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Home , Cristiano Biraghi, Inter Milan, Marcos Llorente, Patrick Cutrone

27 Sports Tuesday, October 2, 2018 scores a brace as AC defeat Sassuolo to rekindle campaign Fiorentina to move third with win over Atalanta

MILAN: Spanish Suso scored a brace to end ahead with a brilliant solo run on 39 minutes. Samu his drought as AC Milan got back winning Castillejo added a third on the hour mark before Filip after three consecutive draws with a 4-1 success which Djuricic pulled one back for the hosts. Suso got his sec- thwarted Sassuolo’s bid to go second in Serie A on ond goal four minutes into stoppage time after consul- Sunday. Champions Juventus had maintained their per- tation with the video assistant referee (VAR). fect start to the season on Saturday with a 3-1 win in their top-of-the-table clash with Napoli who remain in FIORENTINA MOVE THIRD second place. Sassuolo’s defeat allowed Fiorentina to move third Juventus, with a maximum 21 points after seven with a 2-0 win over Atalanta. Bergamo-based Atalanta games, are six points ahead of ’s team as travelled to Fiorentina’s Artemio Franchi stadium des- they target an eighth consecutive . AC Milan perate to end a five-game winless streak. needed to win to avoid losing further ground on their But their hopes were jolted just after the hour when rivals, with , in fourth, after a 2-0 win over referee Paolo Valeri pointed immediately to the penalty Cagliari, and Roma, in eighth, after a 3-1 derby win spot, refusing to consult VAR despite which halted the four-match of city going down easily from Rafael Toloi’s challenge. rivals Lazio. Jordan Veretout stepped up to slot the ball past “This result can help us gain confidence,” said Milan Pierluigi Gollini after 63 minutes, and Fiorentina coach . “When you wear the Milan cemented the win when doubled their jersey and work at a glorious club like this, which wants lead in stoppage time. At the final whistle, tensions to get back to the top, there is pressure. boiled over with furious Atalanta coach Gian Piero “People aren’t so much interested in performances Gasperini confronting Fiorentina counterpart Stefano as results and the table, but I knew this team had prom- Pioli before the pair were dragged apart. ise and just needed some time to grow.” Despite the “He shouted at me that the penalty was non-exis- win Milan remain tenth in the standings, four points off tent,” said Pioli. “They gave a penalty against us for a Inter Milan, who occupy the final Champions League fingertip against Inter, so this time they gave one in our berth. Unheralded Sassuolo-a surprise high flyer early favour for light contact,” added Pioli, whose side lost to this season-dropped to fifth, equal on 13 points but Inter Milan midweek. “We were tenacious, a little behind Fiorentina and Inter Milan on goal difference. lucky.” Elsewhere, Polish striker Krzysztof Piatek “We have a lot of young and talented players, so we became the first Serie A debutant in 68 years to score eight goals in the opening six games when he hit a don’t know how far we can go, but there will inevitably REGGIO EMILIA: Sassuolo’s forward (L) chest controls the ball under pressure from AC brace for Genoa, who have a game in hand, in a 2-1 win be setbacks like this as part of the growth process,” Milan’s Spanish forward Suso during the Italian Serie A football match Sassuolo vs AC Milan on Sunday at the over Frosinone. said Sassuolo coach Roberto De Zerbi. Mapei stadium in Reggio Emilia. — AFP AC Milan’s victory came despite the absence of Piatek got his first after 33 minutes, adding a second striker Gonzalo Higuain with forwards three minutes later. Camillo Ciano gave promoted and also out injured. Suso scored his first Frosinone their first goal of the season when he convert- ing a late winner against tailenders Chievo. Federico 2-1. Ivory Coast forward Gervinho got his third goal in league goal since February five minutes after the break ed a penalty four minutes before the break. Torino got Santander scored one and set up substitute Riccardo five games as midtable Parma edged Empoli 1-0, in a in Modena after Ivorian Franck Kessie had put Milan back to winning ways with substitute Simone Zaza seal- Orsolini as Bologna came from behind to beat Udinese showdown between two promoted teams. — AFP

he would have been playing against CSKA Moscow, on Sunday was Dani Carvajal, Nacho, Lucas Vazquez, head to had it not been for a thigh injury picked up on Saturday. Mariano Diaz, , Kiko Casilla and After him, Madrid’s most expensive starters are like- Sergio Reguilon, all academy graduates. Matches on TV ly to be Karim Benzema and Toni Kroos-both, like World Cup winner Raphael Varane came from Lens (Local Timings) Moscow with fewer Modric, signed for around 30 million euros. for 10 million euros as a teenager and it is believed Meanwhile, elsewhere in Europe, Barcelona will be Vinicius, signed for 40 million euros from Flamengo in stars and bigger fielding and Ousmane Dembele July, can be the next big talent from Brazil. UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE against Tottenham. Manchester United will have Paul There is a temptation to recall the days of Zinedine Juventus v BSC Young Boys 19:55 Pogba, and Paris Saint-Germain Neymar and Kylian Zidane, Figo, David Beckham, Brazil’s Ronaldo and beIN SPORTS HD 4 plans for future Mbappe. All of them surpassed the 100-million euro Kaka, and feel underwhelmed. Madrid have become TSG 1899 Hoffenheim v Manchester City 19:55 mark. Since being wooed by James’ sumptuous volley synonymous with superstar names and this was a beIN SPORTS HD 1 at the Maracana in the 2014 World Cup, Madrid have World Cup year too. AEK Athens v SL Benfica 22:00 MADRID: Luka Modric returns to the Luzhniki changed their approach. As the remnants of the old But the shift has been deliberate. The swelling mar- beIN SPORTS HD 7 Stadium yesterday, the scene of Croatia’s World Cup mode depart-Ronaldo is gone, James unlikely to return- ket has played a part, with the club no longer the domi- Bayern Munich v Ajax Amsterdam 22:00 final defeat to France, not only as FIFA’s best men’s the new, younger and cheaper, batch have risen to the nant power-player among Europe’s elite, as have plans beIN SPORTS HD 3 player but the star of Real Madrid too. For the first time surface. to upgrade the Santiago Bernabeu, for which a loan of Manchester United v Valencia C.F 22:00 in his six seasons at Madrid, Modric will line up for a “Madrid is strengthening its search for young play- 575 million euros will be taken out. beIN SPORTS HD 5 Champions League tie without , who ers that will become the next great players of the “The only way to remain independent is to be finan- v Shakhtar Donetsk 22:00 was sold, or , who is injured. sport,” president Florentino Perez said in July. Alvaro cially healthy,” Perez said at the club’s annual general beIN SPORTS HD 6 There will be no Kaka, Angel di Maria or James Odriozola, the 22-year-old right back, could make his meeting earlier this month. “That is the base of our CSKA Moscow v Real Madrid 22:00 Rodriguez either, all of whom Modric has rubbed Champions League debut on Tuesday in the absence of sporting success.” Zidane was an advocate too. His beIN SPORTS HD 1 shoulders with. At 33, he has outlasted them all. Marcelo and . He was signed from Real method centred on improving those players he had by AS Roma v Viktoria Plzen 22:00 Together, that quintet cost Madrid almost 400 million Sociedad for 35 million euros in the summer. blocking out the noise from outside. That translated beIN SPORTS HD 4 euros ($464 million), and each considerably more than Dani Ceballos, bought as a 20-year-old for 17 million into faith in humility and hard work, not more big-mon- Modric, whose fee of around 30 million pounds in 2012 euros from Real Betis, came on for Bale against Atletico ey signings. “There is often talk of transfers, but I am would not even have got Richarlison out of Watford last Madrid last weekend. And Marco Asensio, perhaps the not that type of coach,” he said in January. Modric, summer. policy’s poster boy, was brought in for a just under four Ramos, Benzema and Bale-all approaching or past 30 But in this current squad, Modric stands out. In part, million euros as an 18-year-old from Real Mallorca. — will soon need replacing and few would bet against Misfiring Bayern because of his brilliance, which has never been in All three of them Spanish, not signed for the present, Perez joining the chase when Mbappe, Neymar or doubt, but also because of Real Madrid too. The but the future. The list of those nurtured in the Real Pogba become available. But for now, this is a different with point to prove Galacticos are, just about, all gone. Bale is the last, and Madrid youth teams is longer. On the plane to Moscow Real Madrid. Modric can enjoy the limelight. — AFP at home to Ajax

Discarded Sanchez a MUNICH: Bayern Munich host Ajax in the Champions League today with Niko Kovac needing to fix a leaking defence and lack of finishing after yielding top spot in the window into Man Bundesliga. The clash at Munich’s Allianz Arena could well decide Group E after Bayern claimed a 2-0 win at Benfica Utd’s wasted millions in the opening round a fortnight ago while Ajax won 3-0 at Greek side AEK. Dauntingly for Ajax, Bayern have won the last 12 matches at home in the Champions League’s group MANCHESTER: Manchester United believed they stages. However, the five-time European champions fin- were closing the gap on “noisy neighbours” ished the weekend second in the German league after Manchester City when they beat the crashing to a shock 2-0 defeat at Hertha Berlin on Friday champions to the signature of Alexis Sanchez just nine after being outplayed in the capital. months ago. “It is an important game against Ajax. A win would But as the Red Devils slumped to a third defeat just make things easier for us going into our next four games,” seven games into the new league season at West Ham said Bayern head coach Kovac. “Many people said we on Saturday to already fall nine points adrift of City, wouldn’t lose a game in the (Bundesliga) this season, but Sanchez was nowhere to be seen. now it has happened in no time at all,” he added. That the Chilean was deemed not good enough to Uncharacteristically for Bayern, they leaked a late make Jose Mourinho’s 18-man squad for such a sham- equaliser in a 1-1 league draw with Augsburg last Tuesday, which was followed by the defeat in Berlin, but Kovac bolic display at the London Stadium speaks volumes remains unfazed. “You have to differentiate, one is not for Sanchez’s slide since joining United in January. directly linked to the other,” he insisted. Prolific in four years at Arsenal and three seasons “You could also say we won seven out of nine games.” with Barcelona before then, Sanchez has scored just MANCHESTER: Manchester United’s Chilean striker Alexis Sanchez attends a training session at the Carrington However, the Bayern boss will be troubled by the ease with three times in 23 appearances under Mourinho-none of which Pal Dardai’s Hertha unpicked the lock of the Bayern which have come this season. Mourinho’s power battle Training complex in Manchester, north west England yesterday, ahead of their Champions League group H foot- ball match against Valencia today. — AFP defence. He will seek a tighter performance against Ajax, with £89 million ($116 million) midfielder Paul Pogba who are second in the Dutch league after a 2-0 win at has drawn the spotlight from Sanchez. But Mourinho’s Fortuna Sittard on Saturday. Ajax coach Erik ten Hag will patience with the other marquee signing of his time in being held by Wolves, Pogba defended Sanchez’s million more than City’s. Much of that went on handing have taken note of how Bayern’s defence was shaken in the charge at Old Trafford ran out this week. struggles to adapt from the more open football played Sanchez reportedly the most lucrative contract in first half by Berlin. Jerome Boateng needlessly gave away Sanchez was hauled off during a 1-1 draw with at Barca and Arsenal. “When you play a long time with Premier League history worth a reported £400,000 a penalty by fouling which Vedad Ibisevic Wolves last weekend. He was then reportedly admon- another team and you play different football in that oth- week plus bonuses. converted for the opening goal. ished by Mourinho in front of his team-mates for his er team you have some kind of adaptation that you United remain the world’s richest club for now, but Niklas Suele, Bayern’s other centre-back, was out of poor form and was the only outfield player who trav- have to have,” said the Frenchman. that is not being reflected on the field for frustrated position when Hertha’s Ondrej Duda, the league’s current elled to London for the West Ham debacle left out of Mourinho’s time at Old Trafford may be running out, fans more interested in points than profits. The club’s top-scorer with five goals in six games, smashed home a the matchday squad. “Look for how many months are particularly if he fails to summon a response when executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward has put his faith close-range cross. Bayern’s star-studded attack also has a people asking for (Anthony) Martial, Martial, Martial United host Valencia in the Champions League today. in Mourinho, but his trust runs out quickly when miss- point to prove against Ajax after just having just one Arjen and saying how Alexis isn’t playing well enough,” said However, the difference in the fanfare that greeted ing out on the riches of Champions League. Robben goal, in the draw with Augsburg, to show for 40 Mourinho justifying his decision. “This week it was time Sanchez’s signing and his production on the pitch is David Moyes and were both dis- shots on goal in their last two games. to agree and leave Alexis out.” emblematic of the waste that is leaving United trailing missed after failing to qualify and United are already Even the likes of James Rodriguez, Franck Ribery, in City’s wake. five points off the top four. Another route into the Robben and Robert Lewandowski could not breach Berlin’s defence despite 25 shots. Kovac is concerned by a ‘DIFFERENT FOOTBALL’ Courted by his former Barca boss , Champions League is by winning the competition. lack of precision after his team “were not clinical” and Sanchez wouldn’t be the first creative player United boasted of dealing a blow to City in the transfer United currently look far from contenders, but they can more mistakes in defence “will be punished” against the Mourinho has failed to get the best out of. United’s market and of generating more social media traffic than take a huge step towards the last 16 by moving six Dutch. Nevertheless, a win over Ajax would boost confi- fiercest rivals City and Liverpool have benefited from Neymar’s world record move to Paris Saint-Germain. points clear of Valencia in Group H today. dence before Saturday’s home league match against and being discarded Yet, that victory has proved a hollow and expensive It is the type of game Sanchez was signed for. Borussia Moenchengladbach when they can aim to make by the Portuguese during his time at Chelsea. one. United’s accounts last week revealed an 11 percent Whether he even starts will say much about his future up the one-point gap behind new Bundesliga leaders When imploring Mourinho to attack more after rise in their wage bill taking it to £295.9 million, £36 so long as Mourinho remains in charge. — AFP .—AFP