Geoffrey Kondogbia downs Torino to send Internazionale top of Serie A

Miserly Internazionale notched their eighth Serie A win of the season, all of them by single-goal margins, when they beat Torino 1-0 on Sunday to go top – temporarily at least – with a typically cautious performance.

Geoffrey Kondogbia scored with one of only two Inter shots on target in the game and Samir Handanovic was the real hero as he kept Torino at bay with a series of saves in the second half.

Roberto Mancini’s side, who began the weekend as joint leaders alongside Fiorentina, moved on to 27 points from 12 games, although they have scored only 12 goals and conceded seven in those matches. They have won seven games by a 1-0 scoreline and beat promoted Carpi 2-1 on the only occasion that they managed to score more than once in a game. They have also played two 1-1 draws, had one goalless stalemate and suffered a 4-1 home defeat by Fiorentina.

Kondogbia put Inter ahead in the 31st minute when he volleyed in at the far post after Rodrigo Palacio headed on Yuto Nagatomo’s free kick. It was Kondogbia’s first goal since joining from Monaco in the close season.

The goal came just after Torino’s Marco Benassi had headed against the crossbar, and the hosts were to suffer more frustration in the second half. Handanovic made a superb double save to deny Fabio Quagliarella and then Andrea Belotti right at the start of the second half.

Inter, with tough-tackling Gary Medel and Felipe Melo providing fearsome cover for their back-line, made no attempt to attack and the Slovenian keeper was repeatedly called into action. He foiled the former Napoli and Juventus forward Quagliarella twice more and also did well to intercept a dangerous Giuseppe Vives ball into the area as Inter held on fortuitously.

Cristiano Ronaldo: I want to retire with 'dignity', not in USA, Qatar or Dubai

Cristiano Ronaldo said Friday that he wants to end his career “with dignity” and not playing in “the United States, Qatar or Dubai”. The Real Madrid and Portugal star, the subject of a new documentary that premiered on Monday in London, said Thursday in an interview on ITV’s The Jonathan Ross Show that he expected to play six or seven more seasons and hoped to finish his career at the highest level. The remarks ostensibly referenced the recent wave of top players who have finished their careers outside of Europe’s top leagues, among them MLS imports Didier Drogba, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Andrea Pirlo and David Villa, along with Xavi, the lifelong Barcelona midfielder who signed with Qatari club Al Sadd in May. “That does not mean it’s bad play in the leagues of the United States, Qatar or Dubai, but I do not see myself there,” Ronaldo said. Ronaldo, who turns 31 in February, became Real Madrid’s all-time leading goalscorer last month and has th...

Falkirk chairman calls for restructure of ‘outdated’ Scottish league

The format of the Scottish league is outdated and should be restructured with a 16-team Premiership to help boost football in the country, says the chairman of second-tier promotion-challengers Falkirk . Speaking at the club’s AGM, Doug Henderson said the slide of Scottish football, from falling attendances to the poor performance of the national side and their top clubs in Europe, would continue unless steps were taken to change the current system. Scotland were the only team from the British Isles not to qualify for next year’s European Championship and Celtic , Scottish champions for the past four seasons, regularly fail to make any impact in European competition. Scottish football’s top four tiers are currently organised into a 12-team Premiership with three lower divisions each containing 10 teams. “Reflecting economic reality and the need for premier division full-time football, I believe that we must put vested interest aside and reform our lea...

Young people to lose access to unemployment benefits as part of welfare reforms

YOUNG people will not be able to get unemployment benefits until they turn 25 under reforms introduced by the Turnbull Government today. The coalition has unveiled wide-ranging welfare reforms in parliament today, including changes to the Newstart program. It hopes to stop people aged 22 to 24 getting Newstart or the Sickness allowance, and they will instead be shifted to the Youth Allowance payment. This will reduce the amount of money that they will be able to get, costing a single person living away from home about $90 a fortnight. They will also be required to study in order to qualify for the payments. “The key aim of this measure is to provide incentives for young unemployed people to obtain the relevant education and training to increase employability,” according to an explanatory memorandum for the bill. However, it says Youth Allowance does allow students to earn a higher amount of money from part-time or casual work than Newstart, before this begins imp...

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