Juventus on Monday made light work of Como with a 3-0 win on Thiago Motta’s Serie A debut with the Turin giants, while Atalanta BC brushed aside transfer upheaval with a 4-0 thumping of US Lecce.
Impressive first-half strikes from promising youngster Samuel Mbangula, a surprise starter on the left flank, and Timothy Weah, before a thumping Andrea Cambiaso finish in stoppage-time gave Juve and Motta a perfect start against promoted Como, who were playing their first top-flight match in more than two decades.
“Como are a good team and we had the right attitude tonight, when we had the ball we did really well all throughout the match,” Motta told DAZN.
Photo: Reuters
Juve could have easily won by a larger margin at the Allianz Stadium as the hosts created a series of chances against Como, who were outclassed on the night.
Dusan Vlahovic had a particularly unlucky evening up front for Juve as he struck the woodwork in each half and had what looked like a perfectly good headed goal ruled out just after halftime.
The Serbia striker was baffled as to why his strike was chalked off, but Cambiaso had strayed offside earlier in the move, denying him a goal.
Motta, who arrived after guiding Bologna to the UEFA Champions League, already has Juve playing a brand of soccer which is easier on the eye than was played under his predecessor Massimiliano Allegri.
That is despite Juve being a work in progress as a clutch of Allegri’s favorites, including Italy forward Federico Chiesa, have been sidelined to make space for players deemed more suited to Motta’s style of play.
Cesc Fabregas’ Como, an ambitious club backed by tobacco giant Djarum active in the summer transfer window, will get a better indication of their chances of staying in the division in their next two fixtures at Cagliari and Udinese.
“Today was a reality check. We need to be better,” Fabregas told DAZN. “What I sure was a difference in quality... They were devastating when they took the ball off us and we gave away too many easy balls. That’s not tactics, that’s down to individual quality.”
New boys Marco Brescianini and Mateo Retegui gave UEFA Europa League holders Atalanta a hugely impressive start at Lecce after a turbulent summer that has featured long-term injuries and star players agitating for transfers.
Brescianini, who only arrived from relegated Frosinone on Friday last week, opened the scoring on the rebound 10 minutes before halftime and confidently rolled home the fourth in the 66th minute.
The 24-year old’s strikes topped and tailed a near-perfect away performance as Italy striker Retegui netted with a bullet header on the stroke of halftime, before winning and then scoring a penalty just before the hour mark.
“It’s better than even I could have imagined,” said Brescianini, who is from just outside Bergamo, where Atalanta are based. “I’m really happy to be wearing this jersey, and I hope to repay the faith the club and fans have shown in me.”
Taiwan on Friday beat Australia 11-0 at the Little League World Series in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Taiwan are represented at the tournament by Taoyuan’s Gueishan Elementary School, who won the Asia-Pacific regional tournament to earn the trip to the US. Australia are represented by the Hills Red team from Sydney. Taiwan advanced to a game tomorrow against Santa Clara, representing Cuba, who won 4-1 against the Czech Republic’s Brno, the Europe-Africa regional qualifiers. Australian starter Sayre Howick had a tough time controlling his pitches at Volunteer Stadium, one of which allowed Taiwan to open their account. They scored six in the inning and
Marloon Herrera was crying — happy tears. With Cuba trailing in the fifth inning of its Little League World Series (LLWS) opener on Thursday, Herrera lined a two-run double to give his team the lead. When the Czech Republic, representing Europe-Africa, made a pitching change, he ran over to give his third base coach a hug. Cuba went on to win 4-1. It was the first game at this year’s tournament for both sides, but it was also the beginning of Cuba’s second appearance in the series ever — and it was emotional. “You breathe baseball in Cuba,” manager Everaldo Machado said on
World Boxing, an international amateur boxing organization formed last year after a breakdown in relations between the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Boxing Association (IBA), has announced the admission of Taiwan, along with four other nations, into its growing list of members. In a statement released on its Web site on Friday, the Swiss- based organization said that in addition to Taiwan, admitted as Chinese Taipei, Bhutan, Ecuador, Fiji and Pakistan have also become members. The new members all have well-rounded national and international boxing programs as well as transparency in the leadership and management of their national boxing programs,
COOLED DOWN: Du Plessis apologized after the fight for comments about his Nigerian-born opponent, after Adesanya said he planned to take the belt back to Africa South African Dricus du Plessis yesterday took a flurry of body hits across four rounds before defeating Israel Adesanya by submission to retain his middleweight championship at UFC 305. After scoring some early takedowns, Du Plessis (22-2) had to withstand a flurry of body strikes from Adesanya through the middle rounds, which appeared to be taking a toll on the 30-year-old South African as the fight progressed. However, a left hook followed by three rights helped bring Adesanya down, giving Du Plessis the opening he wanted as he swiftly got the choke hold that forced the Nigerian-born New Zealander to tap out