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AC MILAN SUFFER FIRST DEFEAT AS CHIESA FIRES JUVENTUS TO THRILLING WIN.

Juventus inflicted a first Serie A defeat of the season on league leaders AC Milan as a Federico Chiesa double led the Italian champions to an exhilarating 3-1 win at San Siro on Wednesday.

Chiesa fired home a superb opener before makeshift midfielder Davide Calabria equalised for Milan at the end of an eventful, end-to-end first half.

But the visitors pulled away after the break as Chiesa curled in his second and substitute Weston McKennie swept in from close range to consign Milan to their first league defeat since March 8th, 2020, a run of 27 games lasting 304 days.

Stefano Pioli’s side remain top of the table on 37 points, one ahead of second-placed Inter Milan, who lost to Sampdoria earlier on Wednesday.

Juventus rise to fourth place on 30 points, but have a game in hand over the three teams above them.

Milan coach Pioli was forced to play right back Calabria in midfield after Rade Krunic and Ante Rebic were ruled out on matchday following positive Covid-19 tests, adding to an absentee list including Sandro Tonali, Ismael Bennacer, Alexis Saelemaekers and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Juventus had issues of their own, with Juan Cuadrado and Alex Sandro in isolation and Alvaro Morata injured, but the selection problems did not impact the quality of an action-packed opening period.

Chiesa blasted a powerful half-volley off the post before finding the breakthrough in the 18th minute, when a clever backheeled pass from Paulo Dybala sent the Italy international through on goal to finish.

Rafael Leao curled a shot narrowly wide and Chiesa had another effort saved before Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny’s diving save stopped an Aaron Ramsey clearance from flying into his own net.

Milan hit back four minutes before the break when Leao picked out Calabria in the box and he fired into the top corner.

The tempo dropped slightly in the second half and Juventus took control on 62 minutes when Chiesa curled a left-footed shot into the bottom corner. The winger was forced off after hurting himself in the process, but the strength of the Juve bench showed when two replacements combined for their third.

Dejan Kulusevski weaved into the box from the wing and laid off a pass to McKennie, who was left with a simple finish from six yards.

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MANCHESTER CITY LEGEND COLLIN BELL DIES AT 74.

Manchester City’s legendary footballer Colin Bell died on Tuesday, reported Anadolu Agency. He was 74.

“Colin passed away peacefully this afternoon after a short, non-Covid related illness,” the English Premier League announced in a statement.

Manchester City Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak said Bell’s death saddens everyone at the club, and he will be remembered always.

The English midfielder was regarded as one of the best players of his generation. He represented City between 1966 and 1979, and scored 152 goals in 492 matches.

“Colin The King” also had 48 caps for the English national team.

In 2004, one of the stands in Man City’s Etihad Stadium was named after him.

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TOTTENHAM BEAT BRENTFORD TO REACH CARABAO CUP FINAL, AWAIT MANCHESTER DERBY SEMIS.

Tottenham Hotspur reached the League Cup final after goals from Moussa Sissoko and Son Heung-Min sank Championship side Brentford 2-0 on Tuesday to set up a clash with Manchester United or Manchester City in April’s showpiece match.

Fellow London side Brentford, playing in their first semifinal in a major cup competition, started brightly but fell behind in the 12th minute when unmarked French midfielder Sissoko headed in a fine Sergio Reguilon cross from the left.

The visitors, who had beaten four top-flight teams on their way to the semis, thought they had drawn level after the break when striker Ivan Toney headed home but the goal was disallowed for a very tight offside, which was spotted by VAR.

Toney’s grounded knee was ruled to be offside before he rose to head in from close range after Ethan Pinnock nodded a cross back across the face of goal.

Jose Mourinho’s Spurs side responded to that let-off with South Korean forward Son collecting a fine pass from Tanguy Ndombele and bursting goalwards before slotting past goalkeeper David Raya to make it 2-0 after 70 minutes.

Brentford’s disappointment was compounded when Josh Dasilva was sent off six minutes from time for an over-the-top challenge on Tottenham’s Denmark midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, who was immediately substituted with blood streaming down his shin.

“It’s a game that takes us to a final to, probably, but I hope not, an empty Wembley final but of course I’m very happy,” said Mourinho, who has won the League Cup four times in his career — three with Chelsea and once with Manchester United.

“The final is now in a pocket for three months, we have to wait for the final so we have to focus on what we have coming up… so let’s forget the final for now. But when April arrives we have to be ready and to fight for the trophy,” he added.

Brentford boss Thomas Frank added: “It was an open game, we had a top attitude, we were brave and an equaliser wouldn’t have been a totally unfair result against a world-class team.

“If you want to go to a final against a top team, you need the margins with you but then they show class to get a second and after that it was game over.”

Spurs have not lifted a major trophy since their League Cup triumph over Chelsea in 2008 but this will be their ninth final in the competition, which they have won four times.

The showpiece match will be held at Wembley on April 25, after the Football League moved the date back from February to increase the chances of fans being able to attend.

United host City in the other semifinal at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

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NEWCASTLE AGREE DEAL IN PRINCIPLE TO SIGN UNITED’S BRANDON WILLIAMS.

Newcastle have reportedly agreed a deal in principle to sign Brandon Williams on loan from Manchester United. Williams was promoted to United’s first team last season under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and was regularly called upon in the starting line-up.

The 20-year-old made 36 appearances in all competitions and scored in the 3-3 draw against Sheffield United.

He’s proven to be a versatile option for Solskjaer with his ability to play on either side of defence as well as being deployed further up the pitch.

But his minutes have diminished this season following the arrival of Alex Telles on deadline day last summer.

Williams has only made one cameo appearance off the bench in the league this season with Telles and Luke Shaw the preferred options at left-back.

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CRISTIANO RONALDO OVERTAKES PELE AS SECOND HIGHEST GOAL SCORER EVER.

Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo has overtaken Pele on the list of top goalscorers in the history of professional football.

Ronaldo netted his 757th and 758th career goals in Sunday’s 4-1 win over Udinese, moving him one ahead of Brazil legend Pele, who racked up 757 officially recognised goals during his career with Santos and New York Cosmos.

Santos recently joined Pele in arguing that his goal tally is not actually correct, claiming that he actually scored 1,091 goals for the Brazilian side alone, but the reality is the record books believe Pele only bagged 757 goals in legitimate, competitive games. No friendlies, soz.

Ronaldo is now one ahead of Pele as his 83rd goal for Juventus took him to 758 for club and country. The Portugal international sits on 102 goals for his country, adding to the 450 he managed for Real Madrid, his 118 for Manchester United and the five he managed during his time with Sporting CP.

Get ready for him to move into top spot as well.

The record is currently held by Slavia Prague legend Josef Bican, who racked up 759 goals between 1931 and 1955 while playing across Austria and the Czech Republic.

That means Ronaldo, who sits on 18 goals from 15 games so far this season, needs just one to tie the record and two to make it his own.

Ronaldo’s first chance to break the record will come on Wednesday when Juventus travel to Serie A leaders AC Milan, but he’ll be confident of having moved to the top of the mountain by the time the meeting with Sassuolo comes to an end the following Sunday.

The win over Udinese saw Juventus climb up to fifth in Serie A, ten points behind leaders Milan with one game in hand.

Despite their disappointing league standing, Juventus only lost their first Serie A game of the season on December 22, a 3-0 loss to Fiorentina, but Andrea Pirlo’s problem has been too many draws – six from 14 games.

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URUGUAYAN FOOTBALLERS ACCUSE ENGLISH FA OF RACISM, DEMAND OVERTURN OF CAVANI’S BAN.

Uruguayan footballers have accused the English Football Association of racism in sanctioning Manchester United’s Edinson Cavani over an Instagram post which contained the Spanish word “Negrito”, and have called for his three-match ban to be overturned.

A strong statement by the Uruguayan Football Players Association (AFU) condemned the FA’s “truly discriminatory and racist act” to hand Cavani a suspension for “merely using a common expression in Latin America to affectionately address a loved one or close friend”.

The former PSG striker was accused of a racist language used to describe an African decent in a social media post after a game.

Cavani pled not guilty and explained that he never meant any harm but was just complementing his friend in his innocent post.

As part of the league’s resounding effort to ensure there is #NoRoomforRacism, the English FA decided to ban Cavani for three games along with a fine.

We will have to wait and see the FA’s reaction to this accusation by a group of Uruguayan footballers.

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Liverpool lose at Southampton to extend blip in EPL

On the receiving end this time was Liverpool, which also appears to be on its knees in what is shaping up to be the most open title races in years.

Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl slumped to the ground, pulled down the bill of his cap, and wept after another big win for his team in the English Premier League.

On the receiving end this time was Liverpool, which also appears to be on its knees in what is shaping up to be the most open title races in years.

Danny Ings, a former Liverpool player, scored in the second minute to lead Southampton to a 1-0 win over the defending champions at an empty St. Mary’s Stadium on Monday.

Liverpool has gone three games without a win — after back-to-back draws against West Bromwich Albion and Newcastle — and leads on only goal difference from great rival Manchester United, which has played one game fewer.

United isn’t the only team in striking distance of the lead approaching the halfway point of the league. Four points separate Liverpool from seventh-place Everton, with 10th-place West Ham only seven points off the lead in what was always going to be a disjointed season amid the pandemic.

Southampton is in the mix, too, its latest win lifting Hasenhuttl’s team to sixth place in a season when it has been top — albeit briefly — for the first time since 1988. It all proved too much at the final whistle for the emotional Hasenhuttl, whose team was heavily depleted for the game.

“When you see our guys fighting with everything they have, it makes me really proud,” the Austrian coach said. “You need to have the perfect game against Liverpool and I think we did have that.

“It was an intense game, my voice is nearly gone. The guys are tired — you have to be to win against such a team. The guys believed in what they were doing.”

Few could have foreseen this sudden drop-off by Liverpool, which has failed to score in successive games for only the second time in Jurgen Klopp’s five-year tenure.

Indeed, such has been Liverpool’s lack of cutting edge of late that Klopp’s team has managed just seven shots on target in the past three games. In the game before that, Liverpool beat Crystal Palace 7-0 away.

“Our decision-making was just not good,” Klopp said. “That is how it is when you don’t have momentum. We should have had much more chances.”

Southampton was missing the spine of its team, with first-choice goalkeeper Alex McCarthy (coronavirus), central midfielder Oriol Romeu (hamstring) and striker Che Adams (concussion) joining giant center back Jannik Vestergaard on the injury list.

But the Saints still had Ings, who latched onto a free kick by set-piece specialist James Ward-Prowse and lifted a bouncing ball over goalkeeper Alisson Becker and into the far corner.

“We all know how good Prowsey is on set-pieces, and all the parts came together and luckily I got the goal,” said Ings, who had an injury-plagued spell at Liverpool from 2015-18. “We had a chat before the game to see if there was a moment where we could get in quickly and luckily it paid off.”

It was attack vs. defense from then on but Southampton held firm, with center backs Jack Stephens and Jan Bednarek, in particular, outstanding.

“You know exactly what you are going to get from them,” Klopp said of Southampton. “You cannot be surprised but we looked surprised.

“At the beginning how we played, where we lost the balls, it’s not rocket science. We should have done much better. We played into their hands with the start.”

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SUAREZ SCORES 90th-MINUTE WINNER AGAINST ALAVES TO TAKE ATLETICO TOP OF LA LIGA TABLE.

Luis Suarez struck a 90th-minute winner for Atletico Madrid as they defeated 10-man Alaves 2-1 to move back above Real Madrid at the top of La Liga.

Marcos Llorente gave Atletico the lead at Mendizorroza shortly before half-time with a deflected strike from just outside the area.

Diego Simeone’s side appeared to have the game under control when Alaves defender Victor Laguardia was sent off on the hour following a VAR review for chopping down Thomas Lemar as the Frenchman ran towards goal.

Florian Lejeune headed against the post for Alaves before a spectacular own goal on 84 minutes from Felipe threatened to cost Atletico two vital points, the Brazilian centre-back drilling beyond Jan Oblak as he attempted to hack clear an attempted cross.

However, Suarez secured Atletico’s fourth consecutive win in the final minute as the Uruguayan tapped in from close range after the ball was slotted across goal by substitute Joao Felix.

Atletico climbed two points clear of Real Madrid and have two games in hand on the defending champions.

Barcelona are lingering 13 points adrift ahead of their trip to bottom side Huesca later on Sunday eveing. Lionel Messi is expected to return after missing the 1-1 home draw against Eibar in midweek.

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JADON SANCHO ENDS GOAL DROUGHT IN TITLE RACE REJUVENATION WIN AGAINST WOLFSBURG.

England winger Jadon Sancho scored his first Bundesliga goal this season to seal a 2-0 win for Borussia Dortmund at home against Wolfsburg on Sunday to breathe life back into his side’s fading title hopes. After crashing to a shock 2-1 defeat at Union Berlin a fortnight ago before the league’s two-week winter hiatus, Dortmund saw off a spirited Wolfsburg side who created plenty of chances for Dutch striker Wout Weghorst. Dortmund finally broke the deadlock at Signal Iduna Park when Manuel Akanji’s powerful header hit the net on 66 minutes before Sancho broke clear to score their second in added time.

Having occasionally struggled this season, the 20-year-old Sancho capped a fine display having also provided the corner from which Akanji scored.

“It wasn’t an easy win, but we stayed calm and I’m pleased that Sancho put in such a good corner and the ball went in,” goal-scorer Akanji told Sky.

Dortmund move up to fourth, six points behind leaders RB Leipzig, who went top of the league table after Saturday’s 1-0 win at Stuttgart thanks to Dani Olmo’s winning goal.

European champions Bayern Munich can later restore their two-point lead with a home win against strugglers Mainz.

Having missed the previous seven games, Dortmund striker Erling Braut Haaland returned from a hip injury and although short of match fitness, he went close with several chances before coming off with ten minutes left.

In the goalless first-half, Wolfsburg were unlucky not to be awarded a penalty after the ball struck the hand of Dortmund midfielder Axel Witsel, but the VAR refused to award a spot kick after a lengthy review.

Dortmund finally broke the deadlock 24 minutes from time when Akanji out-leapt the defence to power Sancho’s corner past Wolfsburg goalkeeper Koen Casteels.

Having been booked on 80 minutes for kicking the ball away in frustration after a missed chance, Haaland was subbed off shortly after.

His replacement Steffen Tigges came within a whisker of claiming Dortmund’s second goal when he fired across the Wolfsburg goal.

With Wolfsburg pushing hard for the equaliser, Dortmund counter-attacked from their own goalmouth as Sancho broke clear and fired past Casteels in the 91st minute.

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LAUTARO MARTINEZ HATRICK GUIDES INTER MILAN TO 6-2 WIN OVER CROTONE.

Lautaro Martinez scored a hat-trick as Inter Milan kicked off 2021 in blistering form with a 6-2 win over lowly Crotone on Sunday to take top spot in Serie A.

Inter claimed an eighth consecutive league win to move two points ahead of AC Milan who travel to midtable Benevento later on Sunday with champions Juventus hosting Udinese.

Martinez and Romelu Lukaku proved decisive for the northeners, the strike duo being involved in five of Inter’s goals.

Antonio Conte’s side had been pegged back 2-2 at the break with Niccolo Zanellato breaking through with a 12th-minute header for the promoted Calabrians who are second from bottom with the worst attack in the league.

But Martinez picked up a Lukaku cross to pull the hosts level eight minutes later.

Martinez had a role in Inter’s second just after half an hour when Crotone defender Luca Marrone turned the ball into his own net under pressure from the Argentina forward.

Vladimir Golemic put the sides level six minutes later after Arturo Vidal fouled Arkadiusz Reca, with Conte replacing the Chilean midfielder after the break.

Martinez pulled Inter ahead before the hour connecting with a Marcelo Brozovic through ball and headed in his third with 12 minutes to go off a rebound.

Lukaku blasted in his 50th goal in the Inter jersey after 64 minutes before going off after taking a knock to his thigh, before Achraf Hakimi sealed the win with three minutes to go.

“There is great desire and it shows,” said Conte as Inter target their first Serie A title since 2010 with their European campaign over this season.

“It’s important to continue like this, we produce and create a lot, we score a lot of goals, it’s a pity for the goals conceded.”