers punched their ticket to the NBA playoffs with a hard-fought 112-107 victory over the Miami Heat. A seesaw battle in Cleveland saw the Heat threaten to end the Cavs’ 11-game unbeaten streak after opening up a seven-point lead late in the fourth quarter, but the Cavs clawed back the deficit in the closing minutes to seal their 12th straight victory and a place in the post-season. The Cavaliers improved to 52-10, maintaining their stranglehold on the Eastern Conference with 20 games of the regular season remaining. Mitchell was one of six Cleveland
Five-time champion Novak Djokovic on Saturday tumbled out of the Indian Wells ATP Masters, falling in his first match to lucky loser Botic van de Zandschulp as two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz advanced. “No excuses for a poor performance,” 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic said after 37 unforced errors in a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 defeat. “It doesn’t feel great when you play this way on the court,” he said. “But congratulations to my opponent — just a bad day in the office, I guess, for me.” Djokovic is just the latest in Van de Zandschulp’s string of superstar victims. He
Steve Smith yesterday announced his retirement from one-day international (ODI) cricket after captaining Australia to a semi-final exit at the ICC Champions Trophy, bringing down the curtain on a career in the format that included two ICC World Cup wins. The 35-year-old batsman, who was his team’s top scorer with 73 as Australia lost to India by four wickets in Dubai on Tuesday, said he would still be available for selection for T20 internationals and Test matches. “It has been a great ride and I have loved every minute of it,” Smith said in a Cricket Australia statement. “There have been so
RSS