Inter continue title parade with season’s best win at Frosinone

ROME: Inter rebooted their Serie A title parade on Friday with a 5-0 thumping of relegation-threatened Frosinone, with Simone Inzaghi’s side securing their biggest winning margin this season.

Inter, who on Saturday suffered their second league defeat of the campaign when they were beaten 1-0 by second-from-bottom Sassuolo, also maintained their chances to beat the club record of 97 points set in the 2006-07 season.

Currently on 92 points, they next host Lazio on May 19 before ending the season at lowly Hellas Verona.

Davide Frattesi opened the scoring in the 19th minute at the Stadio Benito Stirpe, sending the ball in with his knee from a Marcus Thuram pass which deflected off one of Frosinone defenders, but it wasn’t until the final half an hour that Inter really began to run riot.

Marko Arnautovic doubled the lead for Inter at the hour mark with a low first-time finish into the middle of the goal and Tajon Buchanan drilled home in the 77th minute.

Three minutes later, Lautaro Martinez spun and lashed in his first goal since the end of February, his 27th of the season in all competitions.

Marcus Thuram put the cherry on the cake for Inter with six minutes remaining by charging through unopposed and dinking in the 13th goal of a superb debut Serie A season.

Frosinone sit 17th on 32 points with two points separating them from the relegation zone before 18th-placed Udinese travel to Lecce on Monday.

Como secured a return to Serie A for the first time since 2003 with a 1-1 draw at home to Cosenza that earned them the runners-up spot in Italy’s second tier.

They will be joined in the top flight next season by Serie B champions Parma, who made sure of their promotion at the start of the month.

Brest’s hopes of second spot fade after draw with Reims

PARIS: Brest stumbled to a 1-1 home draw against Reims in Ligue 1 on Friday as their chance of overtaking second-placed AS Monaco slipped away.

Reims took the lead in the 25th minute with a header from Marshall Munetsi, who had met Junya Ito’s cross on the counter-attack. The hosts levelled before the break through Lilian Brassier’s header from a Kenny Lala free-kick.

Brest were dominant in the second half but failed to find the back of the net, with winger Jeremy Le Douaron and striker Steve Mounie coming closest.

Eric Roy’s side, who qualified for Europe for the first time, have their sights set on a Champions League spot through a top-four finish.

They have 58 points with one game remaining, three behind Monaco who play Montpellier on Sunday, and three clear of Lille, who face Nantes. Monaco have two games left and also have a superior goal difference to Brest.

Nice also remain in the mix for a Champions League spot following a 1-0 victory over Le Havre. Jeremie Boga’s 12th-minute goal extended Nice’s unbeaten run to five games and took them to within a point of fourth-placed Lille.

Auxerre clinched an immediate return to the first division after a 0-0 draw at Amiens wrapped up the Ligue 2 title.—Agencies

Guirassy winner lifts Stuttgart to second

BERLIN: Serhou Guirassy scored his 26th Bundesliga goal of the season as VfB Stuttgart scored a 1-0 victory at Augsburg on Friday to provisionally move into second place ahead of Bayern Munich with a club record 22nd league win of the season.

The Guinea international latched onto a long ball over the defence early in the second half before poking past Augsburg goalkeeper Tomas Koubek to end a three-match goal drought.

Guirassy is second to Harry Kane (36) in the scoring charts in Germany’s top flight despite missing six games because of injury and Africa Cup of Nations duty. It was the 11th time this season that Guirassy has scored the opening goal of a game, the second-best all-time record for a non-German player in the Bundesliga.

Stuttgart, with more than 70% possession, dominated throughout and could have added another with Chris Fuehrich a little later but his effort was pushed wide by keeper Tomas Koubek.

The win lifted Stuttgart, who have secured their Champions League spot for next season, to 70 points and they and are set for their best finish since coming third in the 2008-09 season, two years after they last won the Bundesliga title.—Agencies

Wasteful Girona held to at Alaves

MADRID: Girona let slip an away win as Jon Guridi’s last-gasp effort snatched a 2-2 draw for Alaves on Friday to leave the visitors’ hold on second place in the La Liga in jeopardy.

Girona have 75 points, only two clear of Catalan rivals Barcelona, who host Real Sociedad on Monday. Real Madrid have secured the league title, sitting on 87 points with four games left. Alaves remain 11th with 42 points.

The visitors grabbed an early lead through defender Eric Garcia’s towering header off a corner only four minutes into the game at the Mendizorroza stadium in Vitoria before Guridi equalised in the 12th with a close-range finish.

Despite Alaves looking more dangerous, Girona restored their lead just before halftime thanks to Yangel Herrera’s strike into the top right corner.

Michel’s side had chances to extend their advantage after the break, but Guridi scored his second deep into stoppage time after capitalising on a loose ball in the box to seal the draw.—Agencies

Published in Dawn, May 12th, 2024