Lazio & Inter keep CL push alive, Benevento relegated
Atalanta hold off Torino 2-1
TURIN, Italy, April 22, (AFP): Lazio and Inter Milan kept their push for Champions League football alive on Sunday.
Ciro Immobile scored a brace as Lazio crushed Sampdoria 4-0 to return joint third with Roma who warmed up for next week’s Champions League semifinal against Liverpool with a 3-0 win at SPAL on Saturday.
Roma and Lazio both have 67 points from 34 games with Roma ahead on head-to-head clashes.
Inter Milan are just outside the Champions League places in fifth one point behind after a hard fought 2-1 win over Chievo.
Lazio dominated Sampdoria in their Stadio Olimpico with Sergej Milinkovic-Savic breaking through after 32 minutes and a Stefan de Vrij’s diving header giving the hosts a second just before the break.
Immobile tapped in a MilinkovicSavic assist five minutes from the end, quickly adding a second to consolidate his position as leading Serie A scorer with 29 goals this season. League places with a 2-1 win over Torino at the expense of AC Milan who dropped to seventh after a 1-0 defeat at home to bottom club Benevento on Saturday.
Benevento’s relegation from Serie A was confirmed after just one year in Italy’s top flight and less than 24 hours after an impressive 1-0 win at AC Milan.
Crotone’s 2-1 victory away to Udinese on Sunday condemned Benevento to an immediate return to the second division after they were left 14 points from safety with just four matches to play.
The club based some 60 kms to the east of Naples began the season in disastrous fashion, losing 14 consecutive matches to break the record for the worst start to a campaign in any of Europe’s top five leagues.
The arrivals of Bacary Sagna, Sandro and giant Malian striker Cheick Diabate — who has scored seven goals in eight games — in the winter transfer window helped Benevento improve but couldn’t spare them from the inevitable drop.
The Gunners are on course for their worst-ever finish of Wenger’s reign in the Premier League as they languish in sixth, six points behind Chelsea, despite goals from Nacho Monreal, Aaron Ramsey and two late strikes from Alexandre Lacazette ensuring a comfortable victory over West Ham.
“The fans did not give me the image of unity I want all over the world and that was hurtful because I think the club is respected,” said Wenger.
“Overall, the image we gave is not what it is and not what I like.”
In his programme notes Wenger reiterated his plea for the fans to get behind the team for the rest of the season with Arsenal still in with a chance of qualifying for next season’s Champions League via the Europa League.
But there were only sporadic chants of “there’s only one Arsene Wenger” from the home support, whilst, continuing a trend in recent home games, empty seats could be seen around the Emirates.
“I’m not resentful,” added Wenger. “I just feel if my personality is in the way of what I think our club needs, for me that is more important than me.”
Wenger can still sign off leaving the club in the Champions League by winning the Europa
West Ham United’s English striker Andy Carroll (left), runs with the ball under pressure from Arsenal’s French defender Laurent Koscielny (right), during the English Premier League football match between Arsenal and West Ham United at the
Emirates Stadium in London on April 22. (AFP)
League, where Arsenal host Spanish giants Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their semifinal on Thursday.
He named a strong side against West Ham with only Petr Cech, Jack Wilshere and Mesut Ozil missing from the expected XI to face Atletico in midweek.
However, amidst a surprisingly low-key atmosphere in the circumstances, the visitors’ greater need for the points shone through with a bright start.
Marko Arnautovic was denied from a narrow angle by David Ospina before Cheikhou Kouyate’s looping header came back off the top of the crossbar.
However, Arsenal appeared a different side after the break to the one that laboured in the first