Thiago Motta was left frustrated with Juventus' inability to make their dominance count after Razvan Marin's late equaliser snatched a 1-1 draw for Serie A strugglers Cagliari.
Dusan Vlahovic's early penalty gave Juve the lead but Marin's 88th-minute spot-kick cost the hosts two important points that would have moved them to within one of leaders Napoli.
Marin's late salvaging act was the first goal Juventus have conceded this season in the league, though their inability to build on the early strike was what head coach Motta bemoaned after Sunday's draw.
"Already in the first half, after the goal, we were content to control the game. It's no good," Motta told DAZN.
"We have to keep attacking. In the second half, we created chances but we didn't exploit them. There was always the feeling that Cagliari could come back into the game.
"In Serie A, all games are complicated, regardless of who we face and whether we play at home or away. Today we left room for Cagliari to get back into the game."
Vlahovic may have converted the penalty but was also guilty of missing an excellent chance to extend Juve's lead when he fired wide on the rebound from close range.
Motta's side accumulated a tally of 2.57 expected goals (xG) overall, compared to Cagliari's 1.12, suggesting three points should have ended in the hands of the profligate Juve.
The Italian head coach refused to point the finger at Vlahovic, though insisted improvements are needed.
"You can't say anything, it's a match situation. It happens and will happen," Motta said. "But there are other things that we can certainly do better in order to compete, to be able to continue to grow."
Francisco Conceicao made his first start of the season against Cagliari, but the Portugal winger was sent off late in the game when he received a second booking for simulation in the penalty area.
"I haven't seen the images, if it's simulation, it's the correct decision. It's something we've been talking about for a long time, simulations are not good for the game," Motta added in his press conference.
"I trust the referee, but now a precedent opens up and it must always be like this. It must always be done, not every now and then."
Cristhian Stuani scored a 99th-minute penalty to snatch a 2-1 victory for Girona against Athletic Bilbao after Paulo Gazzaniga had saved multiple spot-kicks at the other end.
Alex Berenguer won the first penalty in the 26th minute after being fouled by Arnau Martinez, but the goalkeeper denied him when he stepped up.
Athletic were punished shortly after as Yaser Asprilla sent a dangerous left-footed cross past Alex Padilla into the bottom-left corner.
Oihan Sancet scored the equaliser just two minutes later, but the visitors' poor luck from 12 yards continued after the break.
Inaki Williams' effort was also stopped but had to be retaken as Gazzaniga's feet were off the line. However, the goalkeeper kept his nerve, as he denied Ander Herrera, who stepped up to take the second attempt.
Deep in stoppage time, Aitor Paredes brought down Ladislav Krejci in the box and received two bookings in less than a minute, one for the foul and the second for dissent.
Stuani duly converted the resulting spot-kick to seal all three points for Girona and end a four-match winless run in LaLiga.
Data Debrief: Athletic pay the penalty for spot-kick woe
Athletic will be scratching their heads as to how they came away from this game with nothing, given the attacking threat they showed throughout.
They accumulated 2.59 expected goals (xG) from their 13 shots, albeit those two spot-kicks played a huge part in that total, but come away with an unwanted record as they missed two penalties in a single LaLiga game for the first time this century.
That was largely down to Gazzaniga's heroics, though, as he showed his prowess with three saves, even if one of those will not officially count.
Stuani proved the hero in the end though, scoring his sixth goal against Athletic in LaLiga to get Michel's side up and running again before the international break.
Dani Carvajal has signed a contract extension with Real Madrid until June 2026.
The full-back could miss the rest of the 2024-25 season after sustaining a cruciate ligament injury in Saturday's 2-0 win over Villarreal.
Carvajal's contract was due to expire at the end of the campaign, but Madrid responded almost immediately by extending his stay with the club for at least a further year.
The 32-year-old, who has been with Los Blancos since the age of 10, has won six Champions League titles and four LaLiga crowns during his time at Santiago Bernabeu, while amassing 427 appearances.
Carlos Alcaraz held his nerve against a spirited Wu Yibing to progress to the fourth round of the Shanghai Masters.
Having already beaten another of the home favourites, Shang Juncheng, in his opener, the Spaniard had to dig deep but prevailed 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 in one hour and 41 minutes on Sunday.
There was nothing to split the two in the opening set, though Wu caused some real problems with his power, and successfully defended two break points in the ninth game.
The tie-break was also tight, but Alcaraz found his edge at the right time, winning the last three points.
Buoyed by the home crowd, Wu started the second set strongly too, but Alcaraz absorbed the pressure well and got the only break of the match in a three-game winning run.
With his winning streak extended, Alcaraz will now face either Gael Monfils or Ugo Humbert in the next round.
Data Debrief: Alcaraz marches on
Alcaraz has put his shock US Open exit firmly behind him, with this his 11th win on the bounce since then.
He coped well with the early pressure Wu threw at him, and put in another solid performance, hitting 11 aces and winning 71% of his points at the net (5/7).
Nicolas Kuhn's late winner helped Celtic maintain their perfect start to the Scottish Premiership season with a narrow 2-1 victory over Ross County.
Brendan Rodgers' side, who lost 7-1 to Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League in midweek, struck twice in the final quarter of an hour at the Global Energy Stadium, where Ronan Hale's first-half penalty had given the hosts the lead.
Hale drilled home from 12 yards at the second attempt after his initial spot-kick was denied by Kasper Schmeichel, who was penalised for creeping off his line.
It was the first league goal Celtic had conceded this season, but the Hoops turned things around late on.
They equalised in the 76th minute when Callum McGregor's goalbound strike was turned in from close range by Alistair Johnston.
The full-back then turned provider two minutes from normal time as he found Kuhn, who stepped inside before slotting past Ross Laidlaw via a slight deflection.
Data Debrief: Celtc the late show experts
The Hoops have now scored five goals in the last 15 minutes of their seven matches this season, more than any other side in the Scottish Premiership.
But, once again, the hosts were left to wonder what might have been.
Indeed, they have now lost seven points from winning positions this term, the most of any side.
Meanwhile, they were beaten in the league after scoring the opening goal for the first time in 23 games, stretching back to their defeat by St. Johnstone in December 2022.
Coco Gauff claimed the China Open title in emphatic fashion on Sunday, bringing up her second WTA Tour trophy of the season.
The world number six defeated US Open semi-finalist Karolina Muchova 6-1 6-3 in just 76 minutes to be crowned the youngest winner of the China Open in 14 years.
Gauff swiftly broke the Czech's serve to propel herself into a 2-0 lead before going on to dominate the first set, which lasted only half-an-hour.
Muchova looked to be surmounting a comeback in the second set, breaking immediately, but Gauff fought straight back, and the American broke Muchova once more to race to victory in Beijing.
It was an impressive win against an opponent who had defeated world number two Aryna Sabalenka and Olympic gold medallist Zheng Qinwen en route to the final. Gauff played 24 winning shots but restricted the world number 49 to just 14.
It marked Gauff's second WTA 1000 title, making her the second-youngest player since the format was introduced to win her first two finals, only older than Bianca Andreescu.
Data Debrief: Gauff a proven winner
Gauff, who was playing her 101st WTA 1000 match, is now the first player to win each of her first seven WTA hard-court finals in the Open Era.
Her victory meant she became the second American player to win the women's singles title at the China Open after Serena Williams (in 2004 and 2013 since the inception of the tournament in 2004.
Gauff has now defeated Muchova in all three meetings in WTA events, previously beating her at the US Open and Cincinnati Open in 2023.
Juventus were reduced to 10 and conceded for the first time this season in Serie A as a late Razvan Marin penalty snatched a 1-1 draw for Cagliari.
Dusan Vlahovic put Juve ahead with a penalty of his own in the 15th minute on Sunday.
Sebastiano Luperto, making his 150th appearance in Serie A, had been judged to have handled in the area after a VAR check.
Yet despite dominating the ball, with 73.7% possession, Juve were unable to find a decisive second goal, with Vlahovic guilty of squandering a fantastic chance in the 79th minute.
And they were made to pay when Marin converted from the spot after Douglas Luiz fouled Roberto Piccoli.
Juve's frustration was compounded when Francisco Conceicao picked up his second yellow card in the 89th minute, with the post then denying Adam Obert a last-gasp winner for Cagliari.
Data Debrief: Juve's defence finally breached
Juve were rocked by a season-ending injury to defender Bremer this week, albeit they looked largely untroubled until the late penalty drama.
Marin's penalty was the first time Juve have conceded in Serie A in 755 minutes of action, since Ricardo Calafiori's goal for Bologna back on May 20.
Thiago Motta will lament some wasteful finishing, with Juve having 21 shots and tallying up 2.57 expected goals (xG) to Cagliari's 1.12.
Kawhi Leonard says he is feeling "good and getting stronger" as the Los Angeles Clippers small forward continues his recovery from a knee injury.
The two-time NBA champion missed the final eight games of the 2023-24 regular season after suffering inflammation in his right knee, as well as most of the Clippers' first-round series defeat to the Dallas Mavericks in the playoffs.
Leonard has since undergone surgery and heavily focused on strengthening his knee during the Clippers' training camp in Hawaii.
However, the 33-year-old knows he must not rush his return to competitive action, or playing in successive games.
"I feel good. [I have] just been taking my time, getting stronger and getting ready," he said during the Clippers' 91-90 pre-season defeat to the Golden State Warriors, in which he did not feature.
"We're just taking it slow, day by day, and just trying to get me back on the floor. Once those conversations come, we'll see what they're talking about [on the best approach for back-to-backs]."
Leonard played 68 regular-season games last term, his most in a single campaign since 2016-17.
And while he wants to feature as regularly as possible this season, he is focused on maintaining his fitness for the crunch stages of the campaign.
"This is what I work for," he added. "I strive to get a championship, and I'm not out there to try to [solely] play 82 games.
"I'm trying to win, even though [playing as much as I can] that's obligated for me. I try to. But it hasn't worked out [the last two post-seasons], so we'll see."
Mikel Arteta has hailed Bukayo Saka's maturity and labelled what the Arsenal winger is producing as "unbelievable".
Saka produced two assists and scored Arsenal's third goal in the Gunners' 3-1 comeback win over Southampton on Saturday.
The England international leads the way for chances created (27), big chances created (12), assists (seven) and expected assists (3.16) in the Premier League this season, while only Manchester City's Bernardo Silva (19) has crafted more opportunities from open play than Saka (17).
With Martin Odegaard out injured, Saka has also taken on the responsibility of captain, and Arteta is thrilled with what the 23-year-old is delivering.
"That's the maturity and that's the steps that players have to do. He has been long enough in the team now, he has the right to have that role," said the Arsenal manager, as quoted by Sky Sports.
"He believes in that, that he has the capacity to change games, to decide games, like many other players, and he wants to be at the top.
"I think it's another step ahead, and it's what he wants.
"Do it at home, do it away, do it in big games, in the not-so-big games, and when the team needs it, not when it's 3-0. That is what defines a top, top player.
"What he's doing at his age is unbelievable. We have many examples of that as well."
Saka's next goal in the Premier League will be his 50th for Arsenal.
Since his debut in late 2018, only Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (50) has netted more goals in the competition for the Gunners than Saka (49).
Indeed, in that time, Saka leads Arsenal for chances created (320), big chances created (54) and assists (42), having played 177 times in the top flight, 35 times more than any other Gunners player.
Jannik Sinner came from a set down to overcome Tomas Martin Etcheverry to progress at the Shanghai Masters.
Sinner, who came from behind in both of his first two matches at the China Open, where he eventually lost in the final to Carlos Alcaraz, had to showcase his fighting spirit once more on Sunday.
The world number one eventually prevailed 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 6-2, requiring two hours and 39 minutes to get the job done.
Standing in the way of Sinner and a place in the quarter-finals will be either Roberto Carballes Baena or Ben Shelton.
Earlier on Sunday, Daniil Medvedev also came from behind to claim a 5-7 6-4 6-4 victory over Matteo Arnaldi.
"It was a very tough match, a very close one," said Medvedev. "I actually felt like that’s where tennis is funny. I felt like in the first set, I was probably the better player, had more opportunities. I didn’t manage to [win] it, played a bad game at the end of the set.
"In the other sets, I thought it was closer. Maybe even he had the edge on some of the moments, but that's why tennis is crazy.
"You can win when you don’t expect it, and lose when you expect to win, so I’m happy to be here again in two days."
Data Debrief: Master of the Masters
Moving to a record 74-26, only four players since the format's introduction in 1990 have claimed more wins from their first 100 ATP 1000 matches than Sinner (74).
Sinner is behind only Rafael Nadal (83), Stefan Edberg (77), Pete Sampras (76) and Jim Courier (75).
Inter must improve defensively if they are to go on and retain their Serie A crown this season, so says Simone Inzaghi.
Marcus Thuram's hat-trick propelled Inter to a 3-2 victory over 10-man Torino on Saturday.
It was Inter's second 3-2 win on the spin in Serie A, moving them up to second.
Inter only conceded seven shots, but five of those were on target, with Torino's 1.61 expected goals (xG) showing the visitors created decent openings at San Siro, where Nikola Vlasic converted a late penalty to set up a grandstand finale.
"Clearly, we need to improve in some aspects, we pay a heavy price for every tiny distraction," said Inzaghi, who has seen Inter concede two goals in successive league matches for the first time since May 2023.
"We worked really hard on details that need to be whittled down, the lads have great spirit, but considering everything we did today, today's game shouldn't have ended 3-2.
"Seeing a team perform like this in three matches makes me want to congratulate these guys. We need to keep working the way we are, and in our penalty area, we all need to be more attentive.
"We're working on it, and we need to do more. Over the past two days, the team has trained extremely well, and we're trying to pay even more attention to the finer details."
Hat-trick hero Thuram, meanwhile, says the entire team must step up when it comes to defending.
"It's also the fault of the attackers, not just the defenders or the goalkeeper," he said.
"We are eleven players on the pitch and not conceding goals is part of everyone's job. We will try to improve in the upcoming games.
"There’s a lot of work, especially in the penalty area. For me, scoring is always a great feeling, but I always want to remain a player who helps the team above all."
Thuram's haul was the third time he has scored at least twice in a match this season, matching Erling Haaland.
Indeed, in 2024, only Juventus' Dusan Vlahovic has scored more Serie A goals than Thuram (13).
Real Madrid's Dani Carvajal could be set to miss the rest of the season after suffering a cruciate ligament injury.
Carvajal had to be taken off late on in Saturday's LaLiga meeting with Villarreal, which Madrid won 2-0 thanks to goals from Federico Valverde and Vinicius Junior.
The 32-year-old and the club subsequently confirmed he will have to go under the knife.
"Serious cruciate ligament injury confirmed, I'll have to undergo surgery and be off the field for a few months," Carvajal said on Instagram.
"Looking forward to starting the recovery process and coming back like an animal. Thank you all for your messages, I feel very loved."
After the match, Carlo Ancelotti said: "It looks like a pretty serious knee injury, the dressing room is sad and worried.
"It's something that happens a lot of times because of the calendar and it's happened to a very important player for us.
"He is a fundamental player for us because of his experience.
"I've been talking to him and he's sad, but there's not much we can do. We are going to see the medical evaluation and think about him recovering. The doctor has told us that he has to do tests, but that it's a knee injury."
Asked how he may replace Carvajal in Madrid's starting XI, Ancelotti said: "We have Lucas Vazquez, but it's not the time to talk about this.
"We are going to wait and if the injury is serious we are going to manage the squad well and see who we put in this position. It will not be me."
Vinicius also suffered an injury against Villarreal, with Madrid confirming the Brazil star had a cervical issue.
The victory took Los Blancos level on points with Barcelona at the summit of LaLiga, ahead of the Blaugrana facing Deportivo Alaves on Sunday.
Novak Djokovic was relieved to edge past Alex Michelsen at the Shanghai Masters as his quest for a 100th career title got up and running.
Djokovic, who has won the tournament in China on four occasions, needed almost two hours to overcome his American opponent on Saturday, eventually doing so 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (11-9).
The Serbian's slow start was punished by Michelsen, who raced into a 4-1 lead in the opening set, with Djokovic managing just three points from the first three games.
But the 24-time grand slam champion rallied to take the first set to win his 11th tie-break from the 15 he has played this season.
"It was the first match against Alex and I also hadn't played in a while, so it took me a little time to get the rust off," said Djokovic after his first match sine the US Open.
“He started off terrifically; big serves and an aggressive style of tennis, he's not afraid to step it up and take it to his opponent."
Djokovic then led 4-1 in the second, only to allow Michelsen back into the contest, but the Serbian held his nerve in the decisive tie-break, saving two set points to advance.
The 37-year-old has now won 35 of the 40 matches he has contested at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Shanghai - more than any other player.
Djokovic is also the only player in history (since 1990) to win all nine ATP Masters 1000 titles, a feat he has achieved twice on his way to a record 40 titles at this level.
He is yet to reach a final in the series this year, with the Serbian acknowledging the difficulties he faced against his American opponent.
"I was 4-1 up, 15/40, and he hit the net-cord that went over. It could easily have been 6-1 for me in the second,” Djokovic said.
"But at this level, things can change very quickly.
"It was a very close encounter and I thought a high level of tennis in both sets. I'm just glad to keep calm when it mattered in the second-set tie-break.
"I'm glad to really be challenged by a young player, and I'm looking forward to the next one."
Up next for Djokovic is either Italian Flavio Cobolli or wildcard Stan Wawrinka.
Pep Guardiola is not worried about Manchester City's defending despite the reigning champions failing to keep a clean sheet in their last six Premier League matches.
City went 1-0 down against Fulham before fighting back to win 3-2 on Saturday. Their opponents also amassed an expected goals (xG) total of 2.4 compared to City's 1.55.
It follows a trend of unusually sloppy defensive displays from the champions, who have conceded eight goals in their last six league matches. They also had to come from behind against Brentford in September.
Guardiola, however, is not overly worried.
"Sometimes I give credit. The first goal – why don't we give credit to them rather than [be critical] defensively? There are actions we can defend better but step by step we will improve," he said, via the Guardian.
"I would say except [Yoane] Wissa against Brentford, in the other ones we were playing good. It's not nice to come back from 0-1 but we created chances today to go 1-0 and 2-0."
City allowed Fulham five big chances compared to their one, with the London side taking 11 shots, nine of those from inside the box.
Comparatively, City had 20 shots with only half of those coming from inside the box. However, two of the visitors’ goals came from outside the area with Jeremy Doku and Mateo Kovacic both firing in from distance.
"I'm very happy he scored two goals, he's not a guy to score [usually] those goals," Guardiola said of Kovacic, who is one of the midfielders the City boss expects to fill in for the injured Rodri this season.
“We started really well with two chances in two minutes and they switched immediately to five at the back. When they do that, we have one man free on the 18-yard box and that is Kovacic.
"The two goals were because they couldn't defend that. We have to exploit that more against teams that don’t play five at the back – now opponents know that they can’t leave him [Kovacic] alone, otherwise he will score a goal."
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