Lautaro Martinez scored a second-half brace as Inter Milan moved top of Serie A after easing to a 4-0 victory over Fiorentina to extend their 100 per cent start to the season at San Siro.
The hosts began to press from the off and Denzel Dumfries half-tested returning Fiorentina goalkeeper Oliver Christensen – who missed Thursday’s Europa Conference League qualifying play-off with Rapid Vienna – with an easy shot.
Marcus Thuram headed Dumfries’ cross straight at Christensen after 11 minutes as Inter looked for an opener.
Eight minutes later, the home side came close with their first real chance of note as Thuram continued to cause Fiorentina problems but he fired over the crossbar after a nice run.
The summer signing from Borussia Monchengladbach did finally break the deadlock with his first goal for Inter midway through the first half.
Federico Dimarco whipped in a well-timed cross to pick out Thuram, whose powerful header from the centre of the box beat Christensen.
The hosts came close to doubling their lead on the half-hour mark and Thuram was again well placed to claim his brace but he could not turn Alessandro Bastoni’s cross home as he fired over.
The Viola were pushing hard for an equaliser as the half started to draw to a close but were yet to really test Inter goalkeeper Yann Sommer.
While – at the other end – a brilliant Inter free-kick from Turkey midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu was well kept out by the diving Christensen and Thuram fired another wasted chance over on the stroke of half-time.
Fiorentina looked like they might try their luck early in the second half but were easily thwarted by the Nerazzurri, who proved too strong for their opponents and found their rhythm soon afterwards.
The hosts doubled their lead – following a chance where Dumfries struck the post – after 53 minutes as Martinez went on a run from outside the box and slotted home Thuram’s cross with a great strike straight down the middle.
Inter were given the chance to extend their lead further before the half-hour mark as they were awarded a penalty for a foul by Christensen on Thuram.
Calhanoglu made no mistake to score his first goal of the season as he sent his powerful spot-kick to the keeper’s bottom-left, leaving Christensen diving down to his right.
Inter continued to dominate and put the result beyond doubt with 17 minutes remaining as Martinez tapped the ball home after beating his opponent to substitute Juan Cuadrado’s inch-perfect cross into the box.
Fiorentina could find no reply as the hosts kept their clean-sheet record intact for the season while moving above rivals AC Milan at the top of the table.
Hurtig the hero after late goal sends Arsenal into Champions League quarters
Lina Hurtig's 89th minute winner ensured Arsenal progressed to the quarter-finals of the Women's Champions League after edging Juventus 1-0 on Thursday.
After being frustrated for large parts of the encounter, Hurtig bundled home from close range after Martina Lenzini's poor clearance to book the Gunners' place in the last eight.
Despite Arsenal dominating the early exchanges, it was Juventus who had the first sight of goal, though Eva Schatzer's effort was easy for Daphne van Domselaar to gather.
In a first half that saw just two shots on target, both coming from the visitors, Renee Slegers' substitutes proved to be the difference for Arsenal.
Slegers introduced Beth Mead, Stina Blackstenius and Hurtig late on, with the latter somehow putting Kim Little's cross over the bar from five yards out.
However, the Swede would atone for her earlier error, combining with fellow substitute Blackstenius to net against her former club and send them out of the competition with two group games remaining.
Meanwhile, in Group D, Barcelona edged closer to the quarter-finals of the competition with a convincing 4-1 victory over St. Polten at the Generali Arena.
The reigning champions are still three points behind Manchester City following their 2-1 win over Hammarby, and know a win against the Swedes next month will see them progress.
Kika Nazareth opened the scoring in the 20th minute after capitalising on a mistake by Kamila Dubcova, notching her second nine minutes later from close range.
Barca found themselves three goals up at the break when Vicky Lopez netted her first goal in the competition to put the result beyond doubt.
There was also a landmark moment for Alexia Putellas, who netted her 200th goal for the club with a well-taken effort into the far corner.
Valentina Madl took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive display from the visitors, who have now taken their tally to 20 goals from their four matches in the competition.
Guardiola agrees two-year contract extension with Man City
Pep Guardiola will be Manchester City manager for at least two more seasons after 2024-25, after he signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday.
The 53-year-old was coming to the end of his City deal, which was due to expire at the end of the current campaign, but he has opted to remain at the Etihad Stadium.
The deal itself will take Guardiola's tenure at the club to over a decade, making him City's longest-serving manager since Les McDowall in 1963.
There had been suggestions that he may leave at the end of the season following the announcement that director of football Txiki Begiristain was on his way out.
Guardiola was strongly linked with the England job after Gareth Southgate resigned in the wake of their Euro 2024 final defeat, but the Football Association appointed Thomas Tuchel last month.
“Manchester City means so much to me," Guardiola said. “This is my ninth season here; we have experienced so many amazing times together. I have a really special feeling for this football club.
“That is why I am so happy to be staying for another two more seasons.
“Thank you to everyone for continuing to trust and support me – The Owner, The Chairman Khaldoon, Ferran, Txiki, the players and, of course, the fans… everyone connected to Manchester City. It has always been an honour, a pleasure and a privilege to be here.
“I have said this many times before, but I have everything a manager could ever wish for, and I appreciate that so much.
“Hopefully, now we can add more trophies to the ones we have already won. That will be my focus.”
Having been appointed in 2016, Guardiola is by some distance Manchester City's most successful manager of all time, having won 18 major trophies during his time at the club.
That list includes their first-ever Champions League triumph in 2023 and six Premier League titles, including an unprecedented four on the spin.
He also boasts a 72.04% win percentage across all competitions, which is unsurprisingly the highest of any full-time City manager in history.
Shaw at the double as Man City progress in Champions League
Khadija Shaw scored twice as Manchester City beat Hammarby 2-1 to seal their place in the Women's Champions League quarter-finals.
Gareth Taylor's team entered Thursday's game with a perfect record in Group D, and their fourth win in as many European matches ensured they finished in the top two.
Shaw—the leading scorer in the Women's Super League this season with eight goals—put them ahead in the 31st minute, driving into the area after taking in Yui Hasegawa's pass before seeing her shot deflect into the top corner.
Shaw was booked for celebrating in front of the home fans despite appearing to have objects thrown at her from the stands, and Hammarby should have levelled when Julia Blakstad fired wide 10 minutes later.
The hosts did draw level three minutes into the second half as Ellen Wangerheim tapped home while City's Laura Blindkilde Brown was down appealing for a free-kick.
That parity was short-lived, though, as Shaw blasted into the top corner from 25 yards out, taking her overall tally for this season to 12 goals in all competitions.
In Group C, meanwhile, Bayern Munich lost their perfect record as they played out a 1-1 draw with Valerenga, boosting Arsenal's hopes of topping the pile.
Jovana Damnjanovic came off the bench to put Bayern ahead 15 minutes from time in Norway, but Elise Thorsnes headed home following an 88th-minute corner to snatch a point for the hosts.
Arsenal could now move within a point of Bayern when they face Juventus in Group C's other match later on Thursday.
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