Sports

TURIN, Italy — Italian champions Juventus suffered their first defeat of the season Saturday with a 3-1 loss against Lazio in Rome blowing open the Serie A title race.

Maurizio Sarri’s eight-time reigning league champions remain second in the table, two points behind leaders Inter Milan after 15 matches.

Third-placed Lazio clawed to within just three points of Juventus after their first win at home against the Turin giants since December 2003.

Cristiano Ronaldo put Juventus ahead at the Stadio Olimpico when he picked up a Rodrigo Bentancur cross to tap in after 25 minutes.

But Luiz Felipe hit back for the Romans in front of 60,000 fans, nodding in just before the break.

Juan Cuadrado’s sending off for a foul on Manuel Lazzari after 69 minutes proved to be the turning point.

Lazio took control as Sergej Milinkovic-Savic connected with a Luis Alberto assist to fire in a stunning goal.

Goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha denied Ronaldo’s header on the line while Juventus counterpart Wojciech Szczesny atoned for bringing down Joaquin Correa by saving Serie A top scorer Ciro Immobile’s resulting penalty.

Felipe Caicedo snatched the third goal five minutes into injury time as Lazio earned their seventh straight win, fuelling ambitions of challenging for a first Serie A title since 2000.

“Lazio for the Scudetto? Maybe, it depends on how much they will be able to continue this extraordinary moment,” said Sarri, “Let’s say it will be a three-way fight.”

“The red card changed everything for us,” he added.

Juventus had been the only team left in Europe’s top leagues to remain unbeaten in all competitions this season.

“My lads did something extraordinary tonight,” said Inzaghi.

“We are in an excellent period and we must be ambitious.

“I have always had faith in this team. Six weeks ago people said we weren’t getting results, but I remained calm. 

“We’ll enjoy this for a few hours, but from Thursday must get right back on track and aim to stay in the Europa League.”

Carlo Ancelotti ruled out resigning from his position as last year’s Serie A runners-up Napoli saw their winless run reach seven games with a 1-1 draw at struggling Udinese.

Kevin Lasagna scored for Udinese after 32 minutes, picking up a Seko Fofana cross after the Ivorian beat defender Kalidou Koulibaly, to beat Alex Meret in the Napoli goal.

But Piotr Zielinski pulled the visitors level after 69 minutes as Napoli held on for just their fifth point in their last seven games.

Ancelotti’s side are seventh in the league — 17 points behind leaders Inter Milan — and will bid to seal a Champions League last 16 berth at home against Genk next week. 

Berat Djimsiti grabbed a late winner as Atalanta came from behind twice to seal a 3-2 victory over 10-man Verona and stay in touch with the Champions League places.

Atalanta are sixth, one point behind fourth-placed Roma, who occupy the final Champions League spot after their goalless draw at Inter Milan on Friday.

The hosts were pushed hard by Verona, coached by Croatian Ivan Juric, a former player and assistant manager to Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini at Genoa.

Italian forward Samuel Di Carmine fired the visitors ahead after 23 minutes, and completed his brace after 57 minutes.

LAUSANNE — Chelsea manager Frank Lampard admitted the club will be on the lookout for new faces in the January window after a FIFA-imposed transfer ban was reduced on appeal by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Friday.

The ban, imposed following violations in the recruitment of minors, was reduced from two transfer windows to one, which Chelsea already served in the summer.

A fine was also reduced from 600,000 Swiss francs ($607,000; £462,000) to half that amount by the Lausanne-based court.

Lampard insisted he had not yet had any conversations with Chelsea’s board about transfer plans, but will start them now in earnest.

“It’s a positive outcome for us. It allows us the potential to look at the market going forward,” Lampard said at a press conference ahead of Saturday’s Premier League trip to Everton.

“So I’m pleased from a footballing level. It was never my business to get involved in the reasons why or the legal side of it.

“So from my point of view, for the club moving forward, it’s obviously a good thing.”

A CAS statement explaining their decision said that Chelsea were guilty of violating rules related to the international transfer and registration of minors, “but for a significantly smaller number of players”, concluding that they were only guilty of one third of the violations found by FIFA.

In addition, the breaches of other transfer rules “were found to be less serious than those attributed to Chelsea FC by FIFA”.

Chelsea later welcomed the news before describing FIFA’s approach as “deeply unsatisfactory, not least as FIFA chose to treat Chelsea entirely differently to Manchester City for reasons that make absolutely no sense to Chelsea”.

A 451-word statement issued on Twitter detailed how, according to the club, FIFA had got it badly wrong bringing the charges.

The club said it “respects the importance of the work undertaken by FIFA” concerning the protection of minors.

But it warned that if FIFA continued to impose “inconsistent and unequal sanctions” on clubs it would cast doubt on the confidence in the body’s ability to “appropriately regulate this important area”.

The initial ban was announced by football’s world governing body in February, but Chelsea had always denied wrongdoing.

It followed a FIFA probe into Chelsea’s signing of foreign under-18 players, including the club’s former forward Bertrand Traore, a Burkina Faso international who now plays for French Ligue 1 club Lyon.

Traore signed professional forms for Chelsea in 2013 at the age of 18 but was not registered until January the following year.

At first they appealed to FIFA who partially lifted the ban in April, although only for players under 16 who are not “international transfers and first registrations of foreign minor players”.

That left Chelsea still unable to sign players over 16 during the summer transfer window.

‘Important we get it right’

Chelsea had been eager to have the ban lifted at the time, or at least suspended pending an appeal, so they could be in a position to sign a replacement for Eden Hazard, who was sold to Real Madrid.

Nevertheless, in the absence of new recruits, Lampard has enjoyed success promoting several members of the club’s youth academy to the first team.

Centre-back Fikayo Tomori, midfielder Mason Mount and striker Tammy Abraham have all returned from loan spells to become regulars, their form leading to England call-ups. Abraham is Chelsea’s top scorer with 12 goals this season.

Young full-back Reece James has also broken into the first team, while USA winger Christian Pulisic remains the last new signing brought to the club after being signed from Borussia Dortmund for £58 million ($74 million) last January.

Chelsea are currently fourth in the Premier League and Lampard admitted the club would need to be careful with their recruitment policy.

“As we go forward of course if I feel there are positions we can strengthen then we will obviously look at that, as all big clubs do.

“That’s why people expected less of us this season, because lots of clubs around us and below us were spending £100 million and we didn’t have that chance, and we lost Eden Hazard and two number nines.

“Now the picture’s slightly changed and it’s important that we get it right moving forward.”

LONDON — Jose Mourinho endured an unhappy return to Manchester United as Marcus Rashford struck twice in a 2-1 defeat for Tottenham, while Liverpool maintained their eight-point lead at the top of the Premier League, putting five goals past Everton.

Second-placed Leicester equalled their top-flight league record of seven consecutive wins with a 2-0 victory against bottom side Watford while Chelsea bounced back from two consecutive league defeats to beat Aston Villa 2-1.

Mourinho’s first loss since taking charge of Spurs eases the pressure on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as United moved above Tottenham, up to sixth in the table.

Rashford smashed United into an early lead with the help of some poor goalkeeping by Paulo Gazzaniga, the England international’s powerful shot creeping in at the near post and he had chances to extend the lead.

Yet, for all United’s dominance in the first 45 minutes, one moment of brilliance from Dele Alli pulled Mourinho’s men level before the break.

Alli plucked the ball out of the air and skipped beyond two United defenders with one touch before slotting home his fourth goal in as many games since Mourinho took charge.

United were handed the chance to retake the lead when Rashford went down under Moussa Sissoko’s challenge in the penalty area early in the second half and he put his recent spot-kick woes behind him to send Gazzaniga the wrong way.

“The three points are massive for us,” said Solskjaer.

“We’ve had too many draws this season and given too many points away from winning positions. It’s a great lesson the last two games [Sheffield United and Aston Villa] and we came back in a great manner.”

Mourinho, sacked by United last December, described his reception at Old Trafford as “nice and polite”.

“It’s a step back against a team that is playing with the same objective as us, trying to get up the table and reach the top six,” he said. “We need to keep going. We made mistakes but it’s not good to be crying about them now.”

Origi double

Liverpool emphatically restated their title credentials by thrashing their city rivals 5-2, surging eight points clear of Leicester after their 14th win in 15 games. Manchester City, in third place, are 11 behind the leaders.

All but one of the goals came in a frantic first half at Anfield as Divock Origi and Xherdan Shaqiri, who replaced the rested Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah, put Liverpool 2-0 up inside 17 minutes.

Michael Keane pulled a goal back for Everton before Origi got his second and Sadio Mane finished off a blistering counter-attack to make it 4-1.

The scoring did not stop there as Richarlison cut the deficit once more, but Georginio Wijnaldum hammered the final nail in the Everton coffin as an eighth defeat in 11 league games sees the Toffees slip into the bottom three.

“All the goals were incredible, outstanding,” said Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp. “Wonderful goals, sensational passes, super pieces of football. I loved it a lot.on

“We needed fresh legs and I had to show my respect to the boys in the squad, that’s all. They proved it. It is much more fun making changes, all of the boys are ready to deliver performances like this.”

Leicester moved back above City as Liverpool’s closest challengers.

Brendan Rodgers’ side were awarded a penalty after the break when Jonny Evans went down clutching his face inside the area and Jamie Vardy made no mistake, scoring for the seventh straight game.

James Maddison sealed the points deep into stoppage time.

Chelsea forward Tammy Abraham, who was prolific during a loan spell at Aston Villa last season, proved the difference against Villa, heading in Reece James’s cross to open the scoring.

Trezeguet bundled home to bring the visitors level before the break, but Abraham then turned provider by chesting down for Mason Mount to brilliant volley high past Tom Heaton.

Wolves, in fifth place, remain unbeaten in the league since September and goals from Leander Dendoncker and Patrick Cutrone either side of half-time gave them a 2-0 win against a disappointing West Ham at Molineux.

Southampton moved out of the bottom with a 2-1 win against fellow strugglers Norwich.

MADRID — Atletico Madrid’s La Liga title challenge has been floundering for a while and if they lose at home to Barcelona on Sunday, it could be over before it really began. 

Barca sit three points ahead of Atletico in the table and have a game in hand to come against Real Madrid, after their match in October was postponed until December 18. 

It means defeat for Atleteo this weekend would give their opponents a six-point advantage, with the possibility of either Real Madrid or Barcelona extending that to nine with a victory in next month’s Clasico. 

That would be a formidable gap to close, particularly given Diego Simeone’s side have to play away at the top two in the second half of the season, limiting their ability to cut any deficit in head-to-heads. 

There has also been little so far to suggest they could put together a consistent run of results. 

In their 1-0 defeat to Juventus on Tuesday, Atletico failed to convert from 15 shots, which according to Opta is their second highest in any Champions League away game for 16 seasons. 

“We are experts in patience and hard work,” said Simeone afterwards. “At some point we will have a great match and score lots of goals. 

“We are a strong team with a strong block and in attack we are generating better chances. But we are not ruthless enough and when you’re not ruthless, the rest is of little use.” 

In La Liga, Atletico have been beaten only once in 14 matches, the best record in the division, but they have drawn seven, the joint most with Osasuna. 

Their 16 goals scored is as good as Alaves in 13th and worse than Sevilla, Real Sociedad, Getafe, Granada, Levante, Valencia, Osasuna, Villarreal and Real Betis, as well as Barcelona and Real Madrid. 

Alvaro Morata has six goals in his last eight games for his club but the pressure on him to take the few chances that come his way is high. 

Diego Costa, meanwhile, has long lost the art of goalscoring and is injured, expected out for at least another two months. 

When Atletico signed Joao Felix for a record 126 million euros in July the hope was he might unlock some much-needed attacking impetus. 

The 20-year-old has just returned from more than a month out with an ankle problem and, if anything, expectations have risen in his absence. 

Felix was given the unenviable task of filling the void left by Antoine Griezmann, who will return to his former club for the first time since leaving for Barca last summer. 

Griezmann’s opening few months at Camp Nou have not been smooth, his impact reduced by meek performances, positional uncertainty and doubts around his relationship with Lionel Messi. 

Yet, there were signs, not for the first time, of a connection up front on Wednesday against Borussia Dortmund, when Barca ran out 3-0 winners, with Messi, Griezmann and Luis Suarez all on target. 

“There is a lot of talk about this, the connection,” said Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde. “Players who are good always understand each other and with time they understand each other more.” 

If the victory proves to be the start of something, it will have been in part down to chance, given Griezmann only came on after an early injury to Ousmane Dembele. 

Dembele suffered a thigh strain and is not expected back this year. 

“In the second half, Griezmann was great,” said Valverde. “Now he has a special feeling for the game against Atletico.” 

Griezmann is likely to receive a cold reception at the Wanda Metropolitano, where, by the end, five excellent seasons were overshadowed by his desperation to leave. 

But in the whistles there might also be a degree of regret and recognition, that their team is missing him too.

PARIS — A Lionel Messi-inspired Barcelona booked their place in the Champions League knockout stages on Wednesday by crushing a desperate Borussia Dortmund 3-1, while RB Leipzig made the last 16 for the first time with an incredible stoppage time comeback.

Lucien Favre’s position as Dortmund coach looks increasingly in peril following the thumping at the Camp Nou, orchestrated by a sensational Messi, that ensured Barca’s progress to the last 16 as Group F winners and leaves the Germans in danger of not qualifying.

The Argentine scored one and set up the other two for Luis Suarez and Antoine Griezmann to inflict a punishing defeat on Dortmund and move up to 11 points, four ahead of the Germans and Inter Milan, who won 3-1 at Slavia Prague.

Messi got the ball rolling with a neat pass which allowed Suarez to open the scoring in the 29th minute, before the Uruguayan returned the favour four minutes later to lay on Messi for his 613th Barca goal on his 700th appearance.

Messi, who has scored 10 times in his last nine games, was also at the heart of the goal which extinguished Dortmund’s hopes of a result in the 67th minute, slipping a wonderful through ball for Griezmann that the Frenchman could happily stroke first time past Roman Burki.

Dortmund slip down to third behind Antonio Conte’s Inter side, who roared to a fine win which keeps alive their hopes of a place in the next round.

Romelu Lukaku’s first Champions League goal for Inter and a Lautaro Martinez double saw off a spirited Slavia side that had levelled in the 37th minute through a VAR-awarded Tomas Soucek penalty after Lukaku thought he had doubled his side’s lead.

Lukaku had another strike ruled out for offside by VAR in the dying moments, but it made no difference to the result and now a win over Barca at the San Siro next month will guarantee them a place in the last 16.

Leipzig made the knockout stages in dramatic style after Emil Forsberg fired them back from two goals down in the final minute to draw 2-2 with Benfica.

The Germans needed a point to qualify but looked down and out as the match dragged towards added time, but Forsberg pulled a goal back from the penalty spot in the 90th minute before hitting the leveller six minutes later, sparking wild celebrations.

“Reaching the knockout stages for the first time in the club’s history means that we’re doing the right things and moving in the right direction. I’m just so proud,” said Forsberg.

The draw gave Lyon a big let-off after they failed to snatch a knockout spot when they fell to 2-0 defeat at Zenit Saint Petersburg.

Rudi Garcia’s team looked in peril of not qualifying at all from Group G after the loss but Leipzig’s last gasp efforts mean they will go through with a win over the Bundesliga side on December 10.

Liverpool and Napoli were made to wait for their spots with a tense 1-1 draw at Anfield.

Dries Mertens opened the scoring with a sweetly struck opener midway through the first half, before Dejan Lovren’s header salvaged a point to keep the Reds top of Group E. 

However the European champions still need to get at least a point away to Salzburg next month to secure their passage into the last 16, while Napoli need a draw with bottom side Genk to claim their spot.

Ajax also need a point to go through thanks to a 2-0 win at Lille that featured the fastest goal of this year’s competition to open a two-point lead at the top of Group H.

Hakim Ziyech netted after 94 seconds at eliminated Lille with Quincy Promes hitting his fourth of the tournament on the hour mark.

Four-time European champions Ajax have 10 points from five games, two more than Valencia and Chelsea who fought out a hugely entertaining 2-2 draw in Spain earlier in the day.

Ajax host Valencia in their concluding fixture, while Chelsea welcome Lille to Stamford Bridge knowing a win would be enough to ensure their place in the draw.

WASHINGTON — Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, playing together for only the fourth NBA game this season, powered the Los Angeles Clippers over the Dallas Mavericks 114-99 on Tuesday.

Leonard had 28 points and eight rebounds while George had 26 points and six steals as the Clippers improved to 13-5, two-and-a-half games behind the Western Conference leaders, the Los Angeles Lakers.

“It’s scary now. We’re getting this thing rolling,” George said. “We just want to hoop.”

The Clippers stretched their win streak to six games and so did the Denver Nuggets, who defeated visiting Washington 117-104 in the night’s only other league game.

Leonard, last season’s NBA Finals Most Valuable Player after leading Toronto to the league title, jumped to the Clippers in part because he wanted to play alongside George — and the dynamic duo showed what they could do after only a week together and healthy.

“Adding myself and Kawhi to the group, we sprinkled into the group,” George said. “We’ve got 50 [points] coming off the bench. We’ve got waves. It’s fun playing.”

George had been sidelined by shoulder surgery until mid-November, his return coming after Leonard was out with a knee bruise.

The Clippers, only 2-4 on the road, shut down the NBA’s top-scoring offence, holding Mavericks star guard Luka Doncic to 22 points, eight rebounds and six assists.

The Slovenian star was only 4-of-14 from the floor, 0-of-8 from 3-point range, and made seven turnovers under defensive pressure from Leonard and George much of the night.

“We have guys who love playing defence,” George said. “That’s what we hang our hat on.”

Dallas, 11-6, saw the end of a five-game win streak in which the Mavs had averaged nearly 130 points a game.

Lou Williams came off the Clippers bench to score 21 points, hitting 4-of-7 shots from beyond the arc, as the NBA’s top-scoring bench outscored the Dallas reserves 44-37.

George scored 17 points in the first quarter, hitting four 3-pointers, and the Clippers jumped ahead 34-27 after the opening period.

Leonard was 1-of-6 for two points in the first quarter, but made 5-of-7 in the second for 13 first-half points as the Clippers surged ahead 62-46 at half-time.

Doncic scored 15 first-half points thanks to an 11-for-11 performance at the free throw line, connecting on only 2-of-9 from the floor and going 0-for-5 from beyond the arc.

The Clippers led 93-78 entering the fourth quarter and stayed in command to the finish.

At Denver, the Nuggets improved to 13-3 by thumping the Wizards.

Jermani Grant came off the bench to lead Denver with 20 points while Will Barton added 17, Jamal Murray added 16 and Nikola Jokic pulled down 20 rebounds.

Reserve guard Jordan McRae led Washington with 21 points.