European roundup: Conte anger at Inter's late slip, Dembélé set for Atlético
The Internazionale head coach, Antonio Conte, said his players’ anxiety played a part in conceding a late equaliser to Roma in their 2-2 Serie A draw.
The Milanese side struck twice in an electric start to the second half at the Stadio Olimpico to fight back after going behind before the break. But they faded after going ahead and came under late pressure, with Gianluca Mancini eventually heading in an 86th-minute leveller.
“I think that at the end of the game there was a bit of anxiety to get an important result, which mentally causes you to drop deeper,” Conte said. “On the bench we were asking them to press high up the pitch, because sitting deep isn’t a good thing. But the fact remains that on a psychological level, the
team that’s losing throws themselves forward and the winning team looks to hold on to the result.”
Conte took off the striker Lautaro Martínez, the midfielder Arturo Vidal and the goalscorer Achraf Hakimi after his side went ahead.. “This is our third game in seven days, so you make changes,” said Conte.
Goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Aaron Ramsey helped Juventus to secure a 3-1 victory over 10-man Sassuolo, lifting the champions to fourth place in the standings.Juventus struggled to create many chances in the first half, but their cause was aided after Pedro Obiang was sent off for a dangerous tackle on Federico Chiesa just before half-time. Juventus capitalised on the numerical advantage as Danilo was left in plenty of space to fire home a fierce opener in the 50th minute, but the lead lasted just eight minutes as Gregoire Defrel levelled to stun the hosts.Ramsey put Juve in front in the 82nd minute with his first goal of the season. Serie A top scorer Ronaldo took his season’s tally to 15 as he struck in stoppage-time to complete the win.
Tiemoue Bakayoko headed a lastgasp winner as Napoli snatched a 2-1 victory at Udinese to climb to fifth.
VAR came to the visitors’ aid early on after a blatant foul on Hirving Lozano in the penalty area was missed by the on-field officials, with the referee awarding a spot-kick converted by Lorenzo Insigne in the 15th minute.
The hosts were much the better side, however, and equalised through Kevin Lasagna, who capitalised on an underhit back pass from Amir Rrahmani before slotting home in the 27th minute.
Udinese continued to offer more attacking threat in the second half, but against the run of play Bakayoko, on loan from Chelsea, popped up with a 90th-minute header.
In the Bundesliga, Stuttgart cruised past 10-man Augsburg 4-1 on Sunday to secure a first win in four Bundesliga matches and climb to 10th place in the standings.
In Spain, Valencia ended a twomonth winless spell in La Liga with a 1-0 victory away to Real Valladolid thanks to a late piledriver from Carlos Soler to move away from the relegation zone.
Dembélé set for Lyon loan to Atlético
Atlético Madrid are in talks with Lyon to sign French forward Moussa Dembélé on loan until the end of the season, the Ligue 1 club’s sporting director Juninho said.
Atlético are looking to sign a striker to boost their La Liga title charge after Diego Costa left the club this month.
Dembélé, 24, scored 31 Ligue 1 goals in his first two seasons with Lyon since switching from Celtic but has made only six league starts this campaign, scoring once.
Juninho said Dembélé had asked him if he could move, adding that the forward had agreed personal terms with Atlético but the clubs were still negotiating.
“He told me that he has lost a bit of motivation. Moussa is a player that I like very much and that we were counting on. But keeping someone who doesn’t want to live a real and intense life for the next five months is not ideal,” Juninho said.