Ronaldo, Ibrahimovic set for Italian Cup clash “There’s a new king in town,” a jubilant Lukaku wrote on Twitter after scor- ing the fourth goal for Inter in Sunday’s derby. “We run this town.” The Belgian was replying to Ibrahimovic’s pre-derby post saying that “lions don’t compare themselves to hu- mans“. Juventus coach Maurizio Sarri has reason to be worried by his side’s away form, with the defending Serie A champion having lost its last two games on the road. “I hope that someone will MILAN, Feb 11 winner has scored 23 goals in help me, it’s something we all competitions this season. have to resolve,” Sarri said Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, 38, has after the loss to Verona. Ibrahimovic are set to go head- scored three goals since re- “Right now we have a dif- to-head in Thursday’s Italian turning to Milan last month. ference in performance Cup semifinal, first leg The Swede headed in the between home and away.” between Juventus and AC second goal on Sunday after Juventus is bidding to re- Milan at the San Siro. setting up the first, but Inter claim the trophy which its Both Ronaldo and hit back with four second-half held for four seasons until Ibrahimovic scored at the strikes. losing to eventual runner-up weekend in defeats as “I showed that I can still Atalanta in the quarters last Juventus fell 2-1 at Hellas make a difference, even at year. Verona, while AC Milan 38,” he said. Antonio Conte’s Inter is threw away a two-goal lead But Inter striker Romelu the only one of the four semi- in a 4-2 defeat by city rival Lukaku will be looking to finalist to win in Serie A at Inter. upstage the two other former the weekend, with Napoli “It wasn’t the result we Manchester United players crashing to a 3-2 defeat by wanted,” said the 35-year-old against Napoli in the other lowly Lecce. Inter’s victory Ronaldo despite becoming the last-four first leg on Wednes- lifted it ahead of Juventus on first Juventus player to score day. goal difference at the top of in 10 successive league Gennaro Gattuso’s Napoli, the table, as it targets its first games, just one game short of despite its current slump, Scudetto since 2010. The the Serie A record. ousted holder Lazio in the second-leg ties will take place The five-time Ballon d’Or quarterfinals. on March 4 and 5. —PTI Bautista Agut, Carreno Busta set up last-16 clash in Rotterdam The third set was plain sailing for the Spaniard and a double fault at 5-1 gave Bautista Agut a second match point, which he converted with a sliced backhand after an engrossing rally at the net. Fucsovics hit 40 winners but the 41 unforced errors proved to be his downfall. “Next round is going to be a Spanish round against Pablo,” Bautista Agut said after the win. “Hopefully one of us can take the title.” In the other encounter, Carreno Busta needed two hours and 45 minutes to dis- patch Frenchman Adrian ROTTERDAM, Feb 11 rallies, but I was able to stay Mannarino, winning 7-5 6- in control. 7(3) 6-4. Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov “I was calm in the impor- Mannarino fired 12 aces edged out Canadian eighth seed tant moments and came to the but he was wayward with his Denis Shapovalov 6-3 7-6(3) in net when I had to.” second serve while Carreno a scrappy first round encounter Roberto Bautista Agut and Busta, who had 17 chances at the Rotterdam Open on Pablo Carreno Busta survived to break serve, only managed Monday. three-set marathons in their to do so on four occasions. The world number 22 ad- respective first round encoun- On match point in the mitted he never hit top gear ters to set up an all-Spanish third, a 20-shot rally was fin- but that did not stop him from last-16 clash. ished by Carreno Busta when setting up a last 16 meeting Bautista Agut came back he fired a forehand winner to with either Canadian Felix from a set down to beat Hun- advance and set up a last-16 Auger-Aliassime and Germa- garian qualifier Marton clash with his compatriot, ny’s Jan-Lennard Struff. Fucsovics 4-6 7-6(1) 6-1. who has beaten him twice “There was not a lot of Fucsovics was close to claim- before in three encounters. rhythm,” Dimitrov, who was ing the biggest win of his British number one Dan beaten by Roger Federer in career in the second set be- Evans claimed a 6-3 7-5 vic- the 2018 final, told reporters. fore Bautista Agut forced a tory over Germany’s Philipp “There were not too many tiebreak. Kohlschreiber. —Reuters