UDINE, Italy-- Inter Milan took another step towards the Serie A title as a stoppage-time goal from Davide Frattesi secured a 2-1 come-from-behind win at Udinese on Monday. Five minutes into added time, Lautaro Martinez unleashed a low shot that Udinese goalkeeper Maduka Okoye managed to tip onto the post but Frattesi pounced to slot home the rebound. Udinese had stunned the visitors with a soft goal by Lazar Samardzic before the break but Inter were soon level when Hakan Calhanoglu converted a penalty 10 minutes into the second half. Runaway leaders Inter are 14 points clear of second-placed AC Milan, boasting 82 points with seven rounds remaining. For relegation-threatened Udinese, the late goal was like a dagger to the heart of their hard-working defence with the side in 15th place with 28 points, two points above the drop zone. Udinese's defeat after a valiant defensive effort brought sympathy from Inter manager Simone Inzaghi. "I would like to congratulate Udinese, they played a great match and losing like this is annoying. But I think they can be saved with their organisation," Inzaghi told Sky Sports Italia. "How the game ended really hurts," Samardzic said. "The point would have mattered a lot but we must look forward with our heads held high and do better in our coming games." Inzaghi emphasised that his side needed to stay focused on winning a 20th Scudetto and a coveted second star, which is awarded for each 10 titles and is almost within reach. "We respected the opponent but we put our heart into, also driven by our fans. We believed and never gave up," he added. "We have achieved 26 victories in 31 games. A great run. Now we have to stay clear. There is great harmony, everyone helps each other. Eight points to go." Inter Miscommunication Inter assumed control early in the match but seemed to take their time in the build-up, looking for weaknesses in Udinese's rearguard, and did not create many opportunities. The visitors got their best chance of the first half when Hakan Calhanoglu sent a rocket towards goal on the half-hour mark but Okoye made an impressive reaction save to deny him. Udinese took a shock lead five minutes before halftime when poor communication between Inter's defence and static keeper Yann Sommer allowed a weak deflected cross from Samardzic to somehow find its way into the bottom corner of the net. Inter tried to respond immediately but Okoye made a diving save to keep out Lautaro Martinez's low header. Inter started the second period with a vengeance and dominated possession in the opening stages, Carlos Augusto scoring with a free-kick only to be denied by the offside flag. Calhanoglu then did level with a spot kick after Okoye collided with Marcus Thuram in an aerial challenge. Inter's aggression began to influence the match, albeit with its intensity seemingly waning before Frattesi's decider sparked a frenzy of celebration on the visiting bench. Inter next host lowly Cagliari on Sunday before facing Milan in a crunch game on April 22.
LOS ANGELES--Paul George scored 23 of his 39 points in the fourth quarter, including a tiebreaking jumper with 7.1 seconds left, and the Los Angeles Clippers rallied from a 26-point deficit to beat the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers 120-118 on Sunday. George blocked Darius Garland's layup with 1.7 seconds left, and the Clippers sealed the comeback victory after Max Strus missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer. George finished with 11 rebounds and seven assists for Los Angeles (50-28), which has won three straight and six of its last seven games. James Harden scored 22 points, Norman Powell and Terance Mann added 14 points apiece, and Ivica Zubac had 14 points and 11 rebounds. Darius Garland led Cleveland (46-33) with 28 points. Strus and Evan Mobley scored 20 points apiece, Caris LeVert added 18, and Jarrett Allen had 17 points and 10 rebounds. Cleveland scored 80 points in the first half and led by 26 with 6:35 left in the third quarter before Los Angeles clamped down on defense and cut the deficit to 100-95 early in the fourth quarter. The Clippers moved ahead 118-115 after Amir Coffey's 3-pointer with 47 seconds remaining capped a 10-0 run. Los Angeles played without forward Kawhi Leonard, who missed his fourth straight game due to right knee inflammation. Cleveland guard Donovan Mitchell sat out due to left knee injury management on the second night of a back-to-back. In the first quarter, Los Angeles led 33-31 before Cleveland closed on a 7-0 run to move ahead 40-33. Strus had 12 points in the period. The Cavaliers carried the momentum into the second quarter and led 66-48 with 4:27 left in the half after LeVert's trey capped a 14-4 run. LeVert and Strus had 18 points apiece in the first half for the Cavaliers, who took an 80-59 lead into intermission after shooting 60.4 percent from the field and 9 of 18 (50 percent) from 3-point range. Cleveland was held to 18 points in the third quarter, and Los Angeles rallied to cut the deficit to 98-86 at the end of the period.
PARIS- - Kylian Mbappe's strike propelled Paris St Germain into the French Cup final with a comfortable 1-0 win over Stade Rennais on Wednesday, taking them one step closer to a 15th trophy.
LONDON-- Chelsea staged a last-gasp comeback to beat Manchester United 4-3 with Cole Palmer bagging a hat-trick to turn a madcap Premier League match on its head after the Reds seemed to have staged their own unlikely turnaround in a thriller on Thursday. Chelsea's top scorer Palmer struck twice deep into added time at Stamford Bridge to save the Blues who were on the verge of a 3-2 home defeat. United remain in sixth spot and still 11 points behind fourth-placed Villa albeit with a game in hand. Timed at 100 minutes and 39 seconds, Palmer's clincher was the latest winning goal on record in a Premier League game. Chelsea had raced into a 2-0 lead inside 20 minutes with a strike by captain Conor Gallagher and a Palmer penalty. Goals by Alejandro Garnacho - after a Moises Caicedo error - and Bruno Fernandes before halftime and another in the 67th minutes by Garnacho turned the tide towards United, who are chasing qualification for next season's Champions League. But with the Blues looking beaten, Diogo Dalot brought down Noni Madueke in the box and after a nail-biting VAR check Palmer stroked home from the spot for the second time on the night to level the match at 3-3 in the 10th minute of added time. A minute later, he blasted a shot that deflected off United midfielder Scott McTominay into the net to claim his 16th league goal of the season and send the home fans into raptures. Chelsea coach Mauricio Pochettino, whose grip on the job at Stamford Bridge has been questioned with the club stuck in mid-table, paid tribute to Palmer. "The impact is amazing. He is doing a fantastic job, it is difficult to talk more about him. Today he showed the mentality and the quality," the Argentine told the BBC, adding he had urged Palmer on in the closing minutes. "I said, 'Cole, two minutes more' and to believe," Pochettino said. His opposite number at United, Erik ten Hag, lamented his side's failure to see out the win just a few days after his team conceded a last-gasp equaliser to Brentford in a 1-1 draw. "Manchester United dominated the game but we made individual errors that cost us the game," he said. "We have to learn from it. When you are a Man Utd player you should already know how to deal with this circumstance." The victory took Chelsea up to 10th, five points behind United with a game in hand and still hoping to snatch a Europa League spot despite their stop-start season.
LONDON-- Tottenham Hotspur missed the chance to move into the top four when they were held to a 1-1 draw at West Ham United after Brennan Johnson's early strike was cancelled out by Kurt Zouma in their Premier League clash on Tuesday. The result left Spurs in fifth place on 57 points, two points and one spot behind Aston Villa, who have also played 30 games and visit Manchester City on Wednesday. West Ham remain in seventh place in the standings with 45 points from 31 games. "I thought for the most part we controlled the game pretty well," Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou told reporters, with his side having 68% possession. "It's a tough place to come and they're a big strong team. They sit deep and make it difficult for you. "I thought we handled it OK. Disappointed not to get a better outcome but a tough game," he added. Spurs made three changes with Micky van de Ven, Rodrigo Bentancur and Johnson coming into the side, while West Ham brought in goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski for the injured Alphonse Areola, and it was the visitors who had the brighter start. Postecoglou's side looked up for the battle in east London and went in front after five minutes through Johnson, who scored from close range when he connected with a low cross from Timo Werner following a slick counter-attack down the left. Spurs looked dangerous on the break after the goal, with Pedro Porro fizzing a shot just wide and captain Son Heung-min having a left-foot curler saved before West Ham equalised. Zouma rose amongst a crowd of players in the six-yard box and managed to steer the ball into the net off his back from a Jarrod Bowen corner in the 19th with the Tottenham defence and goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario failing to snuff out the danger. The goal gave West Ham confidence and James Ward-Prowse struck a vicious free kick towards the top right-hand corner that Vicario did well to punch clear. West Ham forced a series of corners before the break as they cranked up the pressure but the Tottenham defence dealt with them much more efficiently than they had for the equaliser. Spurs dominated possession but the home team had almost as many chances in an entertaining game that saw both sides trying to attack and leaving space at the back, although the finishing was poor in an electric atmosphere at the London Stadium. West Ham had a great chance to take the lead on the counter-attack after an hour when Michail Antonio raced through having shrugged off Van de Ven but he shot tamely at Vicario. Both sides sensed they could find a winner and the game became stretched but the defences held firm, with Tottenham defender Destiny Udogie having a chance to snatch all three points in stoppage time but his low shot was saved by Fabianski. "I think the draw was probably a fair result. We showed more defensive resilience against a very good Tottenham team," said West Ham manager David Moyes, with his side having thrown away a 3-1 lead at Newcastle United to lose 4-3 on Saturday.
