The Malaysian Insider :: Sports
The Malaysian Insider :: Sports |
| Clinical Juventus outclass spineless Inter Milan Posted: 02 Feb 2014 02:40 PM PST Inter travelled to Turin hoping to at least replicate their 1-1 draw with Antonio Conte's men in Milan during the opening half of the season. But Juve, who had scored 16 goals in their five previous league games, flew out the blocks and had created several early goalscoring chances before Stephan Lichsteiner's diving header from Andrea Pirlo's chipped ball gave the hosts a 15th minute lead. Juve piled on the pressure and only the safe hands of Samir Handanovic kept Inter from conceding more before the break. Juve doubled their lead only two minutes after the restart thanks to defender Giorgio Chiellini, with an alert Arturo Vidal giving Juve a 3-0 lead on 55 minutes after pouncing on Paul Pogba's rebound. Inter's efforts in a late but faint fightback were rewarded in the 71st minnute when Rolando beat Marco Storari in the Juve goal although it was scant consolation for what was a decidedly mediocre performance from Walter Mazzarri's side. Juve's 19th win of the campaign took their lead on Roma to nine points although the Giallorossi's earlier encounter at home to Parma was rained off and has yet to be rescheduled. Napoli are a distant third, 15 points adrift after a stunning 3-0 collapse at Atalanta, with Fiorentina a further three points off the pace. Inter have now taken only eight points from their last 10 games and are sixth in the table, 26 points behind Juve and two behind Verona, who occupy the first Europa League qualifying place. Inter had dominated the weekend transfer headlines with the capture of Hernanes from Lazio. But neither the Brazilian international midfielder nor Colombian Fredy Guarin – the subject of a recently botched swap deal involving Juve striker Mirko Vucinic – were in Mazzarri's starting line-up. Juve signed Dani Osvaldo from Southampton on Friday and are still waiting on him to reach full match fitness, but on this display he may have a challenge shifting either Carlos Tevez or Fernando Llorente. After just three minutes Tevez forced a superb double save from Handanovic and then Chiellini fired just over. Inter were being overrun and buckled when Pirlo sighted Lichsteiner unmarked and flighted a delightful ball for the Swiss international to dive and head past Handanovic. Pogba then blasted over from close range and Handanovic saved from Tevez again, while at the other end Rodrigo Palacio fired just over on 40 minutes after a promising counter-attack. Juve finished with a flurry and began in the same fashion after the interval. Yuto Nagatomo made a mess of a clearance, Vidal threw the ball back in and it eventually fell to Chiellini to blast past Handanovic from the right of goal. Minutes later Palacio had Inter hearts racing when he fired over with a first-time effort following Ricardo Alvarez's low pass. Juve stretched their lead in the 55th minute when Llorente collected to the left of goal, controlled and turned to set up Pogba. When the Frenchman's close-range shot was blocked by Handanovic, Vidal pounced to sweep in the rebound. Mazzarri made a number of changes with Milito replacing the ineffective Zdravko Kuzmanovic and ex-Torino defender Danilo D'Ambrosio making his Nerazzurri debut by replacing Jonathan. But the changes had little effect and although Rolando fired an angled drive past Storari when Juve failed to clear from a corner, Inter were unable to convert the few half-chances they went on to create. - AFP, February 3, 2014. |
| Ox sends Arsenal top, Liverpool lose ground Posted: 02 Feb 2014 02:35 PM PST Making his first league start since the season's opening day, Oxlade-Chamberlain scored both goals in the second half to send Arsenal two points above Manchester City, who host third-place Chelsea today. The result got Arsene Wenger's side back to winning ways after the 2-2 draw at Southampton that cost them top spot, while Palace were left one place above the relegation zone after a first defeat in three league games. "It was a great day for Chamberlain," said Arsenal manager Wenger. "He was out for a long, long time and we needed to be patient to get him back to full fitness. He had a great game and scored two great goals. "Crystal Palace were well-organised and united in their desire to do the job. They are a physically strong side and we knew we had to take advantage of our chances, and we did." With Oxlade-Chamberlain in central midfield alongside Mikel Arteta, Arsenal quickly assumed control at the Emirates Stadium, but they struggled to make inroads against Tony Pulis's well-drilled Palace. The visitors had new goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey on the bench, but their current number one, Julian Speroni, seemed determined to stake a claim to the jersey. He produced two excellent saves to thwart first Nacho Monreal and then Laurent Koscielny, before bravely diving at Bacary Sagna's feet shortly before half-time. It had been a disciplined and hard-working display from Palace, but two minutes into the second half they fell behind. Former Arsenal striker Marouane Chamakh allowed Oxlade-Chamberlain to run into the box behind him and when the scheming Santi Cazorla picked out the England man with a dinked pass, he coolly lifted the ball over Speroni. Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny was quickly called into action at the other end, saving a header from Cameron Jerome at point-blank range, but Oxlade-Chamberlain's second goal in the 73rd minute settled the game. The powerful 20-year-old, nicknamed 'The Ox', played a slick one-two with Olivier Giroud before cutting into the Palace box from the left and letting fly with a low drive that Speroni could not keep out. Earlier, an embarrassing mistake by Kolo Toure prevented Liverpool from strengthening their grip on fourth place as they drew 1-1 at West Bromwich Albion. Liverpool were seeking to move four points clear of fifth-place Everton and they took the lead through Daniel Sturridge at The Hawthorns, only for Toure to gift West Brom with a 67th-minute equaliser by passing the ball straight to Victor Anichebe. The Nigerian striker accepted the gift to level the scores, leaving Liverpool with only a two-point cushion in fourth place and lifting Pepe Mel's West Brom a point clear of the relegation places. Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers refused to criticise Toure, saying: "He is a wonderful player. He probably should not have received the ball in the first place. "I will never criticise any player, especially a defender. We have won many games and played outstanding football, and key to that is constructing from the back." Rodgers kept faith with the team that had crushed Everton 4-0 in mid-week and he saw his side take a 24th-minute lead when Sturridge volleyed in Luis Suarez's cross from close range. West Brom suffered a blow when centre-back Jonas Olsson had to limp off four minutes before the break, but a half-time shift to a 4-4-2 formation gave them fresh impetus. Zoltan Gera had gone close shortly before the interval and it took a stunning one-handed save from Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet to repel Gareth McAuley's header early in the second period. West Brom goalkeeper Ben Foster kept his side in the game by blocking from Suarez in a one-on-one situation and less than 10 minutes later, the hosts drew level. Ivorian centre-back Toure did not appear to see Anichebe lurking outside the Liverpool box and his attempted pass to Jon Flanagan was cut out by the former Everton man, who lashed home a low shot from just inside the area. - AFP, February 3, 2014. |
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