World Sports News in Brief

Dybala stunner sends Juve top with closed-doors win over Inter

A wonderful winning goal from substitute Paulo Dybala sent Juventus back to the top of Serie A with a 2-0 victory over title rivals Inter Milan at an empty Allianz Stadium on Sunday.

Soccer Football - Serie A - Juventus v Inter Milan - Allianz Stadium, Turin, Italy - March 8, 2020 Juventus' Paulo Dybala celebrates scoring their second goal. (Photo: Reuters)
Soccer Football - Serie A - Juventus v Inter Milan - Allianz Stadium, Turin, Italy - March 8, 2020 Juventus' Paulo Dybala celebrates scoring their second goal. (Photo: Reuters)

Juve, who opened the scoring through Aaron Ramsey, lead on 63 points, one ahead of Lazio and nine clear of Inter in third, although Antonio Conte’s side have a game in hand. The game was played without fans present after the Italian government ordered that all matches are held behind closed doors until April 3.

* Real Madrid failed to build on last week’s ‘Clasico’ victory as they lost 2-1 at Real Betis in a fiery match on Sunday and surrendered top spot in La Liga to Barcelona. Real are now second on 56 points after 27 games, two behind Barca who beat Real Sociedad 1-0 on Saturday to regain first place a week after losing 2-0 at the Bernabeu.

* The United States defeated Spain 1-0 in a hard-fought battle in front of a sold-out crowd at Red Bull Arena on Sunday, with a late-game header into the net by Julie Ertz sealing the match on the second leg of the SheBelieves Cup tournament. The US plays Japan and Spain faces off against England on March 11, in the final leg of the SheBelieves Cup.

* A first-half goal by Loic Remy earned Lille a 1-0 home victory in Ligue 1 over Olympique Lyonnais on Sunday and kept their hopes alive of playing in next season's Champions League. While Lille, who are fourth with 49 points from 28 games, remain in the hunt for a podium finish, Lyon slipped down to seventh on 40.

* Englishman Tyrrell Hatton secured a one-stroke victory over Marc Leishman at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Florida on Sunday after hitting a series of clutch shots over the dangerous final stretch, culminating with a rock-solid par at the last. He tapped in from two feet to clinch his first PGA Tour victory with a two-over-par 74 on another windy day at bone-dry Bay Hill in Orlando, becoming the third straight European champion after Rory McIlroy and Francesco Molinari.

* Bayern Munich never really needed to hit top form in their 2-0 victory at home to Augsburg on Sunday as they moved four points clear at the top of the Bundesliga. Bayern move up to 55 points, four ahead of Borussia Dortmund, who are second after Saturday’s 2-1 win at Borussia Moenchengladbach. RB Leipzig are third following a goalless draw at VfL Wolfsburg.

* Manchester United completed their first home and away Premier League double over Manchester City since the Alex Ferguson era with a 2-0 victory at Old Trafford on Sunday. The win moves United up to fifth and leaves Pep Guardiola's second-placed City trailing leaders Liverpool by 25 points.

* Top seed Sofia Kenin won the inaugural Lyon Open with victory over unseeded German Anna-Lena Friedsam 6-2 4-6 6-4 in Sunday's final and became the first player on the WTA tour to win two trophies in 2020. It was the fifth title of Kenin's blossoming career after her three triumphs last year in Hobart, Mallorca and Guangzhou.

* Relegation-battling Genoa moved out of the Serie A drop zone thanks to a surprise 2-1 win over AC Milan at an empty San Siro on Sunday. The result leaves Milan in seventh place on 36 points, while Genoa moved above Lecce and into 17th place on 25 points.

* Two goals in each half from a rampant Chelsea earned them a 4-0 victory over Carlo Ancelotti's disappointing Everton on Sunday, cementing their place in the Premier League's top four. Chelsea opened a 2-0 lead with goals from Mason Mount and Pedro before adding to their tally with efforts from Willian and Olivier Giroud. Everton lie in 12th place in the table, 11 points behind fourth-placed Chelsea.

* Greece on Sunday announced a two-week ban on sporting events with spectators and on school field trips, as its number of coronavirus cases rose by seven to 73.

* All Bulgarian league matches in the next two rounds will be played behind closed doors because of the coronavirus outbreak, the Bulgarian Football Union said on Sunday, with events postponed in the hardest hit regions postponed. The Balkan country reported earlier on Sunday its first four confirmed cases of the coronavirus.

* Italy's Sport Minister Vincenzo Spadafora asked the national soccer association to consider stopping top division Serie A matches after the country ordered a virtual lockdown across a swathe of its wealthy north to tackle the coronavirus outbreak. Until now Italy's soccer association FIGC has said Serie A matches could be played without spectators, adding that any events would be stopped should any player test positive for the virus.

* The Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix will go ahead this month without spectators due to the coronavirus crisis. Organisers had earlier suspended ticket sales as they assessed how many spectators would be allowed to attend the race.

* Organisers of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells cancelled the tennis tournament on Sunday due to concerns about the spread of the coronavirus in Southern California. The tournament, a Masters 1000 event that was supposed to start on Tuesday, attracts the game's top players and a large crowd every year.

Reuters