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SERIE A: DYBALA RESCUES POINT FOR JUVENTUS AT INTER MILAN

Juventus snatched a last-gasp 1-1 draw at champions Internazionale in Serie A on Sunday after Argentine forward Paulo Dybala scored a penalty following a VAR intervention.

Massimiliano Allegri’s side travelled to Milan in fine form having won their previous six games in all competitions, but soon fell behind as Inter striker Edin Dzeko fired home after Hakan Calhanoglu’s shot had hit the post in the 17th minute.

The visitors piled on the pressure in the second half as they searched for an equaliser, but looked set to be frustrated after failing to create any clear cut chances.

However, Juve were handed a lifeline following a VAR review of a tackle from Inter’s Denzel Dumfries on Alex Sandro, leading to the referee to point to the spot. Dybala grabbed the opportunity to fire in the equaliser in the 89th minute.

Inter were furious with the decision — coach Simone Inzaghi was sent off for his protestations — as they had to settle for a draw that left them third in the standings with 18 points, while Juventus climbed to sixth a further three points adrift.

“I think it’s a very important point. We are Juventus, we play to win, but today we faced a team that plays good football,” Dybala told DAZN.

“I think that after so many years here, my time has come.”

Having failed to win any of their opening four league fixtures for the first time in 60 years this term, Juve have turned their season around under returning coach Allegri.

Home goalkeeper Samir Handanovic was forced into a fine double save early on, but with their first attack of the match, Inter took the lead as veteran Dzeko pounced to score his seventh league goal of the season.

Despite being the top goalscorers in Serie A, Inter’s challenge fizzled out.

Allegri introduced Dybala and Federico Chiesa in the second half to try lift his side, but Inter looked comfortable until the penalty decision, given for Dumfries lunging into a high tackle that was initially missed by referee Maurizio Mariani.

Inzaghi threw a spare shirt onto the pitch in frustration — which led to his dismissal — before substitute Dybala converted his 18th penalty in Serie A.

“It was the only way we could concede a goal, it is disappointing,” Inzaghi told DAZN.

“I feel we controlled the game from start to finish, we allowed Juventus nothing and I am not happy to have seen two points thrown away. The referee was right there, he could see the incident and didn’t need to be called over for that. I am disappointed for our fans, as we played well and deserved more.

“I admit my protests was not a good image to portray, but I felt in that moment it was not a VAR incident.”

Allegri was pleased to see his side continue their revival.

“The first half performance was good, the second even better,” Allegri told DAZN. “It’s a good point, it keeps us within three points of Inter and allows us to continue this positive run of results.”

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JUVENTUS SNATCH NARROW WIN FROM ROMA IN FOURTH STRAIGHT SERIE A WIN

Juventus continued their march up the Serie A standings with a 1-0 win over AS Roma in Turin on Sunday, as Moise Kean’s unorthodox early goal sealed a fourth consecutive league win for the Turin club.

Rodrigo Bentancur’s header ricocheted off Kean’s head and into the back of the net after 16 minutes in the game’s decisive moment.

But Jose Mourinho’s side were furious when Tammy Abraham put the ball in the net but the goal was not allowed to stand because referee Daniele Orsato had already whistled for a penalty. Jordan Veretout took the ensuing spot kick and his effort was saved by Wojciech Szczesny.

Juve are now seventh with 14 points, level with Lazio, and Atalanta above them and one point behind fourth-placed Roma.

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Hazard could head back to Chelsea as Juve eye Prem duo

Chelsea are exploring the possibility of re-signing Eden Hazard from Real Madrid.

Hazard, 30, cost Real more than £100million when he swapped Stamford Bridge for the Bernabeu in 2019.

But he has failed to live up to expectations and would be allowed to leave if a suitable offer came in.

Reports in Spain say Blues owner Roman Abramovich is convinced Hazard would become a world beater again back in the familiar surroundings of West London.

He made 310 appearances during seven seasons at the Bridge, scoring 110 goals as he lifted the Premier League and Europa League twice, as well as the FA Cup and EFL Cup.

The problem is Real would want to recoup as much of the fee they paid as possible — but Chelsea are unlikely to offer more than £40m for a player who has been beset by injury and fitness problems.

Real boss Carlo Ancelotti is a big fan of Blues full-back Reece James and the suggestion is the Spanish giants may try to factor him into any deal.

James, 21, has not nailed down a regular starting spot since Thomas Tuchel took charge last season but it is unlikely Chelsea would want to sell the England international.

Juventus are ready to raid Manchester as they look to win back the Serie A title.

Max Allegri’s side have made a poor start to the domestic campaign after failing to win the league for the first time in 10 years in 2020-21.

Now reports in Italy suggest they want to sign both Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva and Manchester United’s Donny van de Beek in January.

Silva, 27, has been one of City’s best players this season but wanted to leave the Etihad before the summer transfer window slammed shut.

Whether or not his starring role in the past two months has changed matters remains to be seen — and Pep Guardiola will not want to lose the Portuguese maestro.

For Van de Beek, 24, it has been a miserable 15 months since swapping Ajax for Old Trafford.

Only four of his 17 starts for United have come in the Premier League and he was linked with an exit throughout the window.

Both deals would be loans, though the suggestion is they may come with obligations to buy at the end of the season.
In other news

Manchester United are interested in Leicester midfielder Wilfried Ndidi, according to Spanish outlet Fichajes.

The Sun say United will make Jesse Lingard available for £15m in January if he fails to extend his stay at Old Trafford, with his contract expiring next year.

Alexandre Lacazette has no intention of signing a new deal at Arsenal, according to Football.London, with his current contract running out at the end of the season.

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LOCATELLI STRIKES LATE TO GIVE JUVENTUS DERBY WIN OVER TORINO

Manuel Locatelli struck late to earn Juventus a 1-0 win over Torino in the Turin derby on Saturday, as the Old Lady stretched their winning run to four games in all competitions and kept a Serie A clean sheet for the first time in seven months.

The Italy international fired a shot in off the post with four minutes remaining, his second consecutive league goal, as Juve rose to eighth place with 11 points, three ahead of their 11th-placed rivals.

Torino controlled the first half as Juve failed to register a shot on target, but Massimiliano Allegri’s side improved after the break and Alex Sandro’s header required a fine save from Vanja Milinkovic before Locatelli’s late winner.

Ivan Juric’s side struggled to threaten Wojciech Szczesny’s goal, and Juventus kept things tight defensively to end a run stretching back to March of 20 matches in a row conceding in Serie A.

Allegri’s side earned an impressive and unexpected win over European champions Chelsea in the Champions League on Wednesday to stretch their unbeaten run in all competitions to five matches.

But the coach warned his players that the local derby would be an even greater challenge, with strikers Paulo Dybala and Alvaro Morata still injured and Torino having two extra days to prepare.

There were early chances for Juve as Moise Kean flashed a shot wide and Weston McKennie blasted over a promising opportunity.

But Toro soon gained control and came close when Sasa Lukic glanced a header wide and Rolando Mandragora’s long-range piledriver was parried by Szczesny.

Allegri introduced Juan Cuadrado for Moise Kean at halftime, with Federico Chiesa returning to the striker role he played against Chelsea.

The change sparked some life into Juve’s attack as the Colombian teed up Sandro with an excellent cross that required a sharp Milinkovic-Savic save.

Locatelli found space at the edge of the area to fire home the winner in the 86th minute, before substitute Dejan Kulusevski thumped the foot of the post with a shot in stoppage time.

Earlier on Saturday, Salernitana climbed off the foot of the table after Milan Djuric’s header sealed a 1-0 win over Genoa, their first victory of the season.

The newly promoted side’s victory moved them up to four points, one behind Genoa in 16th and one more than bottom side Cagliari.

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WE SHOULD HAVE BEEN SHARPER – TUCHEL CONDEMNS CHELSEA SHOWING IN JUVENTUS LOSS

Thomas Tuchel admitted Chelsea were “not free enough” as they slumped to a 1-0 Champions League defeat at Juventus.

Federico Chiesa’s sucker-punch strike just 11 seconds into the second half floored the Champions League holders in Turin.

Chelsea slipped to a second straight 1-0 loss, following Saturday’s Premier League defeat by Manchester City.

And manager Tuchel held up his hands afterwards in an honest appraisal of Chelsea’s shortcomings.

“We were so good yesterday in training, and not good enough, not free enough today,” Tuchel told BT Sport.

“I felt us slow, tired, mentally slow for decision-making. It’s a strange one to analyse, but OK.

“I think we started not sharp enough, we had possession and possession, but the first 12, 15 minutes we could have harmed them much more.

“We should have been much, much sharper.

“We should have asked more questions.

“We had two big ball losses where we almost gave goals away. You cannot have this.

“We struggled to create our own rhythm, because they were so deep and so passive.

“We struggled to find our own intensity, to find the spaces.”

Chelsea’s loss leaves their Group H situation in the balance, but the Blues can still easily reach the knockout stages should they sharpen up performances and results.

Federico Bernardeschi missed a gilt-edged chance to double the hosts’ lead and kill the contest, before Romelu Lukaku blazed a fine opening wide for Chelsea.

Kai Havertz headed over from a corner at the death as the Blues pushed hard late on, but Juventus were good value for their win.

Caught napping for the goal with collective minds clearly still ruminating on half-time team talks, Chelsea were punished by Juve’s superior sharpness.

Lamenting the manner of the goal, Tuchel said: “It should be impossible to concede an easy goal like this at this level in the first seconds of the second half.

“You know what’s coming, you have defensive organisation like we have, so normally at all times it should be possible to defend it.

“And we got punished for it, of course.”

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UCL: CHIESA’S SECOND HALF STRIKE HELP JUVENTUS EDGE CHELSEA

Federico Chiesa’s rocket finish stunned Chelsea in Turin as Juventus condemned the Blues to a second straight 1-0 defeat.

Italy forward Chiesa sneaked in on goal and lashed past Edouard Mendy as Chelsea were caught cold just 11 seconds into the second half.

The visitors were still processing their half-time adjustments when Juventus struck, and Thomas Tuchel’s side never recovered.

Chelsea had opened their Champions League defence with a patchy 1-0 win over Zenit St Petersburg at Stamford Bridge on September 14, and this loss left their Group H status in the balance.

The Blues flailed at fluency in Saturday’s 1-0 Premier League home defeat to Manchester City, and four days later Tuchel’s men struggled for rhythm again.

Romelu Lukaku and Kai Havertz failed to hit the target with fine late chances, as Chelsea slipped to consecutive defeats for just the second time in Tuchel’s tenure.

Chelsea looked laboured and one-paced in a difficult first half where the hosts were able to shut out the Blues almost at will.

Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic conceded possession too cheaply too often, with the visiting deep-lying midfielders struggling with their spacing.

The pair stayed too close to each other too many times when on the ball, stunting the Blues’ attacking impetus.

Kovacic was forced to toe the ball away from Federico Bernardeschi just when the Juve forward was about to pull the trigger, in the first instance of the Blues losing the ball cheaply.

Croatia midfielder Kovacic was then reprieved for ceding possession when Adrien Rabiot botched a break with a poor pass.

And then Chiesa drilled just wide in the third instance of Chelsea losing the ball unnecessarily.

Havertz and Hakim Ziyech could neither push tight enough to Lukaku nor power beyond the Belgium striker.

Chelsea limped to half-time without conceding – but also without creating any clear-cut chances.

Ben Chilwell joined the fray after the break, but Tuchel’s half-time instructions were still ringing in Chelsea ears when Chiesa rifled the ball into the net.

Caught napping and punished squarely, Chelsea slipped deservedly behind and into big pressure.

The Blues settled down after conceding and started pinning Juve into their own half.

Territorial dominance alone could not unpick the Juventus rearguard however, and ahead of the hour Tuchel emptied the bench.

Jorginho, Ziyech and captain Cesar Azpilicueta were all hooked, in favour of Trevoh Chalobah, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Callum Hudson-Odoi.

Bernardeschi should have put the game out of sight only to bungle wide in a rare Juve breakout consisting of Rabiot’s raking pass and Juan Cuadrado’s fine first-time cross.

Ross Barkley was thrown into the mix as well, underscoring Tuchel’s desperation to force a change.

The one-time England midfielder made his first European appearance for Chelsea since August 2020, and offered a quick impact too.

The 27-year-old threaded a fine ball through for Lukaku, only for the £98million signing to blaze wide.

At the death Havertz headed over from a Chilwell corner, but while Chelsea will lament late chances missed the Blues will certainly admit falling short in Italy.

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CHELSEA’S NGOLO KANTE TO MISS JUVENTUS TIE AFTER TESTING POSITIVE FOR COVID-19

Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante has tested positive for coronavirus and will miss Wednesday’s Champions League tie with Juventus.

The 30-year-old France international will isolate for 10 days.

He will not feature against Southampton in the Premier League on Saturday and is also likely to miss France’s Nations League game with Belgium on 7 October.

Blues boss Thomas Tuchel said he did not know how many of his players are vaccinated against Covid-19.

“We are a reflection of society, the players are adults and they have a free choice,” Tuchel told a news conference on Tuesday.

“We should accept it. This is more or less all I can say. I know the situation is far from over. It makes you very aware it is not over.”

When asked if players should lead by example and get the vaccine, Tuchel said: “Do I have the right to say it? I’m not so sure.

“It is a serious question, vaccinations seems to be a proper protection – I am vaccinated but I don’t see myself in the position to speak out on recommendations.”

Chelsea will also be without Reece James, Christian Pulisic and Mason Mount against Juventus.

Defender James injured his ankle against Manchester City on Saturday, while Mount and Pulisic are missing with longer-standing injuries.

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Juventus lose at home to Empoli in first game after Ronaldo

Juventus has slumped to a 1-0 loss at home to promoted Empoli in its first match without Cristiano Ronaldo.

Juventus slumped to a 1-0 loss at home to promoted Empoli in its first match without Cristiano Ronaldo on Saturday.

Leonardo Mancuso’s first-half goal was enough for the visitors to claim a shock victory and leave Juventus waiting for its first Italian league win of the season after two games. Juve opened with a disappointing 2-2 draw at Udinese last weekend.

Ronaldo secured his return to Manchester United on Friday _ a day after telling Juventus he no longer wanted to play for the club. The Portugal star was top scorer in Serie A for the last two seasons and scored 101 goals in 134 appearances.

Juventus could have done with him against Empoli, which only secured its return to Italy’s top flight last season.

Mancuso scored in the 21st, firing home from close range after Nedim Bajrami’s initial effort was deflected into his path. The visitors refused to sit back after the goal.

Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri reacted to a disappointing first half from his team by bringing on Alvaro Morata, a forward, for American midfielder Weston McKennie at the break.

Federico Bernardeschi came on for fellow midfielder Adrien Rabiot shortly afterward, but the visitors kept pushing.

Paulo Dybala had a couple of close efforts as Juve showed signs of improvement, but too often the home team’s moves broke down at the final pass, prompting a furious outburst from Allegri on the sideline.

Juventus’ players were incensed when a number of calls went against them, including when Manuel Locatelli’s ball for Morata was deflected out by an Empoli defender but no corner was awarded.

IMMOBILE’S HAT TRICK

Italy striker Ciro Immobile scored a first-half hat trick and saw his penalty saved as Lazio routed Spezia 6-1 to build on its opening victory.

The 31-year-old Immobile also scored in Lazio’s 3-1 win at Empoli to start the season last weekend.

Spezia forward Daniele Verde stunned home fans at the Stadio Olimpico when he scored on a rebound in the fourth minute, but Immobile equalized with a brilliant finish a minute later.

Immobile tucked away his second goal inside the left post in the 15th, but had a penalty saved in first-half injury time when Dutch goalkeeper Jeroen Zoet turned the ball away for a corner. That was all Immobile needed, however, as he scored with a header from Luis Alberto’s corner.

Brazilian forward Felipe Anderson made it 4-1 after the interval, and it got worse in the 54th for the visitors when Kelvin Amian was sent off for hauling back Anderson as he was on another attack.

Elseid Hysaj got the fifth goal in the 70th before Luis Alberto wrapped up the scoring in the 85th for Maurizio Sarri’s team.

Also Saturday, Atalanta missed a host of chances as it drew with Bologna 0-0.

Fiorentina beat Torino 2-1 at home.

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Cristiano Ronaldo arrival could see Raheem Sterling leave Manchester City

Cristiano Ronaldo’s proposed move to Manchester City could see Raheem Sterling leave the Etihad Stadium, according to Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano.

The Portugal international is believed to be closing in on a move to the Citizens, although the Premier League champions are yet to agree a transfer fee with Juventus.

According to Romano, Man City will need to balance the books if Ronaldo arrives, and Sterling could potentially leave the club ‘if the right bid is made’ before the end of the transfer window.

The England international, who has less than two years left to run on his contract at the Etihad Stadium, has scored 115 goals and registered 87 assists in 294 appearances for the Citizens in all competitions.

Sterling was again an important player for the club last term, contributing 14 goals and 12 assists in 49 outings, but he struggled to show his best form for periods of the campaign.

The 26-year-old, who is believed to have rejected the chance to join Tottenham Hotspur this summer, came off the bench to score in Man City’s 5-0 win over Norwich City last weekend

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Manchester City ‘must pay at least £24m for Cristiano Ronaldo

Juventus have reportedly made it clear to Manchester City that Cristiano Ronaldo will not be allowed to leave Turin this summer unless the Old Lady receive a transfer fee in the region of €28m (£24m).

The Citizens have already allegedly agreed personal terms with Ronaldo, who is also believed to have spoken with the English club’s head coach Pep Guardiola on Thursday morning.

The former Manchester United attacker, who has less than one year left on his contract in Turin, is said to be determined to force a move to the Premier League champions.

According to Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano, Ronaldo’s agent Jorge Mendes is working to complete the deal, but Juventus want a transfer fee of €28m (£24m) for the Portugal international.

Romano claims that Man City will decide ‘soon’ whether to submit the offer, as Guardiola’s side were hopeful of being able to sign the former Sporting Lisbon youngster on a free transfer.

The Citizens have switched their attention to Ronaldo after missing out on a deal for Harry Kane, who will remain Tottenham Hotspur beyond the end of the summer transfer window.