European football: Inter extend lead in Serie A after win at title rivals Atalanta

The Guardian

16-03-2025

Inter extended their lead at the top of Serie A to three points with a 2-0 win at third-placed title rivals Atalanta on Sunday as both sides finished with 10 men.
An intense opening half ended goalless, with Inter's Marcus Thuram hitting the upright and Atalanta's Mario Pasalic forcing goalkeeper Yann Sommer into a save from a header.
Carlos Augusto opened the scoring when he headed in from a corner nine minutes after the break. The hosts had midfielder Ederson sent off for two quick bookings in the 81st before Lautaro Martínez sealed the win three minutes from time. Inter had Alessandro Bastoni dismissed in added time.
Inter move to 64 points ahead of Napoli, who have 61 after being held to a 0-0 draw at second-from-bottom Venezia earlier on Sunday, while Atalanta remain on 58 points.
Juventus were roundly beaten 3-0 at Fiorentina in their Serie A clash, heaping further pressure on under-fire manager Thiago Motta after a second successive heavy defeat.
Juve, after a 4-0 hammering by Atalanta last weekend, were two goals down early on in Florence to a Fiorentina side which had suffered four defeats in their past five league games.
The home side's Robin Gosens had his initial header from a corner blocked by Juventus defender Renato Veiga but when the ball came back to him his rifled shot was deflected off Khéphren Thuram before nestling in the net for a 15th-minute lead.
Three minutes later, Nicolo Fagioli, on loan at Fiorentina from Juve since last month, played a through ball into Rolando Mandragora who shot first time from outside the area low into the far corner.
Paris Saint-Germain took another big step towards France's Ligue 1 crown with a 3-1 home win over second-placed Marseille on Sunday to extend their lead at the top to 19 points. PSG are unbeaten in the league and cruising towards the title with 68 points from 26 games and eight rounds remaining.
Ousmane Dembélé broke the deadlock after 17 minutes, racing onto a through ball before slotting home and just before the break Nuno Mendes doubled the lead with a close-range finish. Marseille got themselves back in the game six minutes into the second half when Adrien Rabiot capitalised on a poor pass out of defence and set up Amine Gouiri, who made no mistake.
PSG went looking for a third goal and it came when Marseille defender Pol Lirola put the ball in his own net in the 76th minute as he tried to clear Achraf Hakimi's cross into the box.
A clash between Ligue 1's bottom two sides Montpellier and Saint-Etienne was abandoned in the 63rd minute on Sunday after home fans threw flares onto the pitch and part of a stand caught fire. Basement club Montpellier were 2-0 down to their relegation rivals, with Lucas Stassin netting twice, his second coming eight minutes after the break which enraged the home support.
Flares landed on the pitch and the referee stopped play for three minutes before the match resumed, but supporters then began moving back from the front of the stand as smoke and flames could be seen in their sector. The referee sent the players back to the dressing rooms and after a 20-minute suspension an announcement was made informing the fans that the match had been abandoned.
In Germany, reigning champions Bayer Leverkusen snatched a 4-3 win at Stuttgart with two late goals on Sunday to snap a three-game losing run in all competitions and cut Bayern Munich's lead at the top of the Bundesliga to six points.
Patrik Schick struck in stoppage time to give the visitors the points after they had drawn level minutes earlier courtesy of Stuttgart midfielder Angelo Stiller's 88th-minute own goal. Ermedin Demirovic put Stuttgart ahead in the 15th minute before the unmarked Nick Woltemade slotted home to complete a quick break and make it 2-0 three minutes after half-time.
Leverkusen's Jeremie Frimpong cut the deficit in the 56th after Stuttgart repeatedly failed to clear the ball. However, the hosts restored their two-goal lead after 62 minutes when goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky saved a Demirovic shot but the ball bounced off Granit Xhaka for an own goal. Six minutes later it was Leverkusen's turn to score with Piero Hincapie drilling in a shot to give them renewed hope.
Amine Adli came agonisingly close to an equaliser in the 82nd but his shot just missed before Stiller scored an own goal. Schick completed Leverkusen's pulsating late comeback in stoppage time to keep them firmly in the title race. The result lifts Leverkusen to 56 points in second place, cutting Bayern's lead to six after their 1-1 draw at Union Berlin on Saturday.