24/03/2026

SPORTS TUESDAY | MAR 24, 2026

29

FOLLOW

ON TWITTER Malaysian Paper

@thesundaily

Real tight race Madrid defeat Atletico in derby after leaders Barca edge Rayo V INICIUS JUNIOR struck twice as Real Madrid shaded Atletico Madrid 3 2 in a thrilling derby clash Arbeloa has praised Vinicius since his first day at the helm and brought the best out of the forward after a barren spell under Xabi Alonso.

Inter lead cut after Fiorentina draw

INTER MILAN’S lead at the top of Serie A was cut to six points yesterday after a 1-1 draw at Fiorentina, as upstarts Como boosted their hopes of Champions League football by ham mering Pisa 5-0. Cher Ndour’s 77th-minute tap-in earned Fiorentina a precious point in their bid to avoid relegation and slowed Inter’s charge to a 21st league title. Fiorentina are two points above the drop zone after an excellent perform ance in Florence, which was all the more impressive for their reaction after Pio Esposito headed Inter in front inside the first minute. “We didn’t put in our best perform ance and we’re not in our best form but we’re six points in the lead so it’s all in our hands,” said Inter’s assistant coach Aleksandar Kolarov. “We’re missing a bit of aggressive ness and lucidity, maybe it’s tiredness from all the matches we’ve played.” Esposito’s ninth goal of his debut

Inter season, which came from a pin point Nicolo Barella cross, was good news for the Italian national team who face Northern Ireland on Thursday in the semifinals of World Cup playoffs. The burly 20-year-old, who was denied by David de Gea in stoppage time, is likely to feature for the Azzurri who are desperately trying to not miss a third straight World Cup, although Moise Kean was in bustling form for Fiorentina after returning from injury. Kean is rusty in front of goal though and failed to get his toe to Marco Brescianini’s teasing low cross in the 29th minute and had a close-range fin ish ruled out for offside. Inter were the beneficiaries of Fiorentina’s wastefulness but Cristian Chivu’s team have picked up two points from their last three matches and have allowed closest challengers AC Milan back into the Scudetto mix. Earlier, Assane Diao sent Como on their way to a thumping victory in the seventh minute with a fine low drive,

and further strikes from Tasos Douvikas, Martin Baturina, Nico Paz and Maximo Perrone ensured a fifth straight win in Italy’s top flight. Ambitious Como have never played European football but the team coached by Cesc Fabregas sit fourth and three points ahead of both Juventus, in fifth, and sixth-placed Roma who beat Lecce 1-0. Robinio Vaz’s first Roma goal was enough to keep the capital club in the top-four hunt and drop Lecce into the relegation zone in place of Jamie Vardy’s Cremonese. Before kickoff in Como a minute’s silence, during which fans broke out into applause, was held for deceased billionaire co-owner Michael Hartono, who died at the age of 86 on Thursday. Indonesian Hartono and his brother Robert, owners of tobacco giant Djarum which was founded by their father in the 1950s, bought Como in 2019 when the club was in Italy’s third division. – AFP

yesterday to stay on leaders Barcelona’s tail at the top of La Liga. After the Catalan giants edged Rayo Vallecano 1-0 earlier, Madrid ensured the gap to the champions stayed at four points by beating Diego Simeone’s side at the Santiago Bernabeu. Ademola Lookman put Atletico ahead in the first half but Vinicius and Federico Valverde’s strikes gave the hosts the lead soon after the interval. Nahuel Molina equalised for Atletico, fourth, with a spectacular effort from distance but Vinicius netted again to claim the three points for Los Blancos . Valverde was sent off for hacking Alex Baena in the final stages but his side held on to win in Alvaro Arbeloa’s first derby clash with Atletico since tak ing over in January. “We showed mental toughness and strength worthy of this club’s badge,” Arbeloa told reporters, proud of his team’s effort with 10 men. “It made things hard for us and we had to suffer a lot.” After ousting Manchester City in the Champions League last 16 on Tuesday, victory against Atletico completed a successful week for Arbeloa and his team. “We’re evolving and working hard so that in games like these Madrid fans can be happy, that the fans can enjoy themselves and that Madrid always win,” Vinicius told Real Madrid TV . “Everyone deserves credit, the coach, the players, the fans, all the work we’ve done this week. We were sure of our gameplan from the start and that made all the difference.” Vinicius’s double brought him to 10 goals in his last 11 matches across all competitions. “I’m very happy because I’ve worked all season for games like this,” added Vinicius. “When this moment of the season arrives, I don’t know why, I always improve.”

“Another great game from Vinicius, another demonstration of bravery and character,” said Arbeloa. “A great goal to give us victory in a tricky moment, I’m so lucky to have him, for his commitment and his talent.” Arbeloa sent on Jude Bellingham as a substitute for his first appearance since Feb 1 after a hamstring injury, along with French superstar Kylian Mbappe, who returned midweek from a knee sprain. Neither had much of an influ ence as Madrid were forced to defend after Valverde’s foul on Baena bought him a red card. Madrid protested it was not severe enough of an offence to merit a dismissal, but to no avail. In 2023 Baena, then at Villarreal, accused Valverde of punching him after a game. Atletico are a point behind third place Villarreal after they beat Real Sociedad on Saturday. Araujo nodded home from a corner after 24 minutes to secure Barca the three points at the Nou Camp but goalkeeper Joan Garcia’s superb display played just as big a part in their victory. “We knew how important it was to get this win before the interna tional break, we did it, but it’s true we suffered more than we would have liked,” Garcia told DAZN . Araujo has not featured much since taking a mental health break late last year, but came on as a sub stitute in Barca’s 7-2 Champions League rout of Newcastle in mid week. “I feel very good, physically well, it’s important that I can help the team,” said Araujo. Elsewhere Alaves produced a sensational comeback from three goals down to beat Celta Vigo 4-3 and move 16th. Athletic Bilbao, ninth, defeated fifth-place Real Betis 2-1 to stay in the fight for European football next season. – AFP

Undav doubles up as Stuttgart down Augsburg to go third GERMANY forward Deniz Undav scored twice and laid on another goal as Stuttgart cruised past hosts Augsburg 5-2 yesterday to climb to third in the Bundesliga table. Frustrated after they were knocked out of the Europa League by Portuguese league lead ers Porto on Thursday, yesterday’s dominant win took Stuttgart three points clear of fourth placed RB Leipzig. “It wasn’t a perfect week. We wanted to show a reaction after being kicked out -- we wanted to carry that anger with us,” Undav told DAZN . “We showed that today. We were superior from the start, scoring goals in the right moments.” Stuttgart’s Tiago Tomas, Nikolas Nartey and Ermedin Demirovic joined Undav on the scoresheet while Fabian Rieder and Anton Kade scored for the hosts. Selected in Julian Nagelsmann’s Germany squad on Thursday, Undav’s double brought his total to 18 goals in 23 games this league season, equaling his total from 2023-24 with seven matches to play. Mainz continued their impressive rise from last spot to mid-table safety with a 2-1 home win over Eintracht Frankfurt. Paul Nebel’s 89th-minute winner gave Mainz all three points after Frankfurt’s Nathaniel Brown had equalised for the visitors in the 20th minute, cancelling out Nebel’s early opener. Stranded in last spot when former Union Berlin coach Urs Fischer took over in December, Mainz have since lost just two of 18 matches in all competitions and sit 11th in the Bundesliga, six points above the relegation playoff spot. They are through to the quarterfinals of a European competition for the first time where they will face Strasbourg in the Europa Conference League. Elsewhere, St Pauli threw away an early lead to lose 2-1 at home against Freiburg and sink closer to the drop. Both Freiburg’s goals were scored by Hamburg-born-and-raised Igor Matanovic, who spent 13 years at Pauli, rubbing salt into the home side’s wounds. The defeat left St Pauli in the relegation play off spot, two points behind Cologne, who fired coach Lukas Kwasniok on Sunday. Assistant manager Rene Wagner will take over the Billy Goats on an interim basis. – AFP

Atletico’s Johnny Cardoso (back), Giuliano Simeone (front) and Madrid’s Vinicius Junior vie for the ball during yesterday’s La Liga match at the Santiago Bernabeu yesterday. – AFPPIC

Giroud strikes late as Lille beat Marseille, Lyon struggles continue

OLIVIER GIROUD came off the bench for Lille to condemn Marseille to a 2-1 home defeat yesterday as fellow European contenders Lyon’s woes contin ued with another defeat. Ethan Nwaneri’s first-half goal seemed to have put Marseille on course for a third straight win in the league as they look to consolidate the third and final Champions League spot. But Belgian right-back Thomas Meunier struck back for seventh-placed Lille in the 49th minute to level matters at the Stade Velodrome. Former Arsenal and France striker Giroud then netted his sixth goal of the season to send Lille in front inside the final five minutes. The 39-year-old substitute headed in Meunier’s cross to complete the comeback for fifth-placed Lille and move them to within two points of their opponents.

“We played well up until the 70th minute, domi nating the game and creating chances,“ Lyon boss Fonseca said. “We’ve been facing a lot of difficulties this sea son and the mistakes are piling up. I can accept that the referees don’t always have the best view, but how can some of the VAR decisions be explained?” Monaco, on 46 points, move up to sixth, two clear of Rennes, who played out a goalless stale mate with bottom-placed Metz. Despite twice taking the lead against Strasbourg, second-bottom Nantes fell to a 3-2 loss after Joaquin Panichelli’s late brace and find them selves five points behind Auxerre, who occupy the relegation playoff spot. Elsewhere, Paris FC took a big step towards ensuring their top-flight status for next season with a vital 3-2 home win over Le Havre. – AFP

“We didn’t deserve to be behind at half-time. So at the break, I told my players to keep doing what they’d been doing,” Lille coach Bruno Genesio said. “We can be proud of what we’ve achieved, but we need to keep our feet on the ground. Olivier did us a world of good… He scored a brilliant striker’s goal.” Defeat left Habib Beye’s Marseille on 49 points, also just two clear of fourth-placed Lyon after the seven-time French champions went down 2-1 at home to Monaco. The defeat compounded a miserable week for Lyon after they were eliminated from the Europa League 3-1 on aggregate following Thursday’s 2-0 reversal at the Groupama Stadium to Spaniards Celta Vigo. Paulo Fonseca’s charges are now without a win in their last six outings in all competitions.