Stones' roses
Defender pots pair as Man City moves into second with 4-0 destruction of Crystal Palace
MANCHESTER — Manchester City steamed into second place in the Premier League with defender John Stones scoring an unlikely double in a 4-0 demolition of visiting Crystal Palace on Sunday.
Central defender Stones, closing in on 100 Premier League appearances for City, headed in his first league goal for the club after a sublime cross by Kevin de Bruyne in the 26th minute.
Ilkay Gundogan curled in a delightful second 11 minutes after the interval before Stones was in the right place to fire home a loose ball with his left foot in the 68th minute.
Raheem Sterling crowned a superb second half City display with an unstoppable free kick into the top corner late on.
The earlier 0-0 draw between leaders Manchester United and champions Liverpool was a pre-match boost for Pep Guardiola's side and they capitalized with a fifth successive league win to move within two points of United and have a match in hand.
“Another clean sheet, another win, it keeps the momentum going and two goals for myself which has been a long time,” Stones said. “I put pressure on myself to contribute with a few goals and sometimes it doesn't click, but today it did.”
They have 35 points from 17 games and are ahead of Leicester City on goal difference with Liverpool fourth on 34 points.
Palace remain in 13th place on 23 from 19 matches.
In the day's other match Tottenham upended Sheffield United 3-1.
ITALIAN SERIE A
ROME — Inter Milan's Nicolo Barella scored one goal and set up another to help secure a 2-0 `Derby of Italy' victory over champions Juventus and send his side joint-top of Serie A while putting a major dent in the Turin club's title hopes.
Former Juve midfielder Arturo Vidal scored his first league goal for Inter when he headed in an inviting Barella cross after 12 minutes.
Antonio Conte's side grabbed a deserved second after the break when Barella raced onto a long Alessandro Bastoni pass and finished clinically into the top corner, after which the victory was never in doubt as Juve failed to threaten a comeback.
It was Conte's first Serie A win on his fourth attempt against the club he previously represented as a player and coach, and the result leaves Inter level on 40 points with league leaders AC Milan, who visit Cagliari on Monday.
Juventus have a game in hand over Inter but are fifth with 33 points, leaving Andrea Pirlo's side with a lot of ground to make up in their quest for a 10th consecutive Serie A title.
“Juve have won the Scudetto for many years, but we've shown we're at the level to fight for the title,” Vidal told Sky Sport.
In other action, sixthplaced Atalanta's three-game winning run came to an end with a 0-0 draw against lowly visitors Genoa.
Six different players found the back of the net as thirdplace Napoli pounded Fiorentina 6-0.
A Filip Djuricic penalty earned Sassuolo a 1-1 draw against Parma with the last kick of the game to deny the visitors their first win since November.
Simy was the hero for bottom side Crotone as the Nigerian scored twice in a 4-1 win over Benevento that took the Calabrians within two points of the safety zone.
SPANISH SUPER CUP
SEVILLE — Barcelona's Lionel Messi was sent off in the closing stages of extra time as Athletic Bilbao lifted the title with a 3-2 victory on Sunday.
A goal in each half from Antoine Griezmann looked to have won it for Barca, after Oscar de Marcos equalized just before the break, only for Bilbao substitute Asier Villalibre to volley home in the 90th minute to send the game into the extra period.
Three minutes into the additional half hour Inaki Williams curled a stunning effort into the far corner from the edge of the box to win the match for Marcelino Garcia's side.
Messi was sent off in the 120th minute for lashing out at Villalibre as the Catalans sought an equalizer.
Victory represents a third Super Cup title for the Basque side and their first silverware since they claimed the same trophy in 2015 with a 5-1 aggregate win over Barca.