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Lukaku Keeps Napoli Top Of Serie A With Roma Winner

Published

1 year ago

November 24, 2024

Editor

Romelu Lukaku ensured Napoli maintained their one-point lead at the top of Serie A with the only goal in Sunday’s 1-0 win over his old club Roma.

Belgium striker Lukaku poked home his fifth Napoli goal seven minutes after half-time in Naples, handing veteran Claudio Ranieri a defeat on his return to management with his boyhood club Roma.

Napoli lead Atalanta, Inter Milan and Fiorentina by a point in a crowded title race which is yet to offer up a clear favourite for the Scudetto.

Lazio can join the chasing trio on 28 points with a home win over Bologna in Sunday’s late match, with Juventus four points off the pace in sixth.

Napoli were the better team at the Stadio Maradona and should have been ahead as early as the second minute when Khvicha Kvaratskhelia somehow sent a free header wide from less than six yards out.

Kvaratskhelia was also involved four minutes after half-time with a pinpoint cross from which Lukaku glanced just wide.

Ranieri has a job on his hands at Roma, who are four points above the relegation zone in 12th, but his team were unlucky not to level in the 66th minute when Artem Dovbyk thwacked a header off the bar.

– Reborn Kean –
Moise Kean continued his revival at Fiorentina by netting in a 2-0 win at Como which was his team’s seventh in a row in Serie A.

The 24-year-old has been reborn in Florence after failing to score a single goal at Juventus last season and has scored seven times in his last four matches in Italy’s top flight.

“Obviously people look at the goal, but the whole team has worked very hard with him… he’s developing and starting to reap the rewards,” said Fiorentina coach Raffaele Palladino.

Kean’s 68th-minute strike was his ninth in 12 league appearances under Palladino, whose team host champions Inter next weekend.

Fiorentina didn’t have things all their own way, and had David de Gea to thank for a superb triple save on the hour mark when they still only led by Yacine Adli’s 20th-minute opener.

Como are one point and place above Lecce, who are just inside the relegation zone and take on bottom side Venezia on Monday, after a fifth defeat in a worrying seven-match winless run.

– Vieira denied –

Patrick Vieira was denied a winning start as Genoa manager after a late penalty gave fellow Serie A strugglers Cagliari a 2-2 away draw.

Roberto Piccoli lashed home his spot-kick two minutes from the end after being fouled by Aaron Martin, snatching a point for Cagliari with his team’s second penalty of the game.

“My players delivered an good performance and focused on what we practised in training,” said Vieira.

“I’m disappointed for then because I think they deserved to win today.”

Vieira, who replaced sacked Alberto Gilardino on Wednesday, was heading for a debut win at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris after goals in each half from Morten Frendrup and Fabio Miretti which put Genoa ahead in the 59th minute following Razvan Marin’s early penalty for the away team.

The draw leaves Genoa in 16th, level with Cagliari and two points above Lecce.

AFP

Related Topics:Lukaku Napoli Roma Serie A

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Sports

NFF In Fresh N1.4b FIFA Women World Cup Scandal

Published

6 hours ago

November 28, 2025

Editor

Former Super Falcons head coach, Randy Waldrum, has questioned the Nigeria Football Federation’s (NFF) management of the monies that the world football governing body, FIFA, gave the federation for the team’s preparation for the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, reports allnigeriasoccer.com.

Waldrum’s team was eliminated from the championship in the second round by England through a penalty shootout. But the American alleged in a viral video on X that his team was handicapped by the NFF’s failure to make available the fund needed to properly prepare the side for the championship.

He alleged that the NFF received $960,000 from FIFA in October 2022 to support the Super Falcons’ preparations for the tournament.

He said: “I have a real close contact here in the US that is very connected with some of the board at FIFA. This person told me that in October, every country was given $960k from FIFA to prepare for the World, where is that money.

“If Nigeria got that money why didn’t we have a camp in November? We went to Japan, we flew in and played the game and went home. Some of our players didn’t arrive until the morning before the game, I think five players who were going to start for me, arrived the night before the game and the game was 4:00pm and they traveled 16 hours on the plane. And we played Japan and then we went home. We wasted the last five days of that window to train.”

Waldrum, who affirmed that FIFA provides financial support to federations that are unable to afford business-class travel, with deductions made from their World Cup earnings.

According to him, the NFF had no justification for suboptimal logistics. “So, all these questions I have is where is this money? And the other thing I found out through my FIFA connections is that if countries don’t have the money to buy business class tickets for everybody, FIFA will fund the money and buy those tickets and just deduct it from the monies you get from FIFA after the World Cup.

“So there’s no excuse to say we didn’t have money to buy tickets and then we didn’t have camps. These are the kinds of things that the people of Nigeria don’t question. In the US, they would be questioned. If the US Soccer Federation was doing the same things, the US Soccer Federation would have to answer to it.”

The coach also faulted the NFF for failing to maximise FIFA-approved staffing provisions, noting that while FIFA allows up to 22 technical staff members, Nigeria travelled with only about 11.

“So if FIFA will pay bonuses for up to 22 people, why didn’t we have 22 people? I didn’t have an analyst and I scout. Listen, the US has a scout in Europe, watching teams play in these exhibitions, in case they face them at the World Cup,” he explained.

“We didn’t even have scouts going with us to Australia. I didn’t even have anybody to scout games. If we got out of our group, I didn’t even have anybody to scout games in other groups. Everything I had to do was on videos and what I could pick up online.”

Sports

EPL: Berbatov Names Team That Can ‘Surprise’ Arsenal In Title Race

Published

3 days ago

November 25, 2025

Editor

Former Manchester United striker, Dimitar Berbatov, has named the team that could “surprise” Arsenal in the Premier League title race.

The Gunners are now six points clear of second-placed Chelsea, thanks to their 4-1 demolition of Tottenham on Sunday.

Mikel Arteta’s men could extend that lead to nine points, when they travel to face the Blues this weekend.

Berbatov has now said he expects Arsenal to be “really tested” over the hectic festive period and says their title credentials will become clearer in the New Year.

“Of course Liverpool are low in the table and Man City are dropping points, but there are other teams like Chelsea who can surprise people,” Berbatov told ESPN.

“Six points is a good cushion but in the Premier League it’s nothing and can go very quickly.”

Sports

Champions League: Arteta Gives Arsenal Injury Updates Ahead Bayern Munich Clash

Published

3 days ago

November 25, 2025

Editor

Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, has given injury updates on his squad ahead of Wednesday night’s Champions League clash with Bayern Munich.

The Gunners have won their first four matches in the competition without conceding a single goal.

Arteta’s men will be looking to continue their perfect start with a win over Bayern at the Emirates.

Arsenal could have captain Martin Odegaard back for the game, alongside Gabriel Martinelli and Noni Madueke.

“Yeah they are [Madueke and Martinelli in contenton to start] and we’re going to have a meeting now to decide on Martin [Odegaard],” Arteta told reporters today.

“He was very close for the previous game.

“We are confident he can be in the squad as well.”