TURIN: Juventus claimed a 2-1 win over Cagliari after a Kenan Yildiz double turned the match on its head and stopped the hosts slipping further behind the Serie A pacesetters on Saturday.
The victory brings some relief for Juve after two league draws, putting them in seventh place on 23 points. They are four points behind leaders AS Roma who host third-placed Napoli (25 points) on Sunday. Cagliari are 14th with 11 points.
Sebastiano Esposito gave Cagliari the lead after 26 minutes, tucking the ball home from close range after a low ball from the byline found him unmarked, with the Juventus defense reacting a fraction too late to block the effort.
But Yildiz refused to let the visitors enjoy their advantage for long. Barely a minute later, he levelled the match by bending a low shot from the edge of the box into the far corner.
Juve had seized the momentum, though their rhythm briefly stalled when forward Dusan Vlahovic saw a powerful effort saved and hurt himself in the process, hobbling off to be substituted.
In first-half stoppage time, Weston McKennie’s clever back-heel went to Pierre Kalulu, who found Yildiz at the edge of the area. With two deft touches, the Turkish forward slipped between two defenders and guided a precise finish into the far corner.
After the break, the intensity remained but both sides dug in defensively. Cagliari pushed hard but faced growing frustration as they found it difficult to find a way back with an equalizer and Juventus held on to secure the points.
Yildiz inspires Juventus to 2-1 comeback win over Cagliari
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Yildiz inspires Juventus to 2-1 comeback win over Cagliari
- The victory brings some relief for Juve after two league draws, putting them in seventh place
- Yildiz refused to let the visitors enjoy their advantage for long
Timber header earns Arsenal crucial win over Chelsea
- Arsenal moved to 64 points from 29 games with sole chasers Manchester City, who have played a game fewer, on 59
LONDON: Arsenal maintained control of the Premier League title race as they chiselled out a nervy 2-1 win over London rivals Chelsea to open up a five-point lead at the top of the table on Sunday.
Jurrien Timber’s 66th-minute header from a Declan Rice corner ensured Arsenal took three precious points but it was an afternoon of nerves in north London.
It was far from pretty but Mikel Arteta’s side, and the fans who squirmed through the closing minutes, will not care about that as a first title since 2004 edged a little closer.
Arsenal moved to 64 points from 29 games with sole chasers Manchester City, who have played a game fewer, on 59.
Defender William Saliba had given Arsenal the lead in the 21st minute from a trademark corner routine.
But it had looked as though an own goal by Piero Hincapie just before halftime would prove costly for the hosts until Timber came to their rescue.
Chelsea, whose six-match unbeaten league sequence under new manager Liam Rosenior was halted, ended the match with 10 men after Pedro Neto was sent off for a second yellow card.
Arsenal fans will hope that the remaining nine games of the Premier League run-in are less fraught than this one.
CORNER KINGS
It was not a fluent showing as they extended their unbeaten league run against Chelsea to nine games and they had to resort to the tactic that has served them so well this season.
With both their goals coming from corners, Arsenal have now scored 16 times from that route this season in the Premier League, the joint-most by any side in a single campaign.
They were given a taste of their own medicine though with Hincapie’s own goal also coming from a corner.
There were puffed cheeks aplenty too as the referee blew the final whistle after a period of stoppage time that Arsenal spent hanging on against Chelsea’s 10 men.
Last weekend’s drubbing of north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur had eased the mounting pressure after Arsenal’s form had begun to waver in recent weeks.
Sixth-placed Chelsea proved a far sterner test though as they sought to boost their hopes of a top-five finish.
Arsenal got ahead when captain Bukayo Saka’s deep corner was headed back across goal by Gabriel and fellow defender Saliba nodded goalwards with the ball going in off Chelsea’s Mamadou Sarr, although Saliba was credited with the goal.
They looked in control for much of the first half but wobbled before halftime as they fell foul of Chelsea’s own set-piece acumen.
Arsenal keeper David Raya had just made a reflex save to keep out a header by Jorrel Hato but from an almost identical corner swung in by Reece James he was helpless as the ball skimmed off the head of Hincapie and into the net.
The nerves really began to fray in the second half as Chelsea looked the more threatening side with Enzo Fernandez forcing Raya to turn his low shot around the post and then Joao Pedro heading the resulting corner straight at him.
When Rice’s corner left Chelsea keeper Robert Sanchez floundering, Timber was there to restore Arsenal’s lead.
Neto was booked for dissent in the aftermath and three minutes later got himself sent off for a foul on Gabriel Martinelli. Yet Chelsea ended strongly and substitute Alejandro Garnacho almost snatched a point with his cross being clawed out by Raya before Liam Delap poked in from close range but Arsenal were saved by an offside flag.
