Best of the Rest
Pacers trim Knicks advantage
Inter crush Frosinone:
Inter Milan bounced back from the defeat to Sassuolo by humiliating Frosinone 5-0 away in Serie A , with top scorer Lautaro Martinez ending his goal drought.
Inter had clinched their 20th Serie A title with five rounds to spare but were stunned by Sassuolo
1-0 last round.
Davide
Frattesi put the Nerazzurri ahead in the
19th minute through a counter-attack, before the Italian international set up another for Marko Arnautovic to double the lead on the hour mark.
Winter signing Tajon Buchanan netted his maiden goal with a curler in the 77th minute, before Lautaro scored his first Serie A goal since February, while Marcus Thuram put the icing on the cake with a solo run. (Xinhua)
❑ ❑ ❑ Win for Nice, draw for Brest:
Brest missed a chance to cement a Champions League place next season after drawing at home with Reims 1-1 in the French league.
Brest has already guaranteed European football for the first time in its history, but remained in third place, three points ahead of Lille.
The top three qualify for the Champions League. Fourth-placed Lille has a game in hand.
Marshall Munetsi put Reims ahead when he stooped to head home an inviting cross after 25 minutes. Lilian Brassier equalized for Brest with a header in first half stoppage time.
Fifth-placed Nice is also in the fight for a Champion League place after a goal from Jeremie Boga gave it a 1-0 win over Le Havre.
Nice is four points behind Brest and one behind Lille. Friday’s win was its fifth straight unbeaten match.
The result on France’s south coast was a blow to the struggling Le Havre.
A win would have ended its fears of relegation but, instead, it remained only three points above the relegation zone with one game left.
Metz was three points behind in the relegation playoff position but has a game in hand.
❑ ❑ ❑ Guridi rescues point for Alaves:
Jon Guridi scored deep in stoppage time for host Alaves to draw with Girona 2-2 in the Spanish league.
The header nine minutes in was the midfielder’s second goal of the game and just his third in 33 starts this season.
“The reward of the last-minute goal is for all those chances that I have had this season and not scored,” he said.
Alaves came into the match on the back of consecutive wins against Atletico Madrid, Celta de Vigo and Valencia but Eric Garcia put Girona 1-0 up with a header after just four minutes.
The home side leveled eight minutes later when Giuliano Simeone’s precise cut back was converted by Guridi.
Yangel Herrera’s magnificent finish two minutes before halftime made it 2-1.
Alaves was in 11th place, and Girona was in second, two points ahead of Barcelona, which has a game in hand. (AP)
❑ ❑ ❑ Juniors make winning start:
Argentinos Juniors twice recovered from a goal down to clinch a 3-2 home win over Rosario Central on the opening night of Argentina’s Primera Division season.
Agustin Modica gave the visitors an early lead before Francisco Alvarez equalized 15 minutes later at the Diego Maradona stadium in Buenos Aires.
Leo Heredia gifted Rosario Central their second goal by inadvertently turning the ball into his own net under pressure.
But the hosts persisted and drew level again through Alan Lescano, who converted from the penalty spot on the stroke of halftime. Luciano Gondou completed the turnaround when he thumped a 25-yard drive into the top left corner after combining with Lescano.
The result leaves Argentinos Juniors second in the 28-team standings, trailing Newell’s Old Boys on goal difference. Rosario Central are 26th.
In other Argentine top flight matches on Friday, Instituto won 2-1 at Sarmiento and Newell’s eased to a 2-0 home win over Platense. (Xinhua)
❑ ❑ ❑ Celtic close in on league title:
Celtic is on the cusp of a third straight Scottish league title.
A 2-1 victory over Rangers in the Old Firm derby on Saturday moved Celtic six points clear of its fierce Glasgow rival with two matches left.
Celtic can clinch the first silverware of Brendan Rodgers’ second spell in charge by avoiding defeat at Kilmarnock on Wednesday, if Rangers does not drop points at home to Dundee on Tuesday.
A strike by Matt O’Riley and John Lundstram’s own-goal gave Celtic a two-goal lead before Cyriel Dessers pulled a goal back for Rangers in the 40th, only for Lundstram to complete a miserable game on a personal level by receiving a red card for a foul on Alistair Johnston.