Inter Stays Top, Roma On The Move In Serie A

Inter Milan sealed a fourth consecutive win in as many games to sit top of Serie A with a 2-0 victory at Crotone on Saturday as AS Roma eased past Verona 3-0.
The win in Calabria allowed Luciano Spalletti's Inter to position themselves among the title challengers alongside champions Juventus and Napoli, who will also bid to make it four out of four on Sunday.
But Spalletti's side suffered in the heat of a region in the toe of southern Italy until late strikes from Milan Skriniar and Ivan Periodic put them top.
"It was very hot in Calabria, the pitch was very dry and slowed down the pace of the ball, while the wind also created problems I the first half."
But former Roma boss Spalletti refused to get carried away despite his side's unblemished record this season.
"We are not interested in the table right now, we just did what we had to do. It's a long road ahead of us  and we won't get swept up in the moment."
Crotone shocked Inter 2-1 at the Studio Ezio Scida last April in a defeat that ended the Milan club's bid for European football this season.
But despite the pressure the Serie A strugglers held on for 80 minutes largely thanks to the efforts of goalkeeper Samir Handanovic who saved from Aleksandar Tonev and Marcus Rohden just after the break.
The final ten minutes proved fatal with first defender Skriniar scoring on 82 minutes after a free kick which the Crotone defense failed to clear, and then in form Croatian striker Perisic three minutes into time added on.
"I'm happy with this first goal in Italy, although for me it is more important to have won," said Slovak international Skriniar, a summer signing from Sampdoria.
"We didn't have a great game, but winning was really important. Here it's not easy to play, the fans are very fiery, but we managed to bring the game home."
Crotone narrowly avoided the drop last season and this term is also in the bottom three after just one point from four games.
AS Roma's win at the Studio Olympico allowed the side from the capital - who have a game in hand - to move into the top half of the table and ease the pressure on coach Eusebio Di Francesco after a goalless draw in the Champions League to Atletico Madrid.
Edin Dzeko, who made headlines for criticising Di Francesco tactics in the Atletico stalemate, hit back with a brace on 34 and 61 minutes with Alessandro Florenzi marking his comeback after nearly a year out injured with an assist.
Radja Nainggolan had gotten the Romans off the mark after 22 minutes under under driving rain, with Patrik Schick making his debut and almost scoring.
"We could have scored more goals, at least I could have," said Bosnian striker Dzeko as Roma take their points tally to six after three games and sit seventh.
"These games are to be won, they end up being decisive," said Di Francesco.
Samuel Souprayen saw red for Verona, who suffered their third loss in their return to the top flight, and are second from bottom.

Emmeline Moore
Agence France Pressed/ Milan

Dembele Out For Up To Four Months

Barcelona's record £105 million (US$ 125 million) signing Ousmane Dembele is set to be sidelined for up to four months as the club confirmed the extent of the hamstring injury he suffered at Getafe on Saturday.
"The tests performed on first team player Ousmane Dembele have determined he has ruptured the tendon of the hamstring in his left leg," Barcelona said in a statement on Sunday.
"The player will undergo surgical treatment by Dr. Sakari Orava this coming week in Finland. The expected time out will be between three and a half and four months."
Dembele has made just three appearances for Barca since sealing his move from Borussia Dortmund last month for a free that could rise to as much as £145 million based on performance related bonuses.
He provided and assist on his debut as substitute to round off a 5-0 trashing of Espanyol last weekend and impressed as Barca swept aside Juventus 3-0 in the Champions League on Tuesday before pulling up just 29 minutes into Saturday's 2-1 win at Getafe.
However, he may have paid the price for missing much of pre-season as he went on strike from training at Dortmund to try and force through his dream move to the Camp Nou.
The 20 year old is now set to miss the rest of Barca's Champions League group campaign and faces a race against time to take part in the first Clasico of the season against Real Madrid on Dec. 23.
At international level, Dembele will also be absent for France's final two World Cup qualifiers away to Bulgaria and at home to Belarus next month.

AFP/Barcelona

Pogba Could Be Out For Three Months

French international Paul Pogba could be out of action for three months, the Sunday Times reported on Sunday, dealing a huge blow to Manchester United.
The hamstring injury suffered by the 24 year old - an £89.3 million (US$ 121 million) signing from Juventus last year - after just 18 minutes in Tuesday's Champions League match with Basel is worse than was thought originally according to a club source.
The source said he faced sitting on the sidelines of anything from six to 12 weeks.
"The injury is really bad," a United source was quoted as saying by the newspaper.
However, the club believe Pogba's injury was a result of the player overdoing his personal training outside of the club's supervision.
"It's not normal for a player respecting our training programme," the source said.
According to the newspaper, Pogba is keen to go to the United States to undergo treatment and rehabilitation with a group of personal trainers he used while on holiday there in the close season.
Should United's worst fears be realised Pogba would miss five Champions League games plus Premier League meetings with Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City.

AFP/London

Inter, Napoli Join Juventus Top of Italian League

Napoli and Inter Milan made it three wins out of three to keep pace with six time title holder Juventus at the top of Series A Sunday as AC Milan fell at Lazio.
Luciano Spalletti's Inter beat promoted SPAL 2-0 in the San Siro after Juventus eased past Chievo 3-0 in Turin on Saturday.
Napoli also remains unbeaten as it warmed up for a midweek Champions League trip to Shakhtar Donetsk, winning 3-0 at Bologna with late goals from Jose Callejon (66), Dries Mertens (83), and Piotr Zielinski (88).
"To go 70 minutes and lose 0-3 is heavy for the boys," said coach Roberto Donadoni of Bologna's first loss this season.
"Naivety cost us and Napoli punished us. This has to teach us a lesson."
Juventus - which travels to Barcelona for Champions League duty on Tuesday - is top of the standings on goal difference, equal on nine points with Napoli and Inter Milan, with Lazio fourth on seven.
AC Milan dropped to seventh after suffering their first defeat of the season as a Ciro Immobile hat trick lifted Lazio 4-1 at home.
Simone Inzaghi's side ran riot over the Chinese owned Milan with an on fire Immobile scoring three in 10 minutes, including a penalty, in a match delayed for an hour due to torrential rain in the capital.
Riccardo Montolivo pulled one back for the visitors off a deflected Hakan Calhanoglu free kick, but Vincenzo Montella's side fell to their first defeat in three games.
"Not many teams will get four goals past Milan," said Immobile, who also scored for Italy in a World Cup qualifier this week.
"I think we're on the right track."
After two easy matches against Crotone and Cagliari, Milan got a reality check against Lazio.
Immobile's first was from a penalty on 38 minutes, and four minutes later he added a second with a volley off a Senad Lulic cross.
The Italian international then got his third six minutes later and quickly assisted Luis Alberto for the fourth.
Earlier, Inter Milan's Mauro Icardi added to his Serie A tally with a 27th-minute penalty, giving him a fifth goal of the season.
The spot-kick was awarded after the intervention of the video assistant referee (VAR), after Joao Mario was tripped inside the box with Icardi slotting in.
Ivan Perisic sealed the victory after 87 minutes with a powerful volley into the top corner.
"They are valuable points which allow us to consolidate our place and build self confidence," said Inter assistant manager Marco Domenichini.
SPAL boss Leonardo Semplici believes Inter under former Roma boss Luciano Spalletti can now challenge Juventus' dominance.
"Inter will challenge for the Scudetto, but I still have to compliment my boys for their performance. I tip my hat to Luciano Spalletti, who is both a friend and a great coach," he told Sky Sport Italia.
"We caused Inter problems and had a few chances to score too, but I think if we play like this, we will ensure our Series A safety."
Emilia-Romagna side SPAL is sitting eighth.
Fiorentina bounced back from successive defeats with its first win of the season - a 5-0 rout at Verona.
Argentine striker Giovanni Someone, son of Atletico Madrid coach Diego Someone, scored his first goal for the Tuscany club after two minutes.
Elsewhere, Atalanta won 2-1 at home against Sassuolo while Cagliari achieved its first win in its new stadium, beating Crotone 1-0, and Udinese defeated Genoa 1-0.
Torino left it late with Iago Falque scoring three minutes into time added on to beat Benevento 1-0.
Saturday's game between Sampdoria and AS Roma in Genoa was postponed because of adverse weather conditions.

Emmeline Moore
Agence France Pressed/Milan

Nissan Brings a Tiny Bit of Self Driving to the Masses

The new Leaf will do its best Tesla impression - but it won't be a great one.
On Sept. 5 in the United States, Nissan Motor Co. will pull the cover off the 2018 Leaf, its first production vehicle that will steer and stop by itself - at least every once in a while.
This week, Nissan loaded its version of this hot tech onto some of its SUVs and brought them to New York for a test drive, the perfect place to put a new phase of autonomous technology through its paces. Driving in Manhattan requires a modicum of Zen, something most New Yorkers don't have - at least every once in a while. Anything to help commuters tune out a little, to tick up the chill a few nothces, is helpful for everyone traveling along the city's congested arteries. That's precisely what Nissan's new system, dubbed ProPilot Assist, is supposed to do.
When activated by the push of a button and the setting of cruise control speed, it keeps the car in the center of a lane, steering through corners. At the same time, it maintains a safe distance to the vehicle ahead and will braake all the way to a stop, the default state of most BigApple drives. It even resumes driving without a prompt, provided that the automobile has only been still for less than three seconds.
"Basically, we're focused on fatigue reduction," explained Andy Christensen, senior manager of Nissan's Intelligent Transportation Systems Research.
This suite of robot pilots is not, Christensen insisted, a self driving system. The steering wheel senses feedback (not touch); if there isn't evidence of any physical tug. ProPilot escalates a series of warnings, including audio chimes and brake checks. Eventually, the vehicle will turn on its hazard lights and come to a stop midlane.
Given that humans are now able to land space scraping rockets back on the ground as if they were lawn darts, the new Leaf isn't exactly vanguard stuff. Plenty of vehicles on the market do what plan's new system offers - if you can afford them, that is. The Leaf, however, is intended to fill the autonomous capabilities gap that exists for machines that cost less than US$40,000 or so. What Nissan's driving robots deliver is passable impression of a Mercedes Benz (or an Audi, Tesla, or Volvo).
"Passable," though, is the key word: Nissan's package isn't infallible. For one thing, it requires clear lane markers on each side to steer properly. On our 40 minute jaunt from Midtown Manhattan to its northern peak, painted lines were sporadic and the system often simply shut off, signaling its snooze with a chime. Meanwhile, it's designed to steer only up to a certain level of aggressiveness (the parameters set by forces of gravity). Coming into a series of twists a little bit hot, the robots couldn't keep us centered, even though the car was still plenty capable.
The problem is that the sensors and cameras that allow for a more seamless autonomous drive tend to be expensive, and thus remain squarely in the realm of luxury cars. Nissan's ProPilot uses just one camera to read the lane margins and one radar unit to measure distance to the vehicle in front.
"We're trying to make it accessible and attainable," said Brittany Tessmer, senior engineer on the project.
In the gray area between analog driving and full autonomy, Nissan's new system represents a very light shade, which to me is the biggest drawback for it and all the other systems like it. It's only a mild iteration beyond adaptive cruise control, which comes standard on 25 percent of current vehicles, and lane departure warnings, which are available in one third, according to Edmund's.com.
When the driver is alert, the nanny steering and braking can be annoying, particularly if one likes to drift toward the inside of sweeping highway curves. If the driver isn't alert, it's even more grating.
To be sure, that needling is necessary, but I've found myself wondering more than once: Is this an autonomous step too small to be worth taking? Why not just wait to roll out something more fully cooked?
"There are always going to be people who just want to get in and wake up in their driveway," Tessmer said of the desire for full autonomy. "Until the technology gets there, they don't want it."

Kyle Stock
Bloomberg/ New York

BMW Abandons Boring With Stylish Shark Nose Roadster

A prototype of the BMW Z4 two sweater, presented at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance near San Francisco recently, features two narrow kidney grilles and squinting headlights that sweep upward toward wedge shaped lines on the side.
The racy convertible is slated to go on sale in late 2018 after a two year hiatus from the previous version. It's a key component of the Munich based carmaker's shift into "attack mode" after Mercedes outsold BMW for the first time in more than a decade last year to take the global lead in luxury cars.
CEO Harald Krueger, who took charge in 2015, is seeking to shake off a rocky start to his tenure through an ambitious plan to overhaul the manufacturer's lineup with 40 new or refreshed vehicles in the coming two years in what BMW describes as the biggest model offensive in its history.
Reloading the Z4 shows BMW's desire to restore sporty credentials after a run of utilitarian models like the Gran Tourer minivan and cautious revamps of mainstays such as the 7 Series and 5 Series sedans. It will challenge the Mercedes SLC and be flanked by BMW's new 8 Series luxury coupe, which will vie for elite drivers with the likes of the Maserati GranTurismo, Porsche 911 and Mercedes AMG GT. The carmaker also plans to re enter Le Mans GT class racing next year to challenge Porsche, just as Audi is quitting the famed 24 hour endurance contest.
"We've been hearing big words for months, and Krueger made the claim about getting back to No. 1 some time ago," Juergen Pie per, a Frankfurt based analyst at Bankhaus Metzler. "Words are one thing, action another. How claims of a truly new design will impress customers remains to be seen."
Racy cachet is crucial for BMW to woo wealthy consumers after Mercedes undertook a well received design overhaul and brands from Alfa Romeo to Volvo started targeting that clientele with aggressive growth plans.
"The concept Z4 shows off from all angles BMW's new design language," said Adrian van Hooydonk, who heads design for the manufacturer. "It's an absolute driving machine."
The German carmaker is also shifting more upscale to maintain profitability amid the financial strain of developing self driving electric vehicles, which will take years to recoup upfront investment.
While the Z4 will shore up BMW's image, sales will be small as demand for open top vehicles shrinks. Deliveries might peak at 22,150 in 2020, according to forecaster IHS Automotive. That compares to an annual high of about 48,600 for the car's first generation model, and a total of 2.4 million deliveries for the BMW group last year.
Convertibles, once the ultimate expression of carefree lifestyle, are falling out of favour as pollution and congestion sour the appeal of open air driving. Instead, buyers are increasingly opting for an expanding range of upscale SUV's, ranging from sporty coupe like models to opulent full sized cruisers.
To save on costs, BMW co developed the Z4's main components and chassis with Toyota Motor Corp. As part of a 2013 partnership. The Japanese manufacturer plans to present its version, the Toyota Supra, at the Tokyo Motor Show in October, as part of its own project to shed its utilitarian image.
"It is still important to build these kinds of dream cars that build on brand values for marketing  cachet," said Tim Urquhart, a London based analyst with IHS Automotive. "It's an intelligent move to do this car with a partner and have common underpinnings, reaping cost savings and gain scale."
On the exterior, the Energetic Orange paint finish showcases the muscular curves to spectacular effect - and places the spotlight on the roadster in every location.
BMW AG is adding stylish flourishes such as a shark nose front end to its trademark roadster, part of a broader design overhaul aimed at regaining pizzazz and hitting back at Mercedes Benz.
Large air inlets at the front and well defined air outlets on the front of the bonnet erave for speed and the flow of air.
In the interior of the all new BMW Concept Z4, minimalism meets eccentricity. Nothing is superfluous, nothing distracts. Instead, everything is directed towards the driver and the pure driving experience.

Elisabeth Behrmann
Blomberg/ New York

Kane Has England On World Cup Footing

England manager Gareth Southgate will count on Harry Kane to continue his goalscoring form against Slovakia on Monday as his side close in on qualification for next year's World Cup.
Kane belied his August goal drought with Tottenham Hotspur to score twice as England won 4-0 against Malta on Friday, taking his tally to five goals in his last three international appearances.
If England prevail against Slovakia they will need just two points from their last two games to secure automatic qualification and Southgate says the firepower in his squad gives him plenty of options.
"It has been brilliant to look at the bench and be able to bring on Marcus (Rashford), Danny (Welbeck), Jamie Vardy," said the England manager, whose team lead Slovakia by two points.
"We've got (Jermain) Defoe and (Daniel) Sturridge on there, so we've got some real quality and people who can make an impact.
"The bench in the modern game is crucial because the last 15 to 20 minutes are so important.
"That said, Harry throughout the game is always threat and he will score goals for us. He's proven that in the last few matches - five in three.
"It's a privilege that we have got him with us."
England were jeered by their own fans as they toiled to break down a Malta team ranked 190th in the world on a sultry night in Ta'Qali.
Kane broke the deadlock from Spurs team mate Dele Alli's pass in the 53rd minute, but it was not until the last five minutes that England ran away with the game through goals from Ryan Bertrand, Danny Welbeck and Kane's second.
Southgate's team selection, with Jake Livermore partnering Jordan Henderson in central midfield, suggested he saw the game more as a tune up opportunity than a chance for England to boost their goal difference.
He is therefore likely to pick a similar starting XI at Wembley, although Marcus Rashford will hope to start after a sparky substitute appearance that included a fine pass from deep of the ineffective Raheem Sterling.
"I think attacking players and players that dribble and are brave enough to take people on, there's always going to be times where that isn't going to quite work for them - (Friday) felt like one of those nights for Raheem," Southgate said.
"I don't like making a decision like that at half time because, having played, you know how that feels, but I have got to make the right decision for the team. I felt that was."
Slovakia tightened their grip on second place in Group F, which will yield a spot in the play offs, after Adam Nemec's 81st minute tap in earned them a 1-0 win over Slovenia in TRNA a on Friday.
Victory left Jan Kozak's men with a four point cushion over Scotland and Slovenia, but although confidence is high, right back Peter Pekarik knows Slovakia's momentum could quickly disappear.
"I think that we're very close to the place that would take us into the play offs," said the Hertha Berlin defender.
"The mood is great, as after every victory, and we will fly in a good mood, but it's important to realise there's a completely different match awaiting us.
"We have seen lots of England's home games and they have amazing quality. But we will fight."
Kozak is expected to recall former Liverpool centre back Martin Skrtel and his defensive partner Jan Durica, both of whom missed the encounter with Slovenia through suspension.

Tom Williams
Agence France Presse/ London