Zalewski and Asllani keep Inter in Serie A title contention with win at Torino
Inter kept their Serie A title hopes alive with a confident 2-0 win at Torino on a rain-drenched Sunday as they showed no signs of letting up in the title race. The win brought the Champions League finalists level at the top on 77 points with Napoli, who host Genoa later on Sunday.
Inter, who reached the Champions League final by beating Barcelona in a thrilling encounter on Tuesday, left several key players on the bench and rested others as they looked to keep the squad fresh. The striker and captain Lautaro Martinez, the goalkeeper Yann Sommer, and the midfielder Davide Frattesi were all left out of the starting lineup.
The match came to an early, unscheduled halt in the opening moments as someone in the crowd appeared to need medical assistance, with play resuming after a few minutes. Inter took the lead after 14 minutes, with Nicola Zalewski losing his marker with a clever turn before cutting inside to the edge of the box and slotting the ball into the net.
In first-half stoppage time, Torino went close to an equaliser with a diving header from Ché Adams, but the Inter keeper Josep Martínez produced an incredible one-handed save on the line.
Heavy rain and a thunderstorm interrupted the match, forcing a stoppage in the first half and delaying the start of the second, as the referee, Federico La Penna, carried out a thorough pitch inspection during the break.
In the 49th minute, with the rain pouring down, Inter were awarded a penalty after the Torino keeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic fouled Mehdi Taremi. Kristjan Asllani converted from the spot to double the visitors' lead and seal the match.
Borussia Dortmund powered back from a goal down to win 4-2 at Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga on Sunday, keeping alive their chance of a top-four finish going into the final matchday next week.
Dortmund have won six of their past seven league games to climb from 11th to fifth and are just a point behind fourth-placed Freiburg. Last year's Champions League finalists found themselves a goal down in the 31st minute with Leverkusen's Jeremie Frimpong giving the hosts a deserved lead in their coach Xabi Alonso's final home match. The Spaniard announced on Friday that he will leave at the end of the season, having led them to the domestic double last season without defeat while also reaching the Europa League final.
'We lived a lot of special moments and it was a mixed feeling in the last home game. We are thankful for what we achieved in the past three years,' Alonso said. 'I have changed a lot in these years. We had many experiences. Luckily most of them good ones, today maybe not but I will forget this one quickly,' he said. 'What I lived here in Leverkusen has been very special.'
A half-dozen saves by Kobel kept them in Sunday's game in the first half but after Leverkusen's goal the visitors never looked back. Dortmund levelled two minutes later with Julian Brandt slotting in from a Karim Adeyemi cutback. The visitors scored again in the 43rd after winning possession in Leverkusen's half and Julian Ryerson completing the move with a low finish from the right.
Leverkusen lost possession once more in the 73rd with Marcel Sabitzer feeding Adeyemi to make it 3-1. Before the hosts had time to regroup they conceded another goal through Serhou Guirassy, who scored his 20th league goal of the season in the 77th. Jonas Hofmann managed to score in stoppage time for Leverkusen.
Dortmund host relegated Holstein Kiel next week.
Third-placed Eintracht Frankfurt drew 2-2 at home to St Pauli, missing the chance to nail down their Champions League spot ahead of the season finale. Eintracht are on 57, three ahead of Dortmund and two in front of Freiburg.St Pauli are all but assured another year in the Bundesliga.
This article will be updated.
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