De Ligt brings Juve delight

Turin (Italy), November 3

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Matthijs de Ligt made sure Juventus kept hold of top spot in Serie A after his first goal for the club saw off local rivals Torino, leaving Inter Milan in second despite Romelu Lukaku taking his league tally to nine with a brace in a 2-1 win at Bologna.

Inter had briefly led after Lukaku slotted home a 92nd-minute penalty to snatch the three points at Bologna on Saturday, but Juve retook first place thanks to De Ligt, who smashed home the only goal of the game in Turin with 20 minutes remaining.

Maurizio Sarri's side stay a point ahead of Inter thanks to a hard-fought derby win that saw both sides exchange blows in a bruising contest.

The win maintains Juve's unbeaten start to the season and keeps them on course for a ninth straight league title, while Inter have to content themselves with second despite Lukaku's match-winning display. The Belgian became the first player since Ronaldo in 1997/98 to score at least nine goals in his first 11 Serie A matches as an Inter player after a 75th-minute tap-in which cancelled out Roberto Soriano's deflected opener and a stoppage time spot-kick winner. 

Chelsea climb into third

Watford: Frank Lampard said "sloppy" Chelsea need to be more clinical after they survived a tense finish to climb to third place in the Premier League with a 2-1 victory at lowly Watford.

Lampard's side bounced back from their midweek League Cup defeat against Manchester United to make it five successive league wins on Saturday. The Blues have won eight of their past nine matches in all competitions as Lampard continues to make a good impression in his first season in charge.

His decision to go with unproven youngsters like Tammy Abraham, who opened the scoring, has been a shrewd move, while Christian Pulisic, scorer of the second, is justifying his hefty price tag after starting the season on the bench. — AFP