Defending Champ Inter Wins at Cagliari to Move Level with Atalanta Atop Serie A

Soccer Football - Serie A - Cagliari v Inter Milan - Unipol Domus, Cagliari, Italy - December 28, 2024 Inter Milan's Nicolo Barella in action with Cagliari's Simone Scuffet REUTERS/Alberto Lingria
Soccer Football - Serie A - Cagliari v Inter Milan - Unipol Domus, Cagliari, Italy - December 28, 2024 Inter Milan's Nicolo Barella in action with Cagliari's Simone Scuffet REUTERS/Alberto Lingria
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Defending Champ Inter Wins at Cagliari to Move Level with Atalanta Atop Serie A

Soccer Football - Serie A - Cagliari v Inter Milan - Unipol Domus, Cagliari, Italy - December 28, 2024 Inter Milan's Nicolo Barella in action with Cagliari's Simone Scuffet REUTERS/Alberto Lingria
Soccer Football - Serie A - Cagliari v Inter Milan - Unipol Domus, Cagliari, Italy - December 28, 2024 Inter Milan's Nicolo Barella in action with Cagliari's Simone Scuffet REUTERS/Alberto Lingria

Thirteen goals scored. Zero conceded. Four wins in four matches across all competitions.
Ever since a 1-0 loss at Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League this month, Inter Milan has been virtually perfect, The Associated Press reported.
The latest performance for the defending Serie A champion was a 3-0 win at Cagliari on Saturday, when Nicolò Barella set up two goals.
The victory moved Inter level on points with Atalanta atop the league, ahead of Atalanta playing Lazio later and attempting to extend its winning streak to 12 matches.
Inter also has a match in hand.
Inter will face Atalanta in its next match on Thursday, in the semifinals of the Italian Super Cup in Saudi Arabia.
Juventus plays AC Milan in the other semifinal.
Alessandro Bastoni put Inter ahead with a looping header following a cross from Barella after the break.
Lautaro Martinez scored his first Serie A goal in nearly two months by volleying in another cross from Barella.
Then Hakan Calhanoglu converted a penalty.
Earlier, Patrick Vieira’s Genoa won at Empoli 2-1 with goals from Milan Badelj and Caleb Ekuban; and Parma beat last-placed Monza 2-1 with a header from Lautaro Rodrigo Valenti eight minutes into stoppage time to spoil the debut of new Monza coach Salvatore Bocchetti.



Bellingham's Late Goal Gives 10-man Real Madrid Comeback Win at Valencia

Soccer Football - LaLiga - Valencia v Real Madrid - Estadio de Mestalla, Valencia, Spain - January 3, 2025 Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham celebrates with Kylian Mbappe after scoring their second goal REUTERS/Pablo Morano
Soccer Football - LaLiga - Valencia v Real Madrid - Estadio de Mestalla, Valencia, Spain - January 3, 2025 Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham celebrates with Kylian Mbappe after scoring their second goal REUTERS/Pablo Morano
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Bellingham's Late Goal Gives 10-man Real Madrid Comeback Win at Valencia

Soccer Football - LaLiga - Valencia v Real Madrid - Estadio de Mestalla, Valencia, Spain - January 3, 2025 Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham celebrates with Kylian Mbappe after scoring their second goal REUTERS/Pablo Morano
Soccer Football - LaLiga - Valencia v Real Madrid - Estadio de Mestalla, Valencia, Spain - January 3, 2025 Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham celebrates with Kylian Mbappe after scoring their second goal REUTERS/Pablo Morano

Jude Bellingham missed a penalty but scored a late winner and Vinicius Jr. was sent off as 10-man Real Madrid fought back in the most dramatic of fashions to beat Valencia 2-1 and return to the top of La Liga on Friday, The Associated Press reported.
Luka Modrić’s 85th minute equalizer and Bellingham’s stoppage time winner ensured that Madrid avoided back-to-back defeats in La Liga for the first time since 2019.
The win took it to 43 points, two above city rival Atletico, albeit having played a game more.
The match at the Mestalla pitted second from bottom against second from top and it was the struggling home side which took the lead after 27 minutes. Hugo Duro stabbed the ball into the empty net after it came back off the post.
Madrid came into the game more in the second half but it looked like it would be a frustrating night for the capital club.
Kylian Mbappé won a penalty after 55 minutes but Bellingham’s shot hit the post and moments later the Frenchman himself saw a goal disallowed after a video review.
Things got worse for Real with 11 minutes remaining when Vinicius pushed goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski and the referee, after a long video review, showed the Brazilian a red card.
However, Real is never out of it and Carlo Ancelotti’s late changes turned the game around.
Modrić came on in the 80th and it took the 39-year-old Croatian just five minutes to make his mark, dancing through a sea of defenders and poking home the equalizer.
Even with a man less there was a sense of inevitability as Real pushed for a winner, and five minutes into added time Bellingham made up for his earlier miss.
Valencia defender Hugo Guillamón seemed to slip and lay the ball into the path of the advancing Englishman, who made no mistake with only the keeper to beat.
Even then the drama was not over. Valencia deserved to take something from the match and Luis Roja almost got an equalizer with the last kick of the game. He watched in agony as his long-range shot came back off the post.
Valencia stayed second from bottom.
Earlier, fourth-tier club Pontevedra dispatched high-flying La Liga side Mallorca 3-0 to move into the last 16 of the Copa de Rey.
Dalisson de Almeida scored from almost 40 yards to make it 1-0 after 21 minutes, Yelko Pino doubled the lead with a cracking volley four minutes into the second half, and then Rufo rounded off the perfect night with 18 minutes left after a shocking defensive lapse.
The Galician side knocked out Villarreal in the last round.
In the night’s other games, top-tier clubs Rayo Vallecano and Getafe progressed.
Getafe needed extra time to beat second-division Granada in southern Spain. After a goalless match, Borja Mayoral got the only goal in the 93rd minute to put the visitor through.
Rayo Vallecano made swift work of second-tier Racing Ferrol. Alfonso Espino and Jorge de Frutos put the visitors 2-0 up before halftime and Frutos grabbed a third on the hour mark.
Álvaro Giménez scored a late consolation for the home side.