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MT 30 July 2017

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54 maltatoday SUNDAY, 30 JULY 2017 Sport FOOTBALL Impressive Inter continue revival with victory over Chelsea INTER Milan continued their revival under new coach Luciano Spalletti with an assured dis- play in a 2-1 victory over English champions Chelsea to win the International Champions Cup Singapore tournament on Satur- day. Two days after the Italian side beat Bayern Munich 2-0 at the same venue, Stevan Jovetic and Ivan Perisic put Inter into a com- manding lead before a bizarre own goal from Geoffrey Kondogbia gave Chelsea hope of a late recov- ery. Former Roma coach Spalletti joined Inter last month and the charismatic Italian has already in- stilled a steely resolve in his play- ers, who followed up last week's win over Lyon in China with a brace of impressive victories in Singapore's National Stadium. Manager Antonio Conte sent out arguably Chelsea's strongest lineup from the squad available on the tour, with record signing Al- varo Morata handed a debut start on the left side of a front-three, alongside Belgian striker Michy Batshuayi and Brazilian Willian. Spalletti rested Martins Eder, who scored both goals in the vic- tory over Bayern, and gave former Manchester City striker Stevan Jovetic the central striking role in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Both sides started on the front foot, probing for openings in early exchanges, and Inter forged the first chance in the second minute when Antonio Candreva beat the offside trap but was denied by a fantastic stop from keeper Thiba- ut Courtois. The London side were on top for most of the first period, but found themselves a goal down on the stroke of half-time when Cesar Azpilicueta was harshly adjudged to have brought down Jovetic in the area. Although Courtois saved his penalty, the Montenegrin blasted home the rebound. "We are improving day by day and we want to continue this go- ing into the new season," Inter captain Miranda said in a pitch- side interview. Both sides pressed for openings following the interval and a mo- ment of brilliance from Ivan Peri- sic made it 2-0 in the 53rd minute when the coveted Croatian winger broke down the left and drilled a crisp low shot underneath the Bel- gian keeper. As the contest drifted and both coaches made a raft of changes in the second half, Morata was with- drawn after 65 minutes, the Span- iard unable to really impose him- self on the match and still looking short of fitness. Inter were firmly in control until an amazing own goal gifted Chel- sea a way back into the match in the 74th minute when Geoffrey Kondogbia inexplicably lofted an overhit back pass over Daniele Padelli from near the halfway line. Chelsea were revived by the shock reprieve and launched wave after wave of attack in the clos- ing minutes. After Batshuayi was denied an equaliser for offside, a desperate Inter managed to cling on for their third consecutive win of their Asia tour. Iniesta urges Neymar to stay at Barcelona BARCELONA captain Andres Iniesta said he would rather have Neymar at the club than a mas- sive transfer fee, with specula- tions linking the Brazilian to Paris Saint-Germain in a world record deal. PSG have reportedly held dis- cussions with Barcelona about a transfer for the 25 year-old that would smash the world record 89 million pounds ($116.88 mil- lion) Manchester United paid for France midfielder Paul Pogba last year. "I do not think 200-300 mil- lion will be more beneficial for Barcelona than having Neymar," Iniesta told a news conference ahead of the Saturday's pre-sea- son friendly against Real Madrid. "He is one of the best players in the world and I always want the best players in my team. I have no doubt that we all wish him to continue with us. "We would like you (the press) to not keep asking (about Ney- mar) so much, but to end this, there is only one way: Neymar will speak." Neymar, whose buy-out clause at Barcelona was set at over 200 million euros ($234.96 million), cancelled a personal appearance in China next week because he was said to be "busy with trans- fer business". Iniesta also confirmed the training bust-up between Ney- mar and team mate Nelson Se- medo on Friday but played it down, saying it only held more significance due to the recent transfer speculations. "It's true that there was that incident, which can be part of a training session," Iniesta added. "But because of the situation and what is being said about Ney, which is worldwide, it has much more significance. For those of us who are training however, it's nothing."

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