European roundup: Milan clubs draw in derby, as Venezia sink Mourinho’s Roma
Milan were held to a 1-1 draw in a fiercely contested derby match against defending champion Inter and missed the chance to take the outright lead of Serie A.
Former Milan midfielder Hakan Çalhanoglu converted a penalty for Inter in the 11th minute - and celebrated fiercely against the club he left in June on a free transfer after four years. Milan levelled thanks to an own-goal by defender Stefan de Vrij shortly after, and Inter also had a penalty saved in a hightempo first half.
Stefano Pioli’s Milan remained level on points at the top of the Italian league. Inter are third, seven points below the top two.
Roma’s poor form under José Mourinho continued with a 3-2 defeat by promoted Venezia on Sunday, while the other joint-leaders Napoli were held to a 1-1 home draw by Verona.
In Venice, the struggling hosts fought back spectacularly in the second half to condemn Roma to a fifth Serie A defeat of the season. Mourinho’s side have just one win in their last seven games in all competitions and have dropped out of the top four after picking up four points from their last five league games.
The home side went in front after three minutes at the Stadio Pier Luigi Penzo through a Mattia Caldara volley. Roma appeared to wrestle back control in the final few minutes of the first half with goals from Eldor Shomurodov and
Tammy Abraham, who scored for the first time in seven league games.
Roma let the game slip away inside nine second-half minutes, with Mattia Aramu levelling from the penalty spot before David Okereke raced onto a through ball to fire the winner for Paolo Zanetti’s side. The defeat increases pressure on Mourinho after Thursday’s 2-2 home draw with Norway’s Bodø/Glimt in the Europa Conference League.
Napoli dropped points for only the second time this season as Verona claimed another impressive result against illustrious opponents. Giovanni Simeone continued his remarkable form in front of goal by stabbing in the opener after 13 minutes, but Giovanni Di Lorenzo levelled soon after with a low finish.
Luciano Spalletti’s side hit the post twice through Victor Osimhen and Lorenzo
Insigne while the visitors finished with nine men after Daniel Bessa and Nikola Kalinic were shown late second yellow cards. Elsewhere, Udinese fought back to beat Sassuolo 3-2 and stop their eight-game winless run.
Lazio eased to a 3-0 win over second-bottom Salernitana to leapfrog their city rivals into fifth place. Goals from Ciro Immobile and Pedro gave Maurizio Sarri’s side a comfortable lead, and Luis Alberto added a third after the lowly visitors were twice denied by the woodwork.
Genoa have appointed Andriy Shevchenko as their manager on a deal until 2024. The former Ukraine head coach will take on his first club role back in the league where he shone as a striker for Milan. Sunday saw the Grifone drop into the bottom three after Venezia’s win, before climbing back out as rivals
Sampdoria lost at home to Bologna.
Atlético Madrid’s La Liga title defence suffered a dramatic late blow as Hugo Duro scored twice for the hosts in stoppage time to salvage a 3-3 draw. Luis Suárez had put Atlético in front in the 35th minute but Valencia levelled five minutes into the second half through a Stefan Savic own goal.
Griezmann restored the visitors’ lead with a superb solo run and longrange finish, and Sime Vrsaljko looked to have sealed the points with a scrappy goal from close range two minutes later. Valencia came alive right at the end of the game, subsitute Duro scoring from Josè Gayà’s cross and then levelling with a towering header.
Real Sociedad overcame a gritty Osasuna side to return to the top of the table. Mikel Merino broke the deadlock in the 72nd minute as his optimistic effort took a big deflection and trickled in. Adnan Januzaj sealed victory by converting a penalty after being brought down in the box by Unai García.
Unai Emery’s Villarreal earned a 1-0 home win over Getafe in La Liga, with Manuel Trigueros striking early for the hosts. Emery opted to stay at the club earlier this week after being linked with the managerial role at Newcastle. Lucas Boyé scored twice for Elche as they earned a 2-2 draw at Mallorca.
Real Betis defender Héctor Bellerín scored an own-goal after having a strike at the right end disallowed as his side were beaten 2-0 in the local derby with rivals Sevilla.
The goal was ruled out for a narrow offside and the home side were dealt another blow on the stroke of halftime when Guido Rodríguez was sent off for a second booking. Sevilla took full advantage after the interval, Argentine fullback Marcos Acuna giving them the lead in the 55th minute with a thumping shot.
The win took Sevilla up to third, level with second-placed Real Madrid and one behind leaders Real Sociedad.
In Germany, Robert Andrich struck late to earn Leverkusen a point at Hertha Berlin, who had taken the lead through Stevan Jovetic’s powerful finish. Unio Berlin missed the chance to climb into the top six as Anthony Modeste rescued a late point for Cologne in a 2-2 draw.
In Ligue 1, two teams hoping to cut the gap to leaders Paris Saint-Germain stumbled at home. Marseille were held to a goalless draw at home by Metz, while Christophe Galtier’s Nice lost at home to Montpellier. Struggling SaintÉtienne earned their first league win of the season in dramatic fashion, with two stoppage-time goals securing a 3-2 victory over Clermont Foot.