Roma
Maxi Lopez struck from the penalty spot to earn a last-gasp share of the spoils for Torino in a 1-1 draw with Roma that heaped further pressure on Rudi Garcia’s title challengers. Roma looked to have wrapped up their first league win in three outings when a fortuitous Miralem Pjanic free kick beat Daniele Padelli in the Torino goal seven minutes from time. But when Kostas Manolas barged into Andrea Belotti from behind in the area, the referee pointed to the spot and Lopez stepped up to beat on-loan Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny low down at the right post. Roma’s fourth draw of the campaign left them in fourth place and in danger of dropping six points behind leaders Napoli, who travel to Bologna on Sunday. “We made mistakes and we have to learn from them, we can’t just blame the referee,” Garcia told Sky Sport. “It’s our fault as well. We should have scored the second goal as soon as possible and we could have done better on the penalty situation.”
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Napoli
Gonzalo Higuain should build on his sterling Serie A season to push his way into Ballon d’Or contention, says Maurizio Sarri, his manager at Napoli. Heading into the weekend, Napoli sat top of the league for the first time since 1990, when Diego Maradona led the side to their second and last league crown, after Higuain hit two in a thrilling 2-1 victory over 10-man Inter Milan last week. The league leaders are expected to be welcomed by 16,000 travelling fans in Bologna on Sunday. The game will give Argentina international Higuain a platform to build on his impressive league-leading tally of 12 goals. And a week after saying Higuain was “among the top five strikers in the world”, Sarri on Saturday said he was the world’s strongest No 9. “He has the potential to win the Ballon d’Or. If he doesn’t win it in the future, he’s a complete idiot,” he added. Bologna are undergoing a renaissance after the appointment of former Parma handler Roberto Donadoni and Sarri says he will not be taking their hosts lightly. “It’s an insidious encounter, for various reasons, perhaps the hardest of the games we’ve played so far,” he said. “Bologna play with a lot of enthusiasm and have top quality players. Plus we have spent a lot of energy up until now and the lads are starting to feel it.”
Lyon
Lyon lurched further into crisis on Saturday as they went down 2-0 to Angers to ruin what was their last Ligue 1 match at the Stade de Gerland. Cheikh N’Doye scored both goals for the visitors from headers either side of half time as the promoted club built on a goalless draw at home to Paris Saint-Germain in midweek to continue their remarkable season. But Lyon have now taken just one point from their last four league games and, coupled with their limp exit from the Uefa Champions League, that form has left manager Hubert Fournier under huge pressure. Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas has not been shy to express his displeasure with recent performances, and this latest display was painful as it came on such a special occasion for the club. After 65 years at the Stade de Gerland, Lyon will move into a new 59,000-capacity stadium in January, and a host of former players were invited to take to the field before kick-off in what was their final Ligue 1 outing at the old ground. Brazilian duo Sonny Anderson and Juninho Pernambucano were among those present and watched the game alongside the Lyon ultras massed behind the goal.
Toulouse
Toulouse’s Franco-Malian midfielder Tongo Doumbia, convicted for multiple traffic offences, will not have to wear his electronic bracelet during matches, sources close to the player say. Malian international Doumbia, 26, has been wearing the bracelet since the beginning of the week, but he has been allowed to remove it for training sessions and matches. “He has absolutely not benefited from favourable treatment. Each time his bracelet is removed the time is added on to his penalty,” the source said. The midfielder received an eight-month prison sentence in August for drink driving and driving without a licence or insurance. He returned to competition last night after being sidelined with a thigh injury since October as Toulouse, second last in Ligue 1, host mid-table Lorient.
Peru
Peruvian police have arrested former Peruvian football federation president Manuel Burga as part of the ongoing US-led investigation into corruption at the heart of the sport’s governing body Fifa. National television showed footage of Burga being arrested as he stepped out of his car on arrival at his Lima home on Friday night. “We have the international arrest warrant [for Burga]. The special unit in working on it at this moment,” police chief Vicente Romero told reporters moments before the arrest was made.
Japan
Sanfrecce Hiroshima won their third J-League title in four years and booked a place in the Club World Cup after a 1-1 second-leg draw against Gamba Osaka secured a 4-3 aggregate victory on Saturday. Substitute Takuma Asano headed home in the 78th minute to cancel out Osaka midfielder Yasuyuki Konno’s 27th-minute strike in front of more than 36,000 elated fans to follow up their 3-2 win at Osaka on Wednesday. “The team as a whole made sacrifices in order to reach where we are today,” Hiroshima coach Hajime Moriyasu told Kyodo news agency. “Each one of our players and staff fulfilled their responsibilities.”
* Agencies