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sports Diamars 21 December 2021

Napoli leapfrogs Milan into 2nd place in Serie A

(AP) — Napoli leap- head is the first tiebreaker at got a goal back six minutes
frogged AC Milan into the end of the season. The into the second half. It was
second place in Serie A two teams are four points an 11th goal in eight Serie A
after beating its title rival behind defending champion matches for Vlahović, who is
1-0 in a mediocre match at Inter Milan, which is winter out of contract at the end of
San Siro on Sunday. champion with a match to the season and in the hunt for
spare. a new club after deciding not
Eljif Elmas scored an early to renew with Fiorentina.
goal and Milan had an equal- The result will also serve as a
izer controversially disal- confidence boost for Napoli, Vlahović was also involved in
lowed right at the death. which had lost back-to-back Fiorentina’s second goal, 10
Franck Kessié’s goal was league matches and had won minutes later, as his attempt
ruled out on video review just one of its last six games was blocked but the ball came
as Olivier Giroud was in in the Italian league. to Lucas Torreira to complete
an offside position that was the comeback.
judged to be interfering with “We should be really proud
play, despite the Rossoneri of this win. We showed real Fiorentina was dominating
forward being prone on the personality and we made Mi- the perfect start when Elmas after halftime. but its hopes of getting the
ground, underneath a Napoli lan really suffer, which is a headed in a corner at the near winner were thwarted when
defender. big deal,” Napoli midfielder post after managing to get COMEBACK defender Cristiano Biraghi
Piotr Zieliński said. “We’re away from Milan midfielder Dušan Vlahović scored again was dismissed in the 68th fol-
“In the end they will say that up near the top fighting hard Sandro Tonali. as Fiorentina fought back lowing a second yellow card.
they applied the rules in the and we won’t give up. We’ll from two goals down to draw
right way ... but I say: ’How fight until the bitter end to Milan struggled to carve 2-2 at home to Sassuolo. Fiorentina moved into sixth
can a player who is on the win the title.” out opportunities but did place, level with Roma and
ground interfere with the go close to an equalizer in Gianluca Scamacca and Da- Juventus, six points behind
defense?” Milan coach Ste- Milan and Napoli had been the 34th minute when Ales- vide Frattesi scored within Atalanta in fourth place and
fano Pioli said. “We’re disap- joint leaders until recently, sandro Florenzi’s shot from five minutes of each other the final Champions League
pointed, we’re disappointed before a slew of injuries be- distance flew just wide of the to give Sassuolo a seemingly berth.
to have lost this match. Now gan to take their toll. Both right post. comfortable lead in the first
we’ll lick our wounds and sides were still depleted half. OWN-GOALS
then we’ll go again.” heading into the top-of-the- The home side improved Both teams scored at the
table clash. after the break and Zlatan Sassuolo goalkeeper Andrea wrong end as relegation-
Napoli moved above Milan Ibrahimović’s effort was fin- Consigli pulled off a number threatened Spezia held Em-
on goal difference. Head-to- But the visitors got off to gertipped over the bar shortly of great saves before Vlahović poli to a 1-1 draw.

Peng Shuai tells paper she never wrote of being assaulted

(AP) — Chinese tennis Feb. 4. She was filmed on the emailed statement’s legiti- No. 1-ranked doubles player
star Peng Shuai has de- observation deck of a facility macy while others said it only and owner of titles at Wim- The controversy surround-
nied saying she was sexu- where she watched a freestyle increased their concern about bledon and the French Open. ing Peng has added to pro-
ally assaulted, despite a ski competition alongside her safety. In the Lianhe Zao- The IOC has taken a different tests over Beijing’s hosting
November social media former NBA star Yao Ming bao interview, Peng said she tack, with top officials saying of the Winter Games because
post attributed to her and other Chinese sports fig- wrote the statement in Chi- they believe Peng is fine after of the government’s human
that accused a former top ures. nese and it was later translat- video- chatting with her. rights abuses.
Communist Party official ed into English but that there
of forcing her into sex. Peng dropped out of sight was no substantive difference
after the accusation against in meaning between the two
Lianhe Zaobao, a Singapor- former Vice Premier Zhang versions.
ean Chinese-language news- Gaoli briefly appeared on her
paper, posted video of Peng verified Weibo social media Zhang, 75, was a member of
it says was taken Sunday in before being swiftly removed. the party’s all-powerful Po-
Shanghai in which she said Screen shots of the post were litburo Standing Committee
she has been mainly staying shared across the internet, until 2018 and a top lieuten-
at home in Beijing but was drawing widespread concern ant to president and party
free to come and go as she about Peng’s safety from leader Xi Jinping. He has not
chose. politicians, fellow tennis stars appeared in public or com-
and the Women’s Tennis As- mented on Peng’s accusation.
“First of all, I want to em- sociation, which announced
phasize something that is it was suspending all events Simon said the move to put a
very important. I have never in China indefinitely. halt to the tour’s play in Chi-
said that I wrote that anyone na, including Hong Kong,
sexually assaulted me. I need Following the posting, the came with the backing of
to emphasize this point very three-time Olympian and the WTA board of directors,
clearly,” Peng told the news- former Wimbledon cham- players, tournaments and
paper’s reporter. pion appeared standing be- sponsors. It was the strongest
side a tennis court in Beijing, public stand against China
The reporter did not ask waving and signing oversize taken by a sports body — and
how or why the lengthy and commemorative tennis balls one that could cost the WTA
highly detailed Nov. 2 post for children. The foreign arm millions of dollars.
appeared or whether Peng’s of state TV also issued a state-
account had been hacked. ment in English attributed to Simon has made repeated
Peng that retracted her accu- calls for China to carry out
The newspaper said it inter- sation against Zhang. an inquiry into the 35-year-
viewed Peng at a promotional old Peng’s accusations and to
event for the Beijing Winter WTA chief executive Steve allow the WTA to communi-
Olympic Games which begin Simon questioned the cate directly with the former