Juventus suffered a second successive Serie A defeat as Gregoire Defrel's fine finish saw Sassuolo win 1-0 on Sunday.
Three days on from beating Sporting CP 1-0 in the Europa League, Juve turned in a tired display at Mapei Stadium, as Sassuolo dented the Bianconeri's Champions League qualification hopes.
Defrel's 64th-minute goal had been coming, with Massimiliano Allegri's team having lived a charmed life at the back while offering little going forward.
Juve found some spark late on, with Adrien Rabiot denied by Andrea Consigli and Angel Di Maria squandering a golden chance, but Sassuolo held firm to beat Juve at home in the league for the first time since October 2015.
Sassuolo carved out the only chance of a muted first half, but Nedim Bajrami failed to keep his shot down from a tight angle.
Danilo should have done better with a near-post header shortly after the restart, though Juve needed stand-in goalkeeper Mattia Perin to thwart Sassuolo soon after.
Having tipped a curling Maxime Lopez shot wide, Perin pulled off a fantastic save from Defrel's close-range header.
Perin could only stand and watch as Federico Gatti headed against the woodwork just after the hour, Juve coming away unscathed after the defender's awful attempt at a clearance.
Yet the pressure eventually told – Defrel arrowing in a brilliant finish on the spin after Nicolo Fagioli's dreadful clearance fell his way.
Juve finally sparked into life, with Rabiot's header forcing Consigli into a superb save before substitute Di Maria blazed over as the visitors' comeback attempts proved fruitless, with Paul Pogba's late cameo from the bench unable to inspire an equaliser.
Brendan Rodgers expects Michael Beale to bounce back after Rangers exit
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has backed Michael Beale to learn from his Rangers experience and be a success in his next job.
Beale was sacked on Sunday after 307 days in the post with Rangers seven points adrift of Celtic in the cinch Premiership following their third league defeat of the season against Aberdeen 24 hours earlier.
Rodgers and Beale were both on the Chelsea coaching staff at the same time and the former Rangers boss was Liverpool Under-21s head coach when the Celtic manager was in charge at Anfield.
“I’m always saddened when any manager loses their job, no matter what club they work at,” said Rodgers when asked for his reaction ahead of Celtic’s Champions League clash with Lazio.
“When you manage Celtic or Rangers, they are big-pressure jobs. I am sure Michael will go away and reflect on his time here and no doubt he will he come back in again, he is an outstanding young coach and manager.
“He will go away and reflect on the pressure he was under and the expectation and the stress that this job can bring, and he will learn from it and go on and get another job and make a success of it, I am pretty sure.
“Whatever club, whoever it is, it’s not nice when someone loses their role and position.
“I hope for him the best for the future, of course.”
Kevin Muscat, Frank Lampard and Pascal Jansen are among the bookmakers’ favourites to succeed Beale.
Former Rangers player Muscat led Yokohama F Marinos to the J-League title last season, following in the footsteps of his coaching mentor Ange Postecoglou, who clinched the treble for Celtic last term with the help of two Hampden wins over Beale’s side.
Lampard is available following underwhelming spells in charge of both Everton and Chelsea last season while Jansen’s AZ Alkmaar side sit second in the Eredivisie after making the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League last season.
T&T's Defence Force, Dom Rep's Moca to lock horns in do-or-die battle for semi-final berth
An epic showdown awaits in Group A of the 2023 Concacaf Caribbean Cup, as Trinidad and Tobago's Defence Force hosts Moca of the Dominican Republic in a winner-takes-all affair on at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Port of Spain, on Wednesday.
Moca go into the contest with the slight advantage, as they sit second in the group with six points, a single point ahead of Defence Force. The visitors from the Dominican Republic only require a draw to secure a semifinals berth, but a full three points could be enough to see them leap into first place, should currently leaders Cavalier falter in their visit to Golden Lion.
For Defence Force, the mission is straightforward; win and they are in. A full three points would guarantee a semifinals spot and could possibly be enough to win the group as well.
Moca have wins over Port of Spain (1-0) and Golden Lion (3-0) to put themselves in this position to advance, while Defence Force played to draws with Cavalier (1-1) and Port of Spain (1-1) and earned a victory over Golden Lion (1-0).
Defence Force will be turning to the likes of Reon Moore, Jamali Garcia and Christopher Biggette to get the job done. In the tournament, Moore has a pair of goals and an assist, while Garcia has been a tireless worker in midfield with 152 passes completed and eight ball recoveries.
Biggette has been solid in net, making 13 saves, 10 clearances and recording a clean sheet.
Moca will be out to have a strong start to nail down a positive result and the duo of Gustavo Ascona and Victor Sanchez can help get them there. Ascona has a goal from six shots taken, while Sanchez is coming off a brace against Golden Lion.
No doubt an exciting contest awaits between two sides with everything on the line.
Cameron Carter-Vickers may make early return to boost Celtic against Lazio
Cameron Carter-Vickers could be in line for a surprise recall when Celtic host Lazio in the Champions League on Wednesday.
The centre-back has not played since suffering a hamstring injury against Aberdeen on August 13.
With Gustaf Lagerbielke missing through suspension following his red card in the Group E opener against Feyenoord, and Maik Nawrocki and Stephen Welsh still out through injury, Rodgers has limited options in central defence.
Liam Scales is set to continue in the team following his impressive recent form, while on-loan Liverpool Nat Phillips is available after coming off the bench at Motherwell on Saturday to make his first appearance since suffering an ankle injury on his debut against Dundee on September 16.
Manager Brendan Rodgers said: “In terms of Nat, he came through fine so he will be available.
“Cam, we wouldn’t take a risk unless he was fit. He has come through really, really well. He is further down the road than we thought.
“He has had a real good week of training and he’s been doing lots of other work out on the field before that.
“I said before that it (his return) might have been after the international break but he’s made great progress, so we will just assess that to see if he can be in for the squad (on Wednesday) and if he is, then obviously it would be great news for us.”
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