Inter Milan earned their fourth straight Serie A win after beating Lecce 2-0 at San Siro.
The hosts had plenty of chances to go in front in the first half and Yann Aurel Bisseck finally made the breakthrough just before half-time.
Hamza Rafia had a header saved as Lecce searched for an equaliser, but Nicolo Barella doubled Inter’s lead and the visitors were reduced to 10 in the final stages when Lameck Banda was sent off.
Victory sees Inter stay top of the Serie A table by four points, while Lecce remain 12th.
Wladimiro Falcone was called into action early as Marcus Thuram fired a low cross into Henrikh Mkhitaryan, but the Lecce goalkeeper was able to clear the ball.
He made another solid save in the 18th minute when Carlos Augusto cut in from the left and had his shot from a tight angle blocked.
Inter should have taken the lead in the 21st minute when some great link-up play between Barella and Thuram allowed Barella to thread the ball through to Marko Arnautovic, who dragged his shot wide of the post from close range.
The hosts dominated in possession but Lecce had chances of their own. Remi Oudin sent in a great cross from the left but Banda could only head wide, before Antonio Gallo unleashed a powerful shot that flew over the bar.
Inter nearly opened the scoring in the 39th minute when Hakan Calhanoglu whipped in a corner and Bisseck’s strike smashed off the crossbar.
The defender made no mistake in the 42nd minute, though, as Calhanoglu fired a free-kick into the box and Bisseck was able to head into the bottom corner.
Lecce threatened early in the second half and they had a penalty overturned after a handball was incorrectly given when Valentin Gendrey’s strike was blocked by Carlos Augusto.
Banda had another crack with a low strike from outside of the area, but Yann Sommer made a comfortable save diving to his right, before Bisseck met another dangerous Calhanoglu cross and forced Falcone to tip his header over the bar.
Lecce had a great chance when Gallo did well to keep the ball in play and chipped the ball into the box but Rafia’s header was easily collected by Sommer.
Inter doubled their lead in the 78th minute after some great awareness on the edge of the box saw Arnautovic backheel the ball to Barella and the midfielder fired the ball into the bottom corner.
Any chance of a comeback soon diminished for the visitors in the 83rd minute when they were reduced to 10 after Banda was sent off for dissent.
Inter continued their search for a third at the death and Falcone made an incredible double save in the 87th minute, clawing the ball off the goal line before making an acrobatic effort to tip Kristjan Asllani’s long-range effort over the bar.
KC, JC through to Manning Cup semis as champs Mona booted
A new ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup champion will be crowned after Kingston College (KC) registered a decisive 2-0 victory over reigning titleholders Mona High in their Group A quarterfinal showdown at Stadium East on Friday.
Kvist Paul (8th) and Demario Dailey (70th) did the damage for Kingston College in a win that not only ended Mona's campaign but also propelled the North Street-based team into the semifinals alongside Jamaica College (JC), who trounced Tivoli High 4-0 in a simultaneous fixture at the Ashenheim Stadium.
By virtue of the results, Jamaica College topped the group on seven points, one point ahead of Kingston College (six points), while Tivoli High (three points) and Mona High (one point) will now turn their focus to the Walker Cup knockout competition for redemption.
Kingston College’s Head coach, Vassell Reynolds, lauded his team's composure and execution.
"It was a fantastic performance. We knew Mona would come out strong, but the boys stuck to the game plan and delivered when it mattered. Now, we look ahead to the semifinals, but as always, we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. The aim is to keep the boys grounded and focused, and we will see what happens when that time comes,” Reynolds said.
With a lot at stake for Mona in particular heading into the contest, it was expected to be a close affair, but the manner in which Kingston College started ensured otherwise.
In fact, Mona had very little say in the contest as Kingston College’s show of intent resulted in an early strike inside 10 minutes. Damaine Smith delivered a perfectly placed corner kick, which Paul rose to meet and headed past Mona's goalkeeper, Riquelme Edwards.
Mona High, desperate to respond, almost found themselves further behind in the 15th minute when Dailey fired wide from a promising position.
As Mona struggled to contain Kingston College’s tactical discipline and attacking enterprise, Deshawn Byfield almost added his name to the scoresheet but had his effort dramatically cleared off the line by Dante Peralto.
Despite KC’s dominance, Mona’s goalkeeper Edwards produced a string of superb saves to keep his team in contention.
Just before halftime, he acrobatically parried a powerful shot from Kajay Fletcher, diving full stretch to his right, and Byfield failed to capitalize on the rebound.
Seconds later, Edwards was called upon again to deny a stinging shot from Smith.
Matrim Martin then unleashed a venomous right-footer, but Edwards once more stood tall, ensuring the scoreline remained 1-0 at the break.
The purples continued to assert their authority on the resumption as Dailey threatened in the 68th with a firm shot from close range that went straight at Edwards.
However, the Kingston College striker, sporting the number nine jersey, made amends two minutes later. Sent on his way by a brisk through pass, Dailey powered a low drive past a flat-footed Edwards to double Kingston College’s lead and effectively end Mona’s hopes of a comeback.
Clarke hails solid Scotland as Croatia win boosts Nations League survival hopes
Steve Clarke credited Scotland's defensive resilience after they boosted their hopes of remaining in the top tier of the Nations League by beating Croatia 1-0 at Hampden Park.
John McGinn came off the bench to score the all-important goal as Scotland took advantage of Petar Sucic's sending-off to claim their first win of the 2024-25 Nations League campaign.
The result – coupled with Poland's crushing 5-1 defeat in Portugal – means Scotland will stave off automatic relegation to League B if they win in Warsaw on Monday.
While Clarke felt Scotland could have done more with the ball, he was impressed both with their off-the-ball work and with the impact of super sub McGinn.
"My first thoughts when I came off the pitch were that we could play better," Clarke said.
"We could be more clinical when we get to the final third of the pitch. The sending off changed the game, but we were due a little break.
"This is a group of players that want to be successful, want to do well for their country.
"That's another clean sheet, two in a row. If you don't concede goals, you always have a chance to win the game.
"It was nice to get John on the pitch and I thought his finish was really good because it wasn't easy. It was nice to be able to look at the bench behind and know we had people who could come on and affect the game. It's nice when we get everybody fit and available."
The victory was Scotland's first in a competitive match since September 2023, when they beat Cyprus 3-0 in Euro 2024 qualifying.
They had gone 10 games without a competitive victory since then, drawing four and losing six, including a return of just one point from three outings at Euro 2024.
Denmark 1-2 Spain: Oyarzabal and Perez on target as Roja secure top spot
Spain secured top spot in Group A4 of the Nations League with one match to spare after defeating Denmark 2-1 in Copenhagen.
Mikel Oyarzabal and Ayoze Perez were on the scoresheet as the unbeaten Roja made it four wins and a draw to pull six points clear of the second-placed Danes.
Luis de la Fuente's side capitalised on a poor pass from Denmark centre-back Jannik Vestergaard to open the scoring as Oyarzabal latched on to a ball from Perez and finished past Kasper Schmeichel in the 15th minute.
Villarreal forward Perez then doubled the visitors' lead in the 58th minute after Dani Olmo turned provider with a defence-splitting pass.
The hosts reduced the deficit with six minutes of regulation time left, as Fabian Ruiz's back pass to goalkeeper David Raya was intercepted by Gustav Isaksen, who had been denied by the woodwork moments earlier, and he slotted into an open goal to set up a tense ending.
But the Spaniards held on for the win and will now face Switzerland in their final group game on Monday, before taking part in the quarter-finals, scheduled for March.
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