List of All Articles with Tag 'sport'

Marcus Semien homered and drove in a pair of runs, Dane Dunning allowed only two runs in six strong innings and the Texas Rangers beat the Seattle Mariners 4-3

Simone Inzaghi insisted Inter Milan still have work to do to reach the Champions League final despite an impressive 2-0 first-leg victory over AC Milan in the last four. Inter blitzed their city rivals with two goals in the first 11 minutes through Edin Dzeko and Henrikh Mkhitaryan and could easily have put the tie to bed during a dominant first-half display. Milan improved after the break but will be grateful to still be in reach of the 2010 champions after a disappointing performance in front of their supporters in the ‘home’ leg of the tie. Inzaghi told Amazon Prime Video: “We could have done more than the two goals, but a great match. We’ve already gone through some rounds, we know we’re ahead. “Now there will be a second leg, we will have our fans with us and clearly we know that we will still have to make a huge effort to make a dream come true. “I asked for it yesterday, heart and mind. They covered every inch of the pitch and those who came in helped us. “That’s how performances like this are done. Now it’s right to be happy, but we know that we are still missing a piece.” Goalscorer Dzeko warned his team-mates not to let up ahead of Tuesday’s second-leg. “Obviously we know we have a good result but let’s say even though the next game on paper it is away game, actually it is a home game for them just with our fans,” Dzeko told BT Sport. “We have to be careful because they are a good team but if we play like we did today, we’re on a good route.” Milan boss Stefano Piolo was frustrated with the approach of his team. He told Amazon Prime Video: “We will try to do better in the second leg. I think they got the better of the tackles and second balls. The match went badly from a tactical and mental point of view. “We have to start from the attitude of the second half. We had the chances to get the game back on track. “We will have to put in an absolutely different performance from tonight’s. For the boys right now there is disappointment but also awareness of overturning the second leg.” Former Chelsea defender Fikayo Tomori insisted not all was lost for Milan. “Yeah, obviously we’re disappointed. Just the way we started the game, conceding two goals early on like that,” Tomori told BT Sport. “It was difficult but it is only the first game. We can’t let our heads drop. “Obviously we’re disappointed because this was the home leg in front of our fans and we wanted to take a positive result into the second leg but we know if we play with the right intensity, we can put them in a bit of bother.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Bath’s Ollie Lawrence named Gallagher Premiership player of the year Emma Hayes revelling in Chelsea’s WSL title pursuit of Manchester United Scottie Scheffler hopes putting improvement will take him back to number one

Jesús Sánchez hit a three-run homer and started the winning rally in the ninth with a double to lead the Miami Marlins to a 5-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks

Riley Adams and Lane Thomas homered, Josiah Gray pitched seven strong innings and the Washington Nationals beat the San Francisco Giants 11-6

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Todd Monken can rest a little easier now

Chelsea moved to within a point of Women’s Super League leaders Manchester United with a 6-0 thrashing of Leicester before boss Emma Hayes ramped up the pressure by revelling in the fun of the chase. Pernille Harder struck twice for the defending champions to help them warm up for Sunday’s FA Cup final against title rivals Man United at Wembley with another emphatic victory. After thumping Everton 7-0 last weekend, Chelsea picked up where they left off at Kingsmeadow with Guro Reiten, Erin Cuthbert, Lauren James and Jelena Cankovic on target alongside Harder’s second consecutive brace. It kept the five-time WSL winners in the driving seat for another championship as they have a game in hand on United, who have 50 points from 20 fixtures. Both teams now have a goal difference of 42 but Chelsea have scored more overall in the division which could be decisive if they end up level on points later this month. “I like this position, I like putting pressure on others. I don’t mind being there (top) but this is fun for me,” Hayes said. “We have always been chasing this whole year, always been a game or two behind. It’s nice to finally close the gap and now it’s about putting Man United under pressure because we’re not in the driving seat, we’re still in second. “We have had to find ways to win without being scintillating, but I think our confidence is really high right now. We’re in the best place we’ve probably been in all season. “I know what I want to do for Sunday. I know exactly how we want to play, I’m happy with the whole team, the team are playing well.” Reiten’s eighth-minute finish got Chelsea on their way before Cuthbert hit her 50th goal for the club with 18 minutes played. Harder stole the show with a first-half double and James stretched the lead early in the second period with a stunning solo goal. Cankovic completed the scoring in added time with another spectacular strike to help the second-placed Blues make it four league wins in a row. Relegation-threatened Leicester – thumped 8-0 at home by the Blues in December – remain two points above bottom club Reading with two games to go following their 15th defeat of a difficult campaign. Arsenal boosted their hopes of Champions League qualification by climbing to third after Stina Blackstenius’ early brace helped them record a 4-0 success over Brighton. Sweden forward Blackstenius struck in the sixth and eighth minutes to set the visitors on course for a comfortable victory. Frida Maanum and Victoria Pelova also claimed first-half goals for the Gunners, who climbed above Manchester City on goal difference with a game in hand. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Scottie Scheffler hopes putting improvement will take him back to number one Burnley announce Jordan Beyer deal in style – Wednesday’s sporting social Tiger Woods officially out of US PGA Championship

Inter Milan overpowered AC Milan early and held on to win the first leg of their Champions League semifinal derby 2-0, leaving the Nerazzurri on the brink of a return to European soccer’s showpiece event for the first time since 2010

The cameras panned to the technical director in the San Siro stands. There were plenty of reasons to pick out Paolo Maldini, and his job title is not the most prominent. Not for the man who remains the byword for elegantly effortless defending, not when his name is synonymous with the European Cup. Arguably the greatest left-back of all time was scarcely witnessing a defensive masterclass. Even if he had, the primacy of Mauro Tassotti, Franco Baresi, Alessandro Costacurta and Maldini himself would have remained unchallenged: they are perhaps football’s greatest back four and certainly AC Milan’s. Comparisons were rarely going to flatter Davide Calabria, Fikayo Tomori, Simon Kjaer and Theo Hernandez. A shambolic showing made them more glaring. Admittedly, Maldini knows such defining European games can take on a life of their own. He captained AC Milan during Deportivo la Coruna’s four-goal comeback in 2004 and Liverpool’s blitz of three goals in seven minutes in the 2005 final. Inter’s burst of two in four minutes might have brought unpleasant flashbacks. But Maldini won five European Cup finals and Milan conceded a solitary goal in them. And, 11 minutes into their first semi-final for 16 years, they were two down, and to two of the elderly. Maldini could be a poster boy for veterans: a Champions League winner for the last time a few weeks before his 39th birthday, he remains the oldest scorer in a final, at 36. Which, Edin Dzeko may feel, is enviably youthful. When he rifled Inter into the lead, he became the second oldest scorer in a semi-final, behind only Ryan Giggs. After a 37-year-old scorer came a youngster of 34; Henrikh Mkhitaryan is another throwback figure. When Jose Mourinho’s Inter won the Champions League in 2010, it was a famously experienced side. Simone Inzaghi may hope that, in his scorers at least, he has borrowed from the same formula. Dzeko and Mkhitaryan can suit the image of Serie A as a retirement home, a comfortable abode for footballers too old to gegenpress. The reality is more complicated and the Italian renaissance has entailed astute recruitment and a host of players over a decade Dzeko’s junior. But the rhythms of the division can be suited to the elderly. Those who are tactically adept and technically proficient, as Dzeko is, can stave off the passing of time. It helps that he has both a target man’s presence; so, too, that he is a beautiful striker of a ball. Dzeko has long been a wonderful volleyer. Five years ago, he scored a goal for Roma against Chelsea that had a hint of Marco van Basten about it; except that, unlike the great Dutchman, he scored it with his less favoured left foot. A derby opener came with another swing of his left foot, another clean connection, another lovely goal. It was the 400th of a career for club and country that began with Dzeko as a nondescript midfielder in the Bosnian league. He has come a long way since then, but the journey may yet carry him to Istanbul and transport Inter back to their past. The goals of another quintessential No. 9, Diego Milito, won the Nerazzurri the Champions League in 2010. The false nine has become more prevalent and popular in the intervening 13 years, but Dzeko is the old-fashioned centre-forward who never went away. Five years ago he scored in each leg of a Champions League semi-final, but for Roma and in vain and both of them after Liverpool’s five-goal blitz at Anfield. Eighteen years ago, he may have been cheering on AC Milan against Liverpool. Dzeko’s hero is the record scorer in the history of the derby della Madonnina; admittedly all of those goals came for the Rossoneri and it was easier for the Bosnian to be open about his love of Andriy Shevchenko before he joined Milan’s, and San Siro’s, other club. Shevchenko was in the crowd, sat in front of Maldini, to witness a terrific finish. He saw Mkhitaryan, an old rival from Dynamo Kiev’s games against Shakhtar Donetsk, surge into the Milan box and lift a shot over Mike Maignan. The Armenian ran straight through the middle. It was too easy. Somehow Milan’s shoddy defending did not yield more goals. Hakan Calhanoglu, who has crossed the city, hit the post. Referee Jesus Gil Manzano first awarded Lautaro Martinez a penalty and then rescinded his own decision. Maignan made a terrific save from Dzeko. And so Milan will return to their home ground as the away team in six days, still in with a chance that Maldini will play a part in securing a sixth European Cup, to add to the 1963 triumph, when his father Cesare captained them, and 1969, a rare Maldini-free success. But not if they defend like this, and not if the old master Dzeko is similarly clinical. Read More Milan derby creates thrilling sensory overload that shows how football should be The Milan derby crowns Serie A’s return - here is why it means so much more AC Milan are back – but not as how you remember them Milan derby creates thrilling sensory overload that shows how football should be Lazio extend Napoli’s wait for title by a day at least Chelsea take control of WSL title race with thrashing of Leicester

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Edin Dzeko and Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored as Inter Milan took charge of their Champions League semi-final against AC Milan with a 2-0 first-leg win at San Siro. Inter blitzed their city rivals with two goals in the first 11 minutes and could easily have put the tie to bed after a dominant first-half display. Milan improved after the break but will be grateful to still be in reach of the 2010 champions after a disappointing performance in front of their supporters. The fierce rivals had not met in the Champions League since a quarter-final clash in 2005, which was abandoned after 73 minutes of the second leg when a section of Inter fans hurled flares on to the pitch – one of which struck and injured Milan goalkeeper Dida. Milan, bidding for an eighth European Cup trophy and a first final since their 2007 success, were dealt a blow before kick-off with star forward Rafael Leao ruled out by a muscle injury and they were soon blown away by a blistering start from Simone Inzaghi’s side. Inter were ahead after just eight minutes as former Manchester City striker Dzeko outmuscled Davide Calabria from Federico Dimarco’s corner and thrashed a volley from 12 yards past the helpless Mike Maignan in the Milan goal. And they had a second just three minutes later. Dimarco was released down the left and cut the ball across the box into the path of the onrushing Mkhitaryan, who marched through the Milan defence to stroke past Maignan. The Rossoneri were all at sea and Inter came within inches of a third when former Milan midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu lashed a 25-yard strike against a post, before Maignan blocked Mkhitaryan’s effort from close range. There was a huge moment of relief for Stefano Pioli’s side after Inter were awarded a penalty in the 31st minute as Lautaro Martinez went down under a challenge from Simon Kjaer. But Spanish referee Jesus Gil Manzano was asked to review his decision by the VAR and decided to overturn his original call. Martinez flashed a strike narrowly over before Denzel Dumfries just failed to apply the finishing touch to Dimarco’s cross-shot as Inter continued their total dominance of the first half. Milan started the second period much better. Brahim Diaz curled just wide from 20 yards and Junior Messias wasted a great chance when through on goal. Dzeko was denied by a good one-on-one save from Maignan but Milan’s improvement continued and substitute Divock Origi played a key role in setting up Sandro Tonali, whose strike cannoned off the base of the left post. But Inter drew the sting out of Milan’s revival and took a big step towards the final in Istanbul.