TURIN, Italy-- Juventus and Inter Milan shared the spoils in an energetic 1-1 Coppa Italia semi-final first-leg draw on Tuesday, after a stoppage-time penalty by Romelu Lukaku cancelled out a late goal by Juve midfielder Juan Cuadrado. Juventus could have gone ahead through Angel Di Maria in the fourth minute but Inter keeper Samir Handanovic tipped away his low shot from the edge of the box. Inter, who could have scored in the 33rd minute when Marcelo Brozovic's shot was saved by Juve keeper Mattia Perin, dominated possession in a lively first half. Shortly after the break Juventus forward Dusan Vlahovic tried to surprise Handanovic with a close-range header from a stunning, lofted pass by Nicolo Fagioli but the attempt by Serbia forward went just over the bar. Henrikh Mkhitaryan could have made it 1-0 for the visitors in the 64th minute with a powerful low shot towards the far post but he missed the target by centimetres. Cuadrado gave the record 14-times winners the lead in the 83rd when he collected a loose ball inside the box and sent it into the bottom left corner after Inter defender Alessandro Bastoni had unsuccessfully tried to clear it off the line. When it seemed that the game would end with a first-leg advantage for the home side, a handball by Juventus defender Gleison Bremer gifted the visitors a spot kick, flawlessly executed by Lukaku who sent Perin the wrong way. The Belgian striker's celebration in front of the Juve fans was judged to be provocative and he was sent off after a second yellow card, while Inter captain Handanovic and Cuadrado also got red cards immediately after the final whistle. "Tonight I saw the boys very angry about this draw but we have to be good at accepting it," Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri told Mediaset. "In the first half we were a little too slow. When they had the ball we waited for them; in the second half we applied more pressure." Cremonese host Fiorentina in the second semi-final on Wednesday. The second-leg games will be played on April 26 and 27.
LIVERPOOL, England-- Michael Keane scored a thrilling last-gasp goal to lift Everton to a 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur on Monday, a big boost for the team's desperate battle to avoid relegation.
New York Yankees center fielder Aaron Judge (99) hits a solo home run against the San Francisco Giants during the first inning at Yankee Stadium. (Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports.)
NEW YORK--Aaron Judge homered in his first at-bat, Gerrit Cole struck out 11 in six sharp innings and the host New York Yankees beat the San Francisco Giants 5-0 Thursday afternoon on Opening Day. After hitting an AL-record 62 home runs last season to break Roger Maris' record, Judge homered against the team he grew up rooting for and the team who courted him in free agency. In his first appearance since signing a nine-year, $360 million contract, Judge lifted an 0-1 sinker from Logan Webb (0-1) over the center field fence atop the netting above Monument Park. The 422-foot drive was Judge's first career Opening Day homer. In his fourth straight Opening Day start, Cole (1-0) allowed three hits and surpassed Tim Leary (1991) for the team strikeout record in a season opener. Cole struck out the side in the first and second while putting a runner on in each inning. He reached double-digit strikeouts by fanning Mike Yastrzemski for the second time in the fourth. Cole ended his outing by fanning Joc Pederson for the third time on a 98-mph fastball to end the sixth after Wilmer Flores hit into a double play. Gleyber Torres added a two-run homer in the fourth while starting at designated hitter as the Yankees won a season opener for the fifth time in six seasons under manager Aaron Boone. DJ LeMahieu and Judge added RBI singles in the seventh for the Yankees, who struck out 16 times in a game that lasted two hours, 33 minutes. Judge finished 2-for-4. New York rookie Anthony Volpe was 0-for-2 with a walk and stolen base. He also started the double play that preceded Cole's final strikeout. Playing a season opener in New York for the first time since hosting the Pittsburgh Pirates at Manhattan's Polo Grounds in 1956, the Giants struck out 16 times in their first visit to Yankee Stadium since July 2016. Webb allowed four runs on four hits in six-plus innings. He struck out a career-high 12 hitters. Thairo Estrada went 2-for-4, accounting for half of the Giants' hits.
SANTIAGO DEL ESTERO, Argentina-- Marco Bezzecchi clinched his and VR46 Racing's maiden MotoGP victory at the Argentina Grand Prix on Sunday to move to the top of the championship standings after he dominated in wet conditions to lead from the first corner to the chequered flag. Pramac Ducati's Johann Zarco finished second with a stunning ride in the second half of the race while pole sitter Alex Marquez was third on his Gresini Ducati for his first podium since the Aragon Grand Prix in 2020. Reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia threw away 20 points when he made a mistake and crashed while he was in second place with eight laps left, conceding top spot in the championship to Bezzecchi -- who now leads by nine points. "I have no words because today, honestly, I woke up with a strange sensation. I knew I could go fast, but I didn't expect to go so fast," Bezzecchi said in a post-race interview. "I was really scared of the wet because normally I'm not very good with the MotoGP (bike) on the wet but today it was fantastic. I had an incredible feeling since the first metre of the warm-up and I just enjoyed a lot with my bike. "I was speaking to the bike just to stay concentrated and it was really, really tough. But it's an incredible feeling." Marquez had overcome a crash and fire on his bike to clinch his maiden MotoGP pole on Saturday but Bezzecchi surged ahead at the start to take the lead at the first corner where he found better grip. Once Bezzecchi had a clear track in front of him, the 2022 rookie of the year did not look back and extended his lead to three seconds with 15 laps to go while Marquez battled with Ducati's Francesco Bagnaia for second place. Bagnaia eventually found a way past Marquez but soon after he made a mistake on turn 13 and slid off the track. Although he managed to finish the race, he crossed the line 16th and he was absolutely livid with himself. Brad Binder shocked the grid when he won the sprint from 15th place but there would be no repeat of his opening lap heroics after he was clipped by Maverick Vinales and suffered a spill, rejoining the race but finishing dead last. The two Aprilias of Vinales and Aleix Espargaro had dominated practice sessions on Friday but they were the slowest bikes on the track as they struggled in wet conditions, eventually finishing 12th and 15th. Five riders did not start the race due to injuries, including both Hondas after Joan Mir was declared unfit.
Sorana Cirstea (ROU) hits a backhand against Aryna Sabalenka (not pictured) in a women's singles quarterfinal on day ten of the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium. (Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports.)
FLORIDA-- Unseeded Romanian Sorana Cirstea earned the biggest win of her career with a 6-4 6-4 victory over Australian Open champion and world number two Aryna Sabalenka on Wednesday to reach the Miami Open semi-final. Cirstea, who has yet to drop a set in Miami and is the last unseeded player in the draw, delivered a stunning performance while taking advantage of some untimely double faults to become only the third person to beat Sabalenka this year.
