Edin Dzeko and Lautaro Martinez headlined a spectacular Inter performance as they dismantled relegation-threatened Hellas Verona in a 6-0 victory in Serie A, scoring two goals apiece.

The Nerazzurri ran riot against their hosts at Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi to boost their Champions League qualification prospects on Wednesday.

A long-range strike from Hakan Calhanoglu and an Adolfo Gaich own goal piled further misery on Verona, helping Simone Inzaghi's visitors move back above Atalanta into Serie A's top four.

The victory also proved an emphatic warm-up for their upcoming Champions League semi-final tie against rivals Milan, though for Verona and Marco Zaffaroni, it leaves them grasping at straws in their battle for safety.

Inter laid siege to the Verona box from the first whistle, though they had to wait half an hour for their opener, Gaich turning Federico Dimarco's cross into his own net following a string of great Lorenzo Montipo saves.

The attacker's calamitous intervention unlocked the floodgates for the Nerazzurri, who doubled their lead six minutes later when Calhanoglu lofted a spectacular 30-yard effort into the top-left corner after he was left unmarked. 

A prompt error from the restart by Verona allowed Martinez to capitalise, sending Dzeko away on the break for a smooth finish, and the visitors had effectively sealed the game before half-time had even come into view.

There was more punishment to come for the hosts however, with Martinez offering just 10 minutes of respite after the interval before he chipped Montipo for the fourth to keep the onslaught going.

Dzeko nabbed his double shortly past the hour mark after sweeping home a low finish from a counter-attack, and Martinez joined him with a two-goal haul in the final seconds after a scrappy close-range effort.

Dusan Vlahovic's fine volley saw Juventus end a five-game winless run with a 2-1 victory over Lecce in Serie A, boosting the Bianconeri's hopes of Champions League qualification. 

Vlahovic fired home on the turn to hand Massimiliano Allegri's men their first league win since April 1, deciding an entertaining contest at the Allianz Stadium.

Leandro Paredes had earlier seen his terrific free-kick cancelled out by Assan Ceesay's penalty, while both teams had goals disallowed for offside in an open first half.

While Lecce continued to test the Bianconeri backline after the break, Vlahovic's first league goal since February 7 ultimately proved decisive, piling the pressure on Juve's rivals in a fascinating battle for a top-four finish.

Juve survived an early scare as Ceesay was caught offside when tapping home, but the Bianconeri hit the front in spectacular fashion after 15 minutes, Paredes bending his free-kick around the wall and into the bottom-left corner from 25 yards out.

Fabio Miretti thought he had his first senior goal 10 minutes later as he volleyed Nicolo Fagioli's dinked pass home, but a VAR review saw the Juve youngster ruled offside.

Juve then suffered two further blows as they lost Mattia De Sciglio to a serious-looking knee injury before Danilo's clumsy handball allowed Ceesay to level from the penalty spot.

However, Lecce were level for just three minutes as Vlahovic spun on Filip Kostic's left-wing cross, finding the bottom-left corner from near the edge of the area.

Miretti was guilty of a glaring miss when he prodded wide after the interval, before Danilo crashed a header against the right-hand post.

Wojciech Szczesny's reflex save denied Ceesay as Lecce threatened another equaliser, but Juve stood firm to leapfrog Lazio into second, ahead of their game against Sassuolo later on Wednesday.

One day after being announced as the NBA's most valuable player, Joel Embiid could return from a right knee injury when the Philadelphia 76ers visit the Boston Celtics for Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Wednesday.

Embiid took part in the team's shootaround on Wednesday morning, and he now has a chance to suit up for the first time since Game 3 of the first round against the Brooklyn Nets.

Embiid sat out Game 4 of the opening round on April 22 due to a sprained ligament in the knee as Philadelphia swept Brooklyn. 

The six-time All-Star then missed Game 1 of the semifinals in Boston on Monday, as the 76ers won 119-115 behind James Harden's 45 points.

Embiid finally won MVP honours on Tuesday after runner-up finishes in the previous two seasons. 

He averaged a career-best 33.1 points in 2022-23 to claim his second straight scoring title, also adding 10.2 rebounds and a career high-tying 4.2 assists per game.

Embiid also set a personal best by shooting 54.8 per cent from the field, while his 66 games were the second-most he has played during a single campaign in his career.

A 10-man Real Madrid faltered once again in the LaLiga title race as Takefusa Kubo haunted his former club after scoring in a 2-0 win for Real Sociedad.

Barcelona snatched a 1-0 victory over Osasuna prior to Tuesday's kick-off at Reale Arena, where Madrid offered little without the suspended Vinicius Junior or the rested Karim Benzema.

Kubo – who joined La Real from Los Blancos last July – scored just past half-time and, after Dani Carvajal received his marching orders for two cautions, Ander Barrenetxea made sure of victory for the hosts.

Next week's Champions League semi-final clash at Manchester City appears the priority for Madrid now over LaLiga, where they trail leaders Barca by 14 points with five games to play.

Alex Remiro made an expert stop to deny Eder Militao with a sixth-minute header bound for the top-right corner before La Real steadied their early nerves.

Martin Zubimendi turned Alexander Sorloth's near-post flick-on onto the crossbar from point-blank range, while Thibaut Courtois repelled a glorious David Silva chance with his feet.

Mikel Oyarzabal saw a penalty appeal for a foul by Militao rejected as Sociedad continued in the ascendancy, albeit without a first-half reward arriving.

Yet their dominance told immediately after the interval when Kubo capitalised on a stray Militao pass back to Courtois and poked into an empty net.

Matters worsened for Madrid as Carvajal was sent off for a second needless lunge on Aihen Munoz, before Barrenetxea sealed the deal in the 85th minute when he smashed a low finish into the bottom-left corner.

What does it mean? Immaculate Imanol plan has Madrid reeling…again

La Real coach Imanol Alguacil has taken more points off Madrid in LaLiga than any other manager in the competition's history, moving past Paco Lopez (10) after making it 12 in 10 games (W3 D3 L4).

While the visitors were without star winger Vinicius, Los Blancos had won all three fixtures this season when he had not featured and avoided conceding in those outings.

Then there was Carlo Ancelotti's decision to rest Benzema, displaying the Italian's obvious priority – Alguacil may have Madrid's number but Los Blancos' calling card remains firmly with the Champions League.

King Kubo

Loan spells at Mallorca, Villarreal and Getafe marked an unsuccessful spell in Kubo's Madrid career, with Los Blancos showing little interest in keeping him.

But the La Real forward made his former side pay here, scoring his eighth goal in 30 LaLiga games for Alguacil's side – two more than in his previous four seasons combined (six goals in 94 outings).

More needed from Militao

Miliato went close in the opening stages to scoring his sixth headed goal this season in Europe's top-five leagues – no player can match his current mark of five either.

Yet the Brazil centre-back's momentary lapse in concentration in the second period, crumbling under the pressure of Sorloth before rolling in Kubo, will be what this performance is remembered for.

What's next?

Madrid face Osasuna in the Copa del Rey final on Saturday, a week before La Real host Girona in LaLiga.

Jordi Alba spared Barcelona's blushes against a defiant 10-man Osasuna after his late strike earned the hosts a 1-0 LaLiga win at Camp Nou on Tuesday.

The substitute tucked a low finish past Aitor Fernandez at the near post in the closing stages to keep the Blaugrana on the march to the title.

It delivered crucial relief for Xavi's side after they had largely failed to make the most out of an extra body against the visitors, following Jorge Herrando's 26th-minute red card.

The win moves Barca onto 82 points and potentially just a couple of games away from clinching a first LaLiga title since the 2018-19 campaign.

An otherwise tepid game that had mustered little in the way of excitement burst into life shortly before the half-hour mark when Osasuna debutant Herrando brought down Pedri as the last man.

Referee Javier Iglesias brandished a straight red to end the 22-year-old's involvement, before Raphinha brushed the crossbar with the subsequent 30-yard free-kick.

Barca still looked below their best however and were forced to withdraw a limping Gavi before the break, though Ronald Araujo went close with a low header from a set-piece.

With their man advantage, the hosts stepped up their attempts to find an opener after the interval, with Ousmane Dembele firing wide at close range just after the hour mark.

Robert Lewandowski looked to have finally made the breakthrough with less than a quarter-hour left, only for Ferran Torres to be flagged offside as the hosts feared they would have to settle for a share of the spoils.

But Alba was there to net the winner in the 85th minute, slotting a neat strike between Fernandez and the post to send the home crowd into raptures.

Juventus missed the opportunity to go second in Serie A as they were held to a 1-1 draw away at Bologna on Sunday.

Second-placed Lazio were beaten 3-1 by Inter earlier in the day, yet Riccardo Orsolini smashed home a first-half penalty at Renato Dall'Ara to leave Juve fearing a fourth straight league defeat.

Those concerns were not helped when Arkadiusz Milik missed a chance to level from the spot, but he brilliantly fired in after the interval to deny Bologna a first Serie A win over the Bianconeri in 22 attempts.

Juve remain below Lazio and crucially just three points ahead of Inter, Milan and Roma in fourth, fifth and sixth, and they face a real dogfight over the final six games if they are to finish in the Champions League places.

The hosts were ahead after just 10 minutes, a lengthy VAR review adjudging Danilo to have brought down Orsolini before the winger picked himself up off the turf to thump his penalty into the bottom-right corner.

Lukasz Skorupski preserved his side's lead with a sensational double-stop from Nicolo Fagioli, and the goalkeeper came up big again shortly after.

The referee initially awarded a free-kick after Milik was pushed over by Jhon Lucumi, but the VAR found the foul to have occurred inside the Bologna box. Skorupski was not fooled by the striker's hop-skip-and-a-jump penalty technique, though, comfortably getting down to his right to save.

Milik was more ruthless in the second half, however, bouncing back from his poor spot-kick to brilliantly lash a first-time snap-shot into the bottom corner and level.

There were big chances at either end in the closing stages, but neither side could find a winner as Juve at least snapped their losing streak.

Yashasvi Jaiswal's 124 counted for little as his Rajasthan Royals fell to a six-wicket defeat against the Mumbai Indians thanks to Tim David's stunning cameo at Wankhede on Sunday.

Jaiswal lit up the IPL's 1,000th match with a superb innings, but the five-time champions chased down the 213 target with three balls to spare as David whacked three straight sixes to seal the victory.

The Royals won the toss and elected to bat first, getting off to a strong start as Jaiswal and Jos Buttler combined to get Rajasthan to 72 runs before Buttler was caught off Piyush Chawla's bowling.

The wickets began to tumble around Jaiswal, with no other batsman scoring higher than Buttler's 18, yet he powered his way to a century off just 53 balls to help the Royals to a strong total of 212/7.

The run chase started poorly as captain Rohit Sharma could not mark breaking the Indians' all-time IPL appearance record with a suitably memorable innings, dismissed for just three in the second over of his 190th match for Mumbai.

But Suryakumar Yadav gave the Indians a chance of pulling off the win with his 55 off 29 balls, and though he fell in the 16th, David finished the job with an epic final over, nailing three consecutive maximums to clinch a first win in three for Mumbai.

Jaiswal century in vain

Jaiswal's brilliant 124 is the highest score in this season's IPL and is the joint-most ever recorded by a Rajasthan batsman (also Buttler v Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2021).

The 21-year-old smashed eight sixes and 16 fours on his way to the highest IPL score by an uncapped Indian batter, yet he still ended up on the losing side.

Mumbai win despite Rohit's birthday struggles

Danger man Rohit turned 36 the day of the game, also moving above Kieron Pollard on the Indians' IPL appearance list, with only Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni playing more games for a single team.

He had his team-mates to thank for being able to mark his special day with a win, though, as Mumbai overcame their captain's low score with Cameron Green, Suryakumar and David all getting scores of 40+, the latter making 45 off just 14 deliveries to secure the victory.

Diogo Jota struck a stoppage-time winner as Liverpool clinched a dramatic 4-3 win over Tottenham, who had fought back from three goals down in a remarkable contest at Anfield. 

A week on from their 6-1 defeat to Newcastle United, Spurs looked set for more of the same when Curtis Jones, Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah scored within the first 15 minutes.

Unlike on Tyneside, Spurs showed plenty of fight as Harry Kane and Son Heung-min teed up a grandstand finish, before Richarlison's first league goal for the club levelled things up at 3-3 in stoppage time.

However, as Tottenham prepared to celebrate clinching the unlikeliest of draws, Jota latched onto Lucas Moura's error to fire home, sending Anfield into raptures and moving the Reds above their visitors in the Premier League table.

Julian Alvarez insists "every game is a final" for Manchester City after his stunning winner against Fulham sent Pep Guardiola's side to the Premier League summit.

The Argentina forward secured a narrow 2-1 victory at Craven Cottage, sweeping a wonderful 25-yard strike into the top corner ensuring an eighth-straight league win.

City leapfrogged Arsenal to the top of the table – with a game in hand on the Gunners – while they remain well on course for a potential treble, with a Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid and FA Cup final with Manchester United also on the horizon.

And the World Cup winner encouraged his team-mates to keep pushing in pursuit of their aspirations for the campaign.

"It was a very important win for us today," he told BBC Match of the Day. "We need to keep this going.

"We knew it would never be easy coming here because of the pitch, because of how good Fulham are as a team. We were very happy to withstand the pressure and hold out.

"[Top of the table] is where we wanted to be at the start of the season. Everyone's put in really good work, and now we've reached the top, we need to defend it.

"Every game is a final for us and everyone's going to pull together to make that final effort."

Kyle Walker also acknowledged City cannot afford to relent in their charge, but the England defender dismissed treble talk as he is instead focused on the upcoming showdowns with West Ham and Leeds United.

"[Fulham] was always going to be a tough game after the emotions of Wednesday [against Arsenal]," Walker told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"I think the form is so important. It has been good over the recent couple of months, but we have so much football to be played, and this form needs to continue.

"This is what you live for as a footballer – to be competing at the highest level. I'm not even concentrating on the treble. It's just the next game and getting ready to face West Ham. We need to get another three points at the Etihad and then move on to Leeds."

Paris Saint-Germain's 10 men slipped up at the Ligue 1 summit once again after they suffered a 3-1 loss against a worthy Lorient on Sunday.

Achraf Hakimi's 20th-minute dismissal for a second yellow card followed Enzo Le Fee's surprise opener for the visitors at Parc des Princes.

Although Kylian Mbappe brought Christophe Galtier's side back on equal terms with a controversial finish, goals from Darlin Yongwa and Bamba Dieng handed the hosts another defeat.

It is their third in sixth league matches, although PSG retain a healthy gap to second-placed Marseille, eight points back with a single game in hand.

The signs of a potential PSG implosion were there inside the opening exchanges when Hakimi clattered through Romain Faivre with his studs.

It went from bad to worse for the home side when Le Fee smashed in from six yards following a cut-back, before Hakimi got his marching orders after he lunged in on Yongwa's foot.

Mbappe restored parity with a moment of bizarre opportunity after goalkeeper Yvon Mvogo mistakenly thought he had a free-kick and dropped the ball in his box, allowing the striker to pounce on an open net.

But Lorient would not be kept level for long, and when a defensive block inside the PSG box went awry, Yongwa was there to pounce and claim back the lead.

Despite the man disadvantage, PSG pushed hard for another equaliser after the break, with Sergio Ramos inching a header over before the hour mark.

Lorient picked them off on the counter, however. After Dieng saw a tap-in chalked off for offside late on, he belatedly got his goal after seizing on a long ball for a breakaway goal.

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag singled Victor Lindelof out for praise after another impressive display in Sunday's 1-0 win over Aston Villa.

United have been without Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez over the past few weeks, with the latter set to miss the rest of the season.

Losing both in quick succession seemed a huge blow, but Lindelof and Luke Shaw – who has been moved centrally – have generally done well in their stead.

Lindelof enjoyed arguably one of his best games in a United shirt last weekend against Brighton and Hove Albion as they secured passage to the FA Cup final, and although the Red Devils threw away a lead against Tottenham in midweek, the Sweden international was hardly culpable.

Against in-form Villa at Old Trafford on Sunday, Lindelof routinely seemed to be in the right place at the right time, making a team-high four clearances, including a vital one off the goal-line to deny the visitors a late equaliser.

Clearly, Ten Hag has been impressed, with Lindelof earning chances ahead of maligned club captain Harry Maguire.

"He's playing fantastic," Ten Hag said of Lindelof to BBC Match of the Day.

"Really good games in and out of possession. Today, totally defending in control, but then building up as well, good positioning, good decisions, so we are happy with that.

"The games and life are much easier if you get the second goal earlier or get the second goal. We already have seen we have many players, including Lindelof, who are determined to win the game in attack and defence and that is what you need if you want to be successful."

Victory for United ensured that, even if Liverpool beat Tottenham, Ten Hag's men will end the weekend seven points clear of fifth.

United will also have at least one game in hand on each of the three teams directly below them, meaning a top-four spot is all but theirs with six matches left.

Ten Hag is not taking anything for granted but recognises they are in a good position.

"I'm really happy with the points but also with the performance," Ten Hag continued.

"Really good performance against a Villa side who did not lose in 10 games and scored in every game.

"We were in complete control. It could have been 3-1 or 4-1 [to United], so a really good and impressive performance.

"We have seen character today, we were determined, passionate and we had to win, and we played good football.

"We look from game to game and next we have Brighton, so we need to work hard again. We need to show passion again and not worry about the table.

"We are totally in control [in the race for top four], it's all about us and it's in our hands."

Bayern Munich defeated Hertha Berlin 2-0 at the Allianz Arena on Sunday to leapfrog Borussia Dortmund at the top of the Bundesliga.

Dortmund's 1-1 draw with Bochum on Friday opened the door for Bayern to pounce, and the 10-in-a-row champions just about took advantage against the division's bottom side.

After being frustrated by their opponents for large parts, Serge Gnabry headed in from Joshua Kimmich's dinked pass to open the scoring in the 69th minute.

Kingsley Coman added a second 10 minutes later as Bayern moved one point ahead of Dortmund with four games to go in the German top flight.

Bayern have scored the most first-half goals of any Bundesliga side this term, while Hertha have conceded the joint-most, but the hosts could not find a way past Oliver Christensen.

The Hertha keeper impressively denied Gnabry and Coman, with the latter also having a penalty shout rejected after being challenged by Maximilian Mittelstadt.

Sadio Mane missed headed opportunities either side of half-time, though Tuchel's side did eventually find a way through a little over 20 minutes from time in Bavaria.

Kimmich lofted the ball into the area and Gnabry buried a diving header past Christensen to give Bayern lift-off.

Christensen did well to keep out Coman's attempt shortly after, but the France international made no mistake when controlling Kimmich's pass over the top and sealing the win.

Erling Haaland scored his 50th goal of the season as Manchester City moved above Arsenal at the top of the Premier League with a hard-fought 2-1 victory at Fulham.

The striker broke the deadlock from the penalty spot inside three minutes at Craven Cottage with his record-equalling 34th strike in the Premier League this campaign.

Carlos Vinicius equalised for Fulham before Julian Alvarez's stunning long-range effort sealed an eighth straight league win for Pep Guardiola's side, who moved a point clear of Mikel Arteta's Gunners with a game in hand to come.

City have now won each of their last 14 encounters with the Cottagers, who suffered their sixth defeat in eight games to remain in 10th.

A penalty had been awarded in each of the sides' five previous meetings and less than 90 seconds had elapsed when Simon Hooper pointed to the spot after Tim Ream tripped Alvarez, Haaland making no mistake from 12 yards.

Fulham equalised in the 15th minute when Harry Wilson neatly cushioned a lofted ball into the penalty area for Vinicius to fire home on the volley.

But after Bernd Leno tipped Jack Grealish's curling shot onto the crossbar, City regained the lead in spectacular fashion on 36 minutes, Alvarez whipping a wonderful 25-yard effort into the top-left corner.

The visitors went close to stretching their advantage as Leno produced marvellous reflex saves to deny Haaland and Alvarez early in the second half.

The hosts struggled to find a route back into a scrappy affair after the break, with City holding on to extend their timely winning streak and take another step towards a third successive title.

 

Bruno Fernandes scored his first Premier League goal in nearly three months as Manchester United beat Aston Villa 1-0 at Old Trafford on Sunday to take another big step towards securing a top-four finish.

United threw away a two-goal lead in the midweek draw with Spurs that upset their momentum a little, but returned to winning ways against a Villa side who were threatening to enter top-four contention.

One of the Premier League's form teams since Unai Emery's October appointment, Villa went close to an opener first, though United were good value for the lead when Fernandes punished questionable goalkeeping from Emiliano Martinez.

Despite putting Villa under intense pressure for much of the second half, additional goals were not forthcoming for United, who were ultimately indebted to Victor Lindelof's late goal-line clearance as they held on.

United were also fortunate not to concede in the 19th minute when Diogo Dalot nudged Emiliano Buendia's pass into Alex Moreno's path, the Spaniard's powerful drive crucially blocked by David de Gea.

They nearly capitalised on the let-off nine minutes later, Jadon Sancho teeing up Casemiro to hit the crossbar from 16 yards.

But the breakthrough did arrive just before half-time, Fernandes squeezing in from a tight angle when Martinez could only parry Marcus Rashford's initial effort.

While United continued to dominate after half-time, their final pass was generally dreadful, with Sancho and Christian Eriksen making particularly poor decisions at crucial moments in the attacking third.

Villa almost took full advantage, but Lindelof managed to head Douglas Luiz's shot clear from under the bar, with United surviving late pressure.

Napoli missed a chance to seal their first Serie A title in 33 years as Boulaye Dia's sensational equaliser earned a 1-1 draw for Salernitana.

Inter's victory over Lazio earlier on Sunday meant a win would be enough for Napoli to secure their first Scudetto since the Diego Maradona era.

Mathias Olivera looked set to seal his name in Napoli history after heading the Partenopei ahead in the 62nd minute.

Yet Dia's brilliant 84th-minute effort means Luciano Spalletti's side will have to wait until at least Wednesday to officially win the title.

Stadio Diego Armando Maradona was rocking at kick-off following news of Lazio's defeat, though the home fans had to wait until the 23rd minute for their first clear opening, when Victor Osimhen headed over from a free-kick.

The expectant Napoli faithful had their patience tested as the first half wore on – Amir Rrahmani glancing a header wide and Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa seeing a good effort saved by Guillermo Ochoa.

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia tried his luck from long range after the break, though his shot never had enough dip on it to trouble Ochoa, while Piotr Zielinski sent an acrobatic attempt over.

Zielinski made way for Giacomo Raspadori soon after, and that change immediately and emphatically paid off.

Raspadori delivered a fine outswinging corner, which Olivera brilliantly turned home.

Eljif Elmas dragged wide as Napoli searched for a game-settling second, with Kvaratskhelia going agonisingly close.

Dia made Napoli pay, cutting in from the left, getting the better of Osimhen and drilling a wonderful strike into the top-left corner, with subsequent saves from Ochoa frustrating a fervent crowd.

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.