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Lukaku Scores 2 in Roma’s 4-1 Win at Cagliari, as Napoli Loses at Home to Fiorentina 

Roma's Romelu Lukaku jubilates after scoring the 4-0 lead during the Italian Serie A soccer match Cagliari calcio vs AS Roma at the Unipol domus in Cagliari, Italy, 08 October 2023. (EPA)
Roma's Romelu Lukaku jubilates after scoring the 4-0 lead during the Italian Serie A soccer match Cagliari calcio vs AS Roma at the Unipol domus in Cagliari, Italy, 08 October 2023. (EPA)
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Lukaku Scores 2 in Roma’s 4-1 Win at Cagliari, as Napoli Loses at Home to Fiorentina 

Roma's Romelu Lukaku jubilates after scoring the 4-0 lead during the Italian Serie A soccer match Cagliari calcio vs AS Roma at the Unipol domus in Cagliari, Italy, 08 October 2023. (EPA)
Roma's Romelu Lukaku jubilates after scoring the 4-0 lead during the Italian Serie A soccer match Cagliari calcio vs AS Roma at the Unipol domus in Cagliari, Italy, 08 October 2023. (EPA)

Romelu Lukaku is making an immediate impact at Roma. Paulo Dybala, meanwhile, remains injury prone.

Lukaku scored twice in Roma’s 4-1 win at last-place Cagliari in Serie A on Sunday to raise his tally to seven goals in eight matches across all competitions with the Giallorossi.

“A lot of things were said about me, but I worked hard over the summer,” Lukaku said. “I’m a professional.”

Dybala exited the match in the first half with a left knee issue — having missed long stretches of last season due to injuries.

Lukaku used his chest to redirect in a cross from Rick Karsdorp following a set up from Leonardo Spinazzola early on. Then he took a pass from Leandro Paredes to score again with a precise shot from inside the area in the 87th.

Houssem Aouar had put Roma ahead a minute before Lukaku’s first goal and Andrea Belotti also scored for the Giallorossi after replacing Dybala.

Nahitan Nandez converted a late penalty for Cagliari.

Lukaku, who joined Roma on loan in August, has also been key in the Europa League. He scored the winner in Roma’s opening 2-1 victory over Sheriff and had the first goal in a 4-0 win over Servette on Thursday.

Lukaku said Roma coach Jose Mourinho was fundamental in his decision to move to the capital.

“I have a special relationship with (Mourinho). He knows my family. He knows my kids,” Lukaku said. “I really have confidence in him and he really has confidence in me.”

Roma moved up to 10th while Cagliari remained winless — leaving coach Claudio Ranieri at risk.

Napoli beaten

Defending champion Napoli was beaten at home for the second time in the league this season, falling 3-1 to Fiorentina — last season’s Europa Conference League finalist.

Giacomo Bonaventura scored the second goal for the Viola midway through the second half, shooting in from 12 yards after an accidental assist from Alfred Duncan.

The 34-year-old Bonaventura has been involved in the most goals among Serie A midfielders this season with four scores and two assists and on Friday was named to Italy’s squad for the first time in three years.

Josip Brekalo had put Fiorentina ahead early on by shooting through the legs of Napoli goalkeeper Alex Meret from a tight angle. Then Victor Osimhen equalized with a penalty in first-half stoppage time.

Substitute Nico Gonzalez sealed it for Fiorentina by finishing off a counterattack in second-half stoppage time.

Napoli was also beaten by Lazio at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona in early September.

Fiorentina moved up to fourth, three points ahead of fifth-place Napoli.

It was the second home loss in six days for Napoli after also getting beaten by Real Madrid, 3-2, in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Lazio leaves it late

Lazio gave up a two-goal advantage but still managed to beat visiting Atalanta 3-2 at the Stadio Olimpico.

An own-goal from Charles De Ketelaere and a strike from Valentin Castellanos, who started at center forward in place of the injured Ciro Immobile, put Lazio up 2-0 after 11 minutes.

Ederson and Sead Kolasinac then drew Atalanta level before substitute Matias Vecino won it for Lazio seven minutes from time with an acrobatic half volley after getting set up by Castellanos, who formerly played for New York City FC.

Monza seventh

Monza moved up to seventh with a 3-0 win over struggling Salernitana, with goals from Andrea Colpani, Samuele Vignato and Matteo Pessina.

On loan from Real Madrid, Reinier Jesus scored in his Serie A debut for Frosinone in a 2-1 win for the promoted club over Hellas Verona. Matias Soule also scored for Frosinone — which is up to eighth — before Milan Djuric pulled one back for Verona.

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Alysa Liu Delivers the US Its First Women’s Figure Skating World Championship in Nearly 2 Decades

Figure Skating - ISU World Championships - TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts, US - March 28, 2025 Gold medallist Alysa Liu of the US celebrates with her medal after winning the Women’s Figure Skating World Championships. (Reuters)
Figure Skating - ISU World Championships - TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts, US - March 28, 2025 Gold medallist Alysa Liu of the US celebrates with her medal after winning the Women’s Figure Skating World Championships. (Reuters)
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Alysa Liu Delivers the US Its First Women’s Figure Skating World Championship in Nearly 2 Decades

Figure Skating - ISU World Championships - TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts, US - March 28, 2025 Gold medallist Alysa Liu of the US celebrates with her medal after winning the Women’s Figure Skating World Championships. (Reuters)
Figure Skating - ISU World Championships - TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts, US - March 28, 2025 Gold medallist Alysa Liu of the US celebrates with her medal after winning the Women’s Figure Skating World Championships. (Reuters)

Alysa Liu skated around the ice in disbelief, her golden dress shimmering in the lights of TD Garden, and the appreciative roar from a sellout crowd reminded her why she had returned to the sport following a nearly two-year retirement.

When her score was finally read, the 19-year-old from Clovis, California, had made history.

Liu became the first American women’s figure skating world champion in nearly two decades, dethroning three-time defending champ Kaori Sakamoto with a brilliant free skate Friday night. Her program to a rendition of "MacArthur Park" by Boston native Donna Summer earned her a standing ovation, and allowed Liu to finish with 222.97 points.

"I mean, it means so much to me and everything I've been through," Liu said. "My last skating experience, my time away and this time around — I'm so happy, I guess. I'm mostly glad I could put out two of my best performances."

Liu's coaches, Phillip DiGuglielmo and Massimo Scali, pulled her into a hug in the kiss-and-cry area of the arena. Moments later, Sakamoto came over from where she had watched in the leader's chair and squeezed her tightly, as if Japan’s hero was passing Liu the torch as the first world champion from the US since Kimmie Meissner stood atop the podium in 2006.

Sakamoto finished with 217.98 points to add a silver medal to her three previous golds. Her Japanese teammate, Mone Chiba, was third with 215.24 points while Isabeau Levito and Amber Glenn gave the Americans three of the top five.

"We are all so strong," Levito said, "and we are all such fighters, and we all have our strengths, and are so different but we’re all so sweet with each other. I’m just so glad these are my fellow Team USA skaters."

Liu was once considered the sport's rising star, the youngest-ever US champ when she triumphed at the age of 13 in 2019, and then defended her title the following year. She fulfilled a childhood ambition by qualifying for the Olympics, finishing sixth at the 2022 Beijing Games, and earned a bronze medal at the world championships that year.

Then she stepped away. Liu decided that skating had become less of joy and more of a job, and she wanted to focus on being a normal college student. It wasn't until she went on a ski trip and felt the rush of competition — albeit in a much different way, and with far lower stakes — that she began to think about a comeback.

Early last year, she made it official with a cryptic posting on social media. And while the path back in a notoriously fickle sport was bumpy, to be sure, Liu took a big step forward with her second-place finish to Glenn at the US championships.

She took the last step up on the podium Friday night.

"Not every yesterday, I didn't expect this. I didn't have expectations coming in," Liu said. "I never have expectations coming into competitions anymore. It's more so, ‘What can I put out performance-wise?’ I really met my expectations on my part."

She left Sakamoto, the erstwhile champion, with feelings of awe and admiration.

"She went away and now she's back, and the world champion," Sakamoto said. "I wouldn't say she's changed. Her cheerfulness and kindness and the way she's always happy brought her to the top step of the podium."

Earlier in the night, American ice dancers Madison Chock and Evan Bates built a big cushion as they chase their third consecutive title, scoring a season-best 90.18 points for their rhythm dance to lead Canadian rivals Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier.

Gilles and Poirier scored 86.44 points to their dance, set to music from The Beach Boys. They held the lead only long enough for the US duo to finish their "tour of the decades" program, which earned them a raucous ovation inside TD Garden.

The International Skating Union chose the theme this season of social dances and styles of the 1950’s, 60’s and 70’s. But while some skaters picked one — the Watusi, the Madison or disco — Chock and Bates threw it all into their rollicking showcase.

"It was probably the most fun I've had thus far on competitive ice in a performance, maybe ever," Chock said. "It was really a joy to perform in front of a home crowd and share that excitement with Evan. It was the best."

Now, Chock and Bates will try to finish off the first three-peat since Russia's Oksana Grishuk and Evgeni Platov in the 1990s.

"That’s a tough amount of points to catch up on," Poirier admitted, "but we also know that sport is really unpredictable."