MILAN: Dries Mertens bagged a brace to help inconsistent Napoli beat Sampdoria 2-0 and close the gap in Serie A on second-placed AS Roma on Monday.
Playmaker Kaka breathed new life into struggling AC Milan by also scoring twice before 18-year-old Bryan Cristante claimed his first professional goal in a 3-0 win over Atalanta to notch up only their fifth league win this season.
Hellas Verona won 3-1 at Udinese helped by two goals from Luca Toni, who netted the first after a blunder from home goalkeeper Zeljko Brkic. Brkic allowed an apparently harmless Toni shot to slip between his legs in the eighth minute.
Parma defender Alessandro Lucarelli provided the day’s highlight when he scored with a cheeky backheel following a corner as Roberto Donadoni’s team came from behind to beat Torino 3-1. Striker Amauri scored his first goal of the season to complete the scoreline.
Bottom club Catania beat Bologna 2-0 in a relegation scrap while improving Genoa overcame lowly Sassuolo by the same score.
Roma lost 3-0 to leaders Juventus in the top-of-the-table clash on Sunday.
Napoli’s win lifted them to 39 points from 18 games, two behind Roma, with titleholders Juventus on 49, a massive eight clear at the top.
Mertens provided the breakthrough for Napoli when he volleyed in Gonzalo Higuain’s cross in the 53rd minute, just as Sampdoria were threatening to take control, and the Belgian curled in a 25-meter free kick nine minutes later.
Napoli coach Rafael Benitez said that his team nearly blew it again after wasting too many chances.
“We had many scoring opportunities and could have made the difference in the first half. The game was more open in the second and they caused us problems, but we got the goals,” he told reporters “I would like to see us stronger in defense and quicker at finishing games off but it’s reassuring to see such attacking football.” Monday’s games were played amid concern about Serie A leading goalscorer Giuseppe Rossi after he suffered a third injury to his troubled right knee in Fiorentina’s 1-0 win over Livorno on Sunday.
Fiorentina said on Monday that Rossi had sustained a second degree sprain to the medial collateral ligament. Although worrying, there was relief that he avoided damage to the anterior cruciate ligament, which has been operated on twice and cost him two years of his career.
Milan, whose coach Massimiliano Allegri confirmed over the Christmas break that he would step aside at the end of the season, climbed to a modest 10th on 22 points.
Former World Player of the Year Kaka, who returned for a second stint at Milan at the start of the season, put them in front 10 minutes before the break with his 100th goal for the club in all competitions.
The Brazilian swept home Urby Emanuelson’s cross from a tight angle after Milan broke following an Atalanta corner.
Yohan Benalouane had a goal disallowed for Atalanta and German Denis was denied by Christian Abbiati as Milan showed signs of faltering before Kaka struck again, firing home a loose ball after Robinho scuffed a Mario Balotelli cross in the 65th minute.
Two minutes later, Cristante celebrated his first Serie A start by scoring a pinpoint 25-meter shot which went in off the foot of the post.
At the bottom, Catania have 13 points, one behind Livorno and Sassuolo and only two adrift of 17th placed Bologna.
Kaka brace breathes new life into Milan
Kaka brace breathes new life into Milan
Young future stars of Saudi golf enjoy a moment alongside the big names at LIV Golf Riyadh
- Participants in ROSHN Rising Stars program to develop golfing talent in the Kingdom play friendly competition at Riyadh Golf Club before round 3 of the season opener tees off
- ‘Golf is such a fundamental sport for development … The values of golf can be correlated to the values of society: confidence, resilience and integrity,’ says LIV Golf’s Jake Jones
RIYADH: While much of the spotlight during LIV Golf’s 2026 season opener in Riyadh this week has of course been on the return of some of the sport’s biggest names for the new campaign, a new generation of Saudi golfers is also quietly taking its own first steps into the game.
Participants in the ROSHN Rising Stars program, an initiative designed to introduce and develop young golfing talent across the Kingdom, gathered at Riyadh Golf Club on Friday afternoon for a friendly competition a few hours before the third round of the main event teed off under the lights.
“The real focus is getting golf into the lives of young people in the Kingdom,” Jake Jones, LIV Golf’s senior vice president of impact and sustainability told Arab News as the young golfers took to the course under cloudy skies.
“We wanted to do something a little bit different, something sustained, with a long-term outcome, and that’s how this program was created.”
The program runs for 20 weeks, during which the participants receive weekly coaching and instruction sessions at Riyadh Golf Club from Golf Saudi professionals.
“This takes them from never having held a golf club before to reaching a point where they’ve now played in a competition,” Jones said.
The fact that the LIV Golf season opens in Riyadh provides another key benefit for the participants, as they get to experience the professional game up close, and this access to world-class players and events forms a key part of their journey.
“We give them exposure to our LIV Golf events, here and internationally,” Jones added.
Beyond this, and teaching people how to play the game, the program offers participants insights into the wider aspects of the world of golf, including career opportunities.
“They’ve had behind-the-scenes tours, pitch-and-putt sessions, long-drive competitions and visits to places like the media center,” Jones said. “It’s about showing them what it’s like not just to play golf, but work in the sport as well.”
Friday’s event in Riyadh marked the conclusion of the 20-week program for its participants.
“Today is really the celebration point,” Jones said. “We’re at the graduation phase of this journey, where they’ll compete in a three-hole challenge. We then crown a winner and celebrate with them back at the ROSHN Fan Village.”
As golf continues to grow in popularity in the region, Jones believes initiatives such as Rising Stars will have a lasting effect on the development of next generation of players.
“Golf is such a fundamental sport for development; it’s not just about physical activity and having fun,” he said. “The values of golf can be correlated to the values of society: confidence, resilience and integrity.
“Imagine playing golf and you miss the ball or you end up in the sand; you have to get back up and try again. You block the noise around you and focus on the ball to make the right shot.”
Jones highlighted in particular the importance of integrity as one of golf’s defining characteristics, and how that can help shape personal development.
“The rules of golf are reliant on you following them,” he said. “That sense of honesty and self-discipline is something young players can carry beyond the course” into the roles they play in their communities, societies and countries.
“The role that golf can have with young people in Saudi Arabia is actually another layer of baking in those core societal skills, to ensure that they are fit and robust for the future,” Jones added.
This is particularly important given the youthful nature of the Saudi population, more than half of which is under the age of 30, he said, and they now have the chance to benefit from golf in one way or another.
“Golf is now another avenue that they can explore. Whether it’s playing, working in the sport or simply finding a community, we want to give them another reason to get excited.
“We believe that golf can do all of that and, hopefully, it can spark a lasting passion among the Saudi youth.”
