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IBRAHIMOVIC RETURNS AS AC MILAN BOUNCE BACK TO BEAT TORINO.

AC Milan went four points clear at the top of Serie A with a comfortable 2-0 home win over Torino on Saturday as Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic made his comeback from injury.

The league leaders’ 27-match unbeaten run was ended by Juventus on Wednesday, but they showed little sign of dwelling on the result as a Rafael Leao strike and Franck Kessie penalty gave the hosts a commanding lead by halftime.

Ricardo Rodriguez summoned the visitors’ best effort when he crashed a free kick off the bar, but they struggled to threaten in open play.

A further boost for Milan was the return of top scorer Ibrahimovic, who came on as a substitute for the final five minutes to make his first appearance since suffering an injury against Napoli on Nov. 22.

“Now he needs to get back into good condition and we must work out how to manage that,” Milan coach Stefano Pioli told DAZN.

“He’s always available and collaborative, we’ll find the best solution. Zlatan is so strong in everything he does. We hope to have him back at his top condition as soon as possible.”

The result leaves Milan on 40 points, four ahead of rivals Internazionale, who travel to third-placed AS Roma on Sunday.

Torino, whose four-match unbeaten run came to an end, remain in 19th place on 12 points, two adrift of the safety zone.

The visitors sat deep and looked to frustrate the hosts in the first half, but Milan broke through after 25 minutes through a calm Leao finish, before Kessie calmly converted his spot kick after Brahim Diaz had been tripped by Andrea Belotti.

Torino were awarded a penalty early in the second half for a foul by Milan midfielder Sandro Tonali, but referee Fabio Maresca overturned the decision following an on-field VAR review.

Tonali hurt himself in the process and was carried off on a stretcher to worsen an injury crisis that had already ruled out five players, but Ibrahimovic made his long-awaited comeback to leave Pioli feeling upbeat.

“I wasn’t surprised, I expected this response,” he said.

“The team is young but strong. We played the first half at a very high level, then in the second half it was normal to suffer a little. I’m very satisfied.

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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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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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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.”

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NAPOLI WINS APPEAL FOR SERIE A UNPLAYED JUVE MATCH

Napoli have won their appeal against the decision to hand them a 3-0 defeat and deduct one point for failing to play their Serie A match at Juventus in October amid confusion over Italian football’s COVID-19 rules.

The ANSA news agency said the Italian Olympic Committee’s Guarantee Board, the highest tribunal in Italian sport, had accepted Napoli’s appeal and ordered that the match be played.

Napoli did not travel to Turin for the game on Oct 4., saying their local health authority (ASL) had told the players to stay at home after two members of their squad tested positive for COVID-19.

Serie A turned down Napoli’s request to call the game off and the league’s disciplinary tribunal subsequently handed them a 3-0 defeat and deducted one point.

“We are happy,” said Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis. “We live in a country where those who respect the laws cannot be convicted. And Napoli always follow the rules.”

Juventus director of football Fabio Paratici shrugged off the verdict.

“The first comment to make is that we have always been indifferent to the matter,” he said. “When they tell us to play we will go and play — having said that we were also there on 4 October.”

Before Tuesday’s decision, Juventus were third on 27 points, with AS Roma on 24 and Napoli on 23.

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Juventus lose 3-0 in first league defeat of season

Juventus had to play most of the match at a numerical disadvantage after former Fiorentina winger Juan Cuadrado was sent off in the 18th minute.

Juventus fell to its first league defeat of the season as the 10-man Bianconeri lost 3-0 at home to relegation-threatened Fiorentina to slip further behind in Serie A on Tuesday.

Dušan Vlahović got Fiorentina off to the perfect start when he scored in the third minute. An Alex Sandro own goal and a late effort from former Juventus defender Martín Cáceres sealed the match for Fiorentina, which recorded its first win since Cesare Prandelli returned as coach.

Juventus had to play most of the match at a numerical disadvantage after former Fiorentina winger Juan Cuadrado was sent off in the 18th minute.

“We came on with the wrong attitude and when you go onto the field like this, you get into these bad situations, then we were down to 10 men and at that point it became difficult to recover,” Juventus coach Andrea Pirlo said.

“Occasionally it happens that you are not 100%, but in the second half we came out with the right mentality. It could have gone better. Now we have to start again with desire, thinking about the mistakes we made and carrying our project forward.”

Juventus had started the day in third place, four points behind Serie A leader AC Milan. But it began the match seven points behind — with a game in hand — after Napoli’s appeal against a default loss to the Bianconeri was upheld.

After the loss to Fiorentina, it was still seven points behind Milan but having played the same number of matches as the Rossoneri.

Milan is now the only remaining unbeaten team in Serie A.

Juventus heard the result of the appeal a few hours before kickoff in Turin. And its day swiftly went from bad to worse when Vlahović ran onto Franck Ribéry’s through ball and chipped it over the onrushing Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny.

Juve’s hopes of getting something from the match diminished just a quarter of an hour later when Cuadrado challenged Gaetano Castrovilli. The referee initially only booked Cuadrado but then showed him a straight red after looking at the incident again on video review.

Cristiano Ronaldo had a headed goal disallowed for offside at the start of the second half.

Both sides had chances to score before Cristiano Biraghi’s cross bounced in off the unfortunate Sandro in the 76th.

Biraghi also set up Fiorentina’s third, rolling across for Cáceres to tap into the back of the net.

MAGICAL MESSIAS

Junior Messias netted two goals to help Crotone beat Parma 2-1 and move off the bottom of the table for the first time this season.

It was only Crotone’s second win of the season and lifted the club into the 18th spot, two points from safety and three below Parma.

Both Messias’ goals were impressive, particularly the second — an exquisite lob over Parma goalkeeper Luigi Sepe shortly before halftime.

Juraj Kucka headed in for Parma in the 57th.

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HAKIMI, LUKAKU ON TARGET AS INTER EDGE SPEZIA TO WIN SIXTH STRAIGHT SERIE A GAMES.

It’s now six straight Serie A wins for Inter as the Nerazzurri continued their rich vein of form on Sunday by beating Spezia 2-1. It was two second-half goals that toppled the opposition, with Conte’s side moving up to 30 points after 13 matches, just one point behind AC Milan who beat Sassuolo.

Following a lacklustre first half from both sides, it was goals from Hakimi and Lukaku that put Spezia to the sword, while Piccoli pulled one back for the visitors in the 94th minute. Sunday’s match was Spezia’s first-ever experience playing Inter at the San Siro, with Italiano’s side setting out in an ambitious 4-3-3 formation. This included Vignali, Ismajli, Mora and Acampora, as the opposition sought to starve the home side of space.

The match itself certainly wasn’t a classic, but Inter got the job done in the end. It wasn’t without its obstacles along the way, particularly as Ricci teamed up with Deiola and Mora to press Brozovic & Co in midfield. Inter opted for a 3-5-2, which duly led to some decent chances early on.

The first fell to Lukaku, who tried his luck in the fourth minute after an assist from Lautaro; however, it only resulted in a corner. Next up was a brilliant burst of pace from Young, who skipped past two men on the left before forcing a save from the Spezia shot-stopper. Despite these early opportunities, it was clear Inter were lacking consistency. Neither of team’s two strikers were able to link up with the midfield, while the crossing from the flanks wasn’t up to its usual standard. The half-time whistle soon went with the visitors enjoying just over half of possession; however, without having threatened Handanovic during the opening 45. Yet, nor had they nearly conceded.

Inter needed a spark to ignite the match, and Conte looked to provide this with the introduction of Sensi (who came on in Gagliardini’s place) at half-time. Six minutes after the restart, the Nerazzurri finally broke the deadlock. Great link-up play between the front two provided the impetus, with Lukaku expertly chesting the ball down to Lautaro. The Argentine then spread play for Hakimi, who, in his usual style, raced down the right before firing past the goalkeeper at the near post. It was his fourth goal of the season.

Having taken the lead, Inter could go about their business in a more assured manner, especially given the lack of precision in Spezia’s play. Handanovic remained a spectator, although the away side did briefly threaten when Nzola headed over the bar. In the 71st minute, Inter doubled their lead, a goal which put the game to bed.

It all came about from the right wing, with Hakimi whipping in a ball that was handled by Nzola. After consulting VAR, Fabbri awarded a clear penalty. Lukaku then stepped up and sent Provedel the wrong way, scoring his eleventh penalty (from eleven) since signing for Inter.

The final 20 minutes saw Spezia make several changes and give everything to get back into it, but the best they could conjure up was a goal ruled out for offside.

Conte, meanwhile, took off Lukaku, Hakimi and Young for some much-needed rest. With the match coming to an end, Inter’s hopes of keeping a clean sheet were dashed as Piccoli beat Darmian to the ball to grab a consolation. It was a reward for the assertive manner in which Italiano’s team had looked to play throughout.

The final whistle was blown immediately afterwards, with the Nerazzurri coming away with a 2-1 victory – their sixth win in a row. For Antonio Conte’s men, 2020 will finish with a trip to Verona to face Hellas at 18:30 CET on Wednesday.

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BALOTELLI JOINS SERIE B SIDE ON FREE TRANSFER.

Mario Balotelli has joined Italian Serie B side Monza on a free transfer.

The Italian striker has been without a team since leaving relegated Brescia at the end of the 2019-20 campaign.

Ambitious Monza were promoted as Serie C champions last season and are owned by former AC Milan and Italian national Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who signed Balotelli twice for the Rossoneri.

They sit ninth in Serie B and are managed by former Milan midfielder and boss Cristian Brocchi. Among his teammates at Monza, Balotelli will find Kevin-Prince Boateng and Gabriel Paletta, who he played alongside at Milan.

Balotelli started his career at Inter Milan, where he won the the Serie A title three years in a row as well as the Coppa Italia and Champions League in 2010 as part of the Treble. He also won the Golden Boy award as Europe’s best young player that year.

That summer, he joined Manchester City and won the FA Cup and Premier League title before joining Milan and returning to the Premier League with Liverpool.

Following a season at Anfield, he once again joined Milan on loan before he moved to Nice in 2016. Following a short stint at Marseille, he returned to Italy with hometown club Brescia, but could not stop them from being relegated.

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SASSUOLO 0-3 INTERMILAN: CONTE’S MEN WIN AT SASSUOLO TO END HOST UNBEATEN START.

Inter Milan recorded a confidence-boosting 3-0 win at Sassuolo on Saturday to end the home side’s unbeaten start in Serie A.

Alexis Sanchez scored early on and a Vlad Chiriches own goal shortly after doubled Inter’s lead. Roberto Gagliardini scored in the second half as Inter recorded only its second win in its past seven matches.

Inter played with the ferocity coach Antonio Conte had been demanding and Sassuolo barely had a sight of goal apart from a curled effort from Filip Suricic that hit the outside of the right post.

Inter moved second, level on points with Sassuolo but above it on goal difference. Head-to-head record is the first tiebreak at the end of the season. They are both two points below AC Milan, which hosts Fiorentina on Sunday.

Juventus can move a point above Inter with a win at Benevento later Saturday. Atalanta was also playing later, against Hellas Verona.

Sassuolo knew it could move top with a win at Inter. The Nerazzurri were looking to bounce back from a midweek home defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League.

Just like in all the Serie A matches this weekend, there was a tribute to Diego Maradona, who died on Wednesday in his native Argentina. That included a minute’s silence for the former Napoli player, while his image was also projected again on the stadium screens in the 10th minute, in honour of his jersey number.

Inter got off to the perfect start when Chiriches’ clearance was intercepted by Lautaro Martinez, who then rounded goalkeeper Andrea Consigli. Chiriches got back but Martinez managed to roll it across for the easiest of goals for Sanchez.

The visitors’ doubled their lead 10 minutes later as a corner from the left came to Arturo Vidal and his cross bounced off Chiriches and squeezed into the bottom right corner.

Chiriches’ day went from bad to worse as he limped off with a suspected hamstring injury at the end of the first half.

Inter all but sealed the result on the hour with a splendid finish into the bottom left corner from Gagliardini after a cross from Matteo Darmian.

Conte had rested Romelu Lukaku and only put the forward on for the final 11 minutes. That was still time enough for him to find the back of the net, but it was ruled out for offside.

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SERIE A: AGELESS IBRAHIMOVIC’S BRACE HELP AC MILAN BEAT NAPOLI: INTER MILAN COME FROM BEHIND TO DEFEAT TORINO.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic remains unstoppable and AC Milan remain unbeaten atop Serie A.

The 39-year-old Ibrahimovic scored twice to raise his total to 10 goals in six games played as Milan won 3-1 at Napoli on Sunday.

“He seems even stronger now than he was 10-12 years ago,” said Napoli coach Gennaro Gattuso, who teamed with Ibrahimovic when Milan last won the Italian league in 2011.

However, there was concern for Ibrahimovic when he exited toward the end clutching his hamstring. The Swedish superstar already missed two games this season after contracting the coronavirus.

” It looks like a muscular problem but we’ll have to wait a few days to understand the extent of it,” said Milan assistant coach Daniele Bonera, who was standing in for head coach Stefano Pioli, who has the coronavirus .

The Rossoneri again moved two points ahead of Sassuolo, which won 2-0 at Hellas Verona earlier to also remain undefeated through eight rounds.

Having also beaten Inter Milan in the city derby and drawn with Roma, Milan’s unexpected title credentials are growing week by week.

Milan finished no better than fifth the past seven seasons.

“It shows that we’re on the right track,” Bonera said. “But it’s really premature after eight rounds to talk about what might happen in May. There’s a long way to go.”

Ibrahimovic soared above Kalidou Koulibaly to head in from long range following a cross from Theo Hernandez midway through the first half.

After Giovanni Di Lorenzo hit the crossbar for Napoli, Ibrahimovic used his thigh to steer in another goal by the far post following a cross from Ante Rebic near the hour mark.

Dries Mertens pulled one back for Napoli less than 10 minutes later from close range after getting away from Alessio Romagnoli.

But Napoli’s comeback quickly lost steam when Tiémoué Bakayoko was sent off after picking up his second yellow card for a foul on Hernandez.

Jens Petter Hauge added another goal for Milan five minutes into stoppage time, from a tight angle.

INTER COMEBACK

Two late goals helped Inter Milan fight back from 2-0 down to beat Torino 4-2 thanks to an inspired Romelu Lukaku.

Both sides had players ruled out with the coronavirus . Torino was also missing coach Marco Giampaolo because of the virus and forward Andrea Belotti pulled out injured during the warmup.

His replacement, Simone Zaza, fired Torino in front on the stroke of halftime and Cristian Ansaldi doubled the visitors’ lead in the 62nd from the penalty spot after Ashley Young fouled Wilfried Stephane Singo.

Inter pulled one back just two minutes later as Lukaku’s shot came off the crossbar with Alexis Sánchez managing to fire in the rebound.

Lukaku then hit the post before turning in Sánchez’s cross.

And Inter’s comeback was complete six minutes from time when Lukaku converted a penalty after Achraf Hakimi was tripped in the area by Nicolas Nkoulou.

Inter sealed the match in the final minute when Lukaku ran down the left and rolled across for Lautaro Martínez to tap in.

SUPER SASSUOLO

It is only Sassuolo’s eighth season in the Italian top flight and the team has never finished higher than sixth. But a Champions League spot is now in sight for the Emilia-Romagna club.

Verona dominated the match, hitting the woodwork four times. But Sassuolo broke the deadlock three minutes from the interval and against the run of play.

Jérémie Boga latched onto Domenico Berardi’s crossfield pass and curled it into the far top corner.

Berardi got onto the scoresheet himself in the 76th minute as Verona players failed to close him down before he unleashed a shot that took a slight deflection to dip under the crossbar.

Sassuolo remained one point ahead of third-place Roma, which beat Parma 3-0.

OTHER MATCHES

Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored twice in an impressive first half for Roma after Borja Mayoral’s opener.

Mkhitaryan has now scored five goals in his last two Serie A matches.

Cesare Prandelli’s first match back in charge of Fiorentina ended in a 1-0 defeat at home to Benevento.

Also, Bologna won 2-1 at Sampdoria and Udinese beat Genoa 1-0.