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De Ligt keeps Juve top and Inter at bay with derby winner
TURIN, Italy, Nov 3, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Matthijs de Ligt made sure Juventus
kept hold of top spot in Serie A on Saturday after his first goal for the
club saw off local rivals Torino, leaving Inter Milan in second despite
Romelu Lukaku taking his league tally to nine with a brace in a 2-1 win at
Bologna.
Inter had briefly led in Italy after Lukaku slotted home a 92nd-minute
penalty to snatch the three points at Bologna, but Juve retook first place
thanks to De Ligt, who smashed home the ony goal of the game in Turin with 20
minutes remaining.
Maurizio Sarri’s side stay a point ahead of Inter thanks to a hard-fought
derby win that saw both sides exchange blows in a bruising contest.
“I am really happy, of course. It was a really important game, as Inter
won also. We won 1-0 and it was my goal, so really special,” De Ligt told
DAZN.
De Ligt has had a shaky start to life in Italy and could well have given
away an early penalty when he touched the ball with his arm early in the
first half, but was let off by referee Daniele Doveri and the VAR officials.
However the Netherlands international, who had already been denied by a
superb Salvatore Sirigu stop just before the break, came up trumps in the
70th minute when he met substitute Gonzalo Higuain’s pull back just after the
Argentine had forced a corner with a sizzling volley.
“Obviously, when you come to a new club, it’s always going to be hard.
It’s going well, the guys made me feel welcome and I think I’m improving
every game,” added De Ligt.
The win maintains Juve’s unbeaten start to the season and keeps them on
course for a ninth straight league title, while Inter have to content
themselves with second despite Lukaku’s match-winning display.
The Belgian became the first player since Ronaldo in 1997/98 to score at
least nine goals in his first 11 Serie A matches as an Inter player after a
75th-minute tap-in which cancelled out Roberto Soriano’s deflected opener and
a stoppage time spot-kick winner.
“I’m pleased to have had such a good start, but I am 26 years old and I
need to grow every day, along with the whole team,” Lukaku told Sky Sport.
– Inter eye Dortmund –
Inter have been tipped as the principal challengers for Juve’s Serie A
title but had to be saved from a lacklustre display by their star summer
signing, who arrived from Manchester United for 65 million euros ($73
million).
His form will be a big boost going into Tuesday’s huge trip to Borussia
Dortmund, which could make or break their Champions League campaign with both
sides level on four points behind Group F leaders Barcelona.
Inter are also six points ahead of Roma, who moved third in Serie A on
Saturday after their 2-1 win over wobbling Napoli.
Rising star Nicolo Zaniolo opened the scoring midway through the first
half with his fourth goal in as many games in all competitions before Jordan
Veretout sealed the points from the penalty spot 10 minutes after the break
and stretched Roma’s unbeaten league run to six games.
“I’m very pleased with my current form, I hope to continue like this and
to score many more goals,” Zaniolo told Sky Sport.
Arkadiusz Milik’s fifth goal in four games closed the gap for Napoli, but
the defeat sees them drop down to seventh, level on 18 points with Lazio and
Cagliari and 11 behind Juve after winning just one of their last five in
Serie A. Paulo Fonseca’s Roma meanwhile are on a fine recent run despite an
injury crisis that kept a host of first team starters out of action over the
last few weeks.
They are set to have further selection problems next week after Mert
Cetin, who replaced suspended Federico Fazio, was sent off for two bookable
offences deep in stoppage time.
BSS/AFP/MSY/0953 hrs