Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/553115
50 maltatoday, SUNDAY, 9 AUGUST 2015 Sport FOOTBALL Juventus celebrate their Super Cup victory over Lazio Juventus defeat Lazio to win the Italian Super Cup New signings Mario Mandzukic and Paulo Dybala scored the goals as Juventus beat Lazio 2-0 to win the Italian Supercoppa in Shanghai yesterday BOTH goals came in a five- minute spell midway through the second half as Juve claimed the traditional Serie A curtain raiser for the third time in four years. As Juve won both the Serie A and Coppa Italia titles last season, their opponents for this match were cup runners-up Lazio in what was a repeat of the 2013 Su- percoppa. Juve beat Lazio 4-0 in that match and they were again too good for their Roman opponents on Sat- urday, although they had to wait until the 69th minute to get their noses in front at the Shanghai Sta- dium, with Mandzukic making the breakthrough. The Croatia international, who joined from Atletico Madrid this summer for #13.6million, climbed between two defenders to glance home a header from Stefano Sturaro's right-wing cross. Dybala then wrapped up the win when he made it 2-0 in the 74th minute - less than quarter of an hour after coming on for Kingsley Coman. Lazio failed to deal with Mand- zukic's ball into the area and Paul Pogba's lay-back was smashed into the roof of the net by 21-year- old Dybala, a £24million signing from Palermo in June. Juve begin the defence of their Serie A title at home to Udinese next Sunday while Lazio host Bo- logna on Saturday. Arsene Wenger insists it is imperative Arsenal hit the ground running in their bid to win a first Barclays Premier League title in 12 years THE Gunners open their campaign against West Ham at the Emirates Stadium today following a strong pre-season. Arsenal triumphed in both the Asia and Emirates Cups while man- ager Wenger finally beat Jose Mour- inho's Chelsea at the 14th attempt in last Sunday's Community Shield. But although Wenger's side en- joyed a strong finish to the 2014-15 season, they had won just two of their opening eight Premier League matches. And the Frenchman, heading into his 20th campaign as Arsenal boss, is desperate to avoid a repeat per- formance this term. "I'm motivated to start well," said Wenger, who will be without Jack Wilshere, Danny Welbeck and To- mas Rosicky for Arsenal's opener against West Ham. "One of our targets is to start strongly, we've had good prepara- tion and that should give us much- needed confidence. "The Premier League is a fight in every single game so we have to pre- pare ourselves mentally for that and come out of the blocks straight away against West Ham. "Every game of pre-season went well, and I cannot remember a much better preparation. "We won the FA Cup last year, we finished third in the league so our target is very high - we want to win the Premier League." Alexis Sanchez returned to train- ing only this week following his ex- ploits with Chile in the Copa Amer- ica over the summer. But Wenger refused to rule him out of taking part in Arsenal's cur- tain raiser at the Emirates. He said: "It is about my decision. I think he came back in a good shape. "Will he not be involved at all on Sunday? I don't know yet. It depends a little bit on what I see tomorrow (Saturday) and who will be available. He understands that perfectly well." Arsene Wenger hopes for a fast start in the title race Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger demands a flying start