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Italian Cup Final marred by violence
5/3/2014 9:25:11 PM
- Reports in Italy suggest four Napoli fans shot before final
- Kick off between Napoli versus Fiorentina delayed
- Napoli's ultras pelt pitch with flares
- Match begins 45 minutes late
(CNN) -- The start of the Italian Cup Final in Rome's Olympic Stadium between Napoli and Fiorentina was delayed after violence broke out before the game.
According to Gazetta dello Sport and Italy's ANSA agency, as many as three people were shot near the stadium.
La Repubblica website reported a total of six people had been injured in the clashes, while ANSA put the tally at 10 and said four were in hospital.
A football match shouldn't be about battles between two sets of supporters, but Italian football is now locked in a duel fight, to try and combat incidents of racist chanting towards black players that have blighted the game both this season and last, and long-running spats between different parts of Italy's cities as well as its regions.
Pietro Grosso
Pietro Grosso
As news of the violence spread in the stadium a stand off followed between the authorities and Napoli's ultras -- the club's hardcore, organized fan group -- who pelted the pitch with burning flares as the match was initially suspended.
At one point Napoli's Slovakian striker Marek Hamsik appeared to remonstrate with the ultras in a bid to calm the situation down before being ushered away.
"These incidents are simply unacceptable," said Maurizio Beretta, the president of Lega Serie A, according to AFP.
"We appeal to the fans who are here for the final to treat it as it should be -- an evening of sport and football and not one that should give rise to episodes of violence."
The match eventually kicked off at 19.45 GMT, 45 minutes late.
"A football match shouldn't be about battles between two sets of supporters," said Italian Senate president Pietro Grosso, as quoted by AFP.
"We're here to see a final, to enjoy the game in a festive and sporting atmosphere. I'm saddened to see that this kind of thing is still going on."
Football breaks out
After the delay a fine game of football finally broke out.
Napoli's players, visibly effected by the atmosphere surrounding the game, raced out of the blocks and into a two goal lead. Twenty two year old Italy international Lorenzo Insigne, who was born and raised in Napoli, scored twice and could have had a hat trick.
But Fiorentina fought back with Peruvian Juan Manuel Vargas and were then denied what appeared to be a legitimate goal that was called offside right before half time.
The second half was a much cagier affair as Napoli coach Rafa Benitez, looking for a trophy in his first season at the club, tried to close the game down. Everything had gone to plan for Benitez and Napoli but a second yellow card for Swiss international Gokhan Inler with just over 10 minutes to go set of a frenetic end to the match.
But Napoli broke away on the counter attack and Belgian international Dries Mertens made it 3-1, securing the club's fifth Coppa Italia success.
Barca's league challenge over
Meanwhile, in Spain, Barcelona all but conceded the title to Madrid after conceding an injury time equalizer against Getafe. Lionel Messi and Alexis Sanchez had twice given Barcelona the lead. But on both occasions Angel Lafita scored, his second with only minutes remaining to make it 2-2.
There had been emotional scenes before the game at Camp Nou as a gigantic banner was hoisted to honor Tito Vilanova, the club's former coach who died last week of throat cancer. The banner read Tito Per Sempre Etern; Tito, always eternal. A minute's silence followed.
The result left Atletico Madrid in prime position for the title. They play Barcelona at the Camp Nou in the last game of the season.
Man City take control of EPL title race
5/3/2014 9:28:09 PM
- Edin Dzeko scores twice as Man City beat Everton 3-2
- City go top of EPL with two to play
- Cardiff and Fulham relegated
- Sunderland beat Manchester United at Old Trafford 1-0
(CNN) -- Manchester City took a crucial step towards winning the English Premier League title after coming from behind to beat Everton, move top of the table and pile the pressure on to their championship rivals.
An early Ross Barkley wonder goal had given Everton the lead at Goodison Park before Sergio Aguero leveled. Bosnia international Edin Dzeko scored twice alowing City to take control of the match before Romelu Lukaku's goal ensured a tense end to the second half.
After Liverpool's capitulation against Chelsea last week, City knew they had to win to keep the destination of the title in their own hands.
Vincent Kompany
Both Chelsea and Liverpool had hoped that Everton could do them a favor by taking points from City, and the signs were good when Barkley's early strike gave the home side a first half lead.
But City came back strongly and, despite a late Everton rally, held on to victory.
At the full time whistle the City players collapsed on the pitch, perhaps knowing that the toughest test of their title race was behind them.
With two games to go just two points separate Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool. But City's vastly superior goal difference means that if they win their last two games they will secure the Premier League title.
"That's what we wanted ultimately," City captain Vincent Kompany said after the game.
"If we hopefully play like we can we have goals from all over the pitch so that will make the difference."
Earlier in the day, Cardiff City and Fulham tasted the pain and ignominy of Premier League relegation after both teams lost crucial matches.
Meanwhile Sunderland, who spent most of the season rooted to the bottom of the table, all but secured survival by improbably defeating Manchester United at Old Trafford.
It was an afternoon of high drama across England as promotion and relegation places were being decided in all four professional divisions in warm spring sunshine.
But the highest stakes were at play in the Premier League.
This was Cardiff City's first ever season in the Premier League, a season that has been defined by defeat, fan unrest and boardroom chaos. Former coach Malky Mackay was controversially fired mid-way through the season by the club's billionaire Malaysian owner Vincent Tan, much to the fans' unhappiness.
Mackay's replacement, former Manchester United striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, could not spark a renaissance as his team fell into the relegation zone for the majority of the rest of the season.
Cardiff traveled to Newcastle United, another club engulfed by boardroom and personnel chaos, needing victory. Instead Shola Ameobi, Loic Remy and Stephen Taylor all scored to secure a 3-0 victory for Newcastle and see Cardiff limp back into the Championship, English football's second tier.
Fulham, owned by US billionaire Shahid Kahn, headed the same direction after a 4-1 capitulation against Stoke City. Despite a late season revival led by new coach Felix Magath -- Fulham's third of the season -- there was little fight from the West London team as Stoke pushed Fulham towards relegation.
Yet both teams were condemned by an unlikely result at Old Trafford. Sunderland, like Fulham and Cardiff, had changed managerial personnel mid-season as Paolo Di Canio was removed and replaced by former Uruguay international Gus Poyet.
A late season Sunderland revival led by young striker Connor Wickham -- once tipped at as a future England international who had instead been farmed out on loan -- had raised the unlikely prospect of survival.
And a goal midway through the first half by Swedish international Sebastian Larsson was enough to secure a stunning victory for the Black Cats.
The only team that can now catch Sunderland is Norwich City, who play league title chasing Chelsea Sunday. Defeat would all but ensure Sunderland's Premier League safety.
Fallon rides to victory in 2,000 Guineas
5/3/2014 9:30:41 PM
- Night of Thunder wins 2,000 Guineas
- 40-1 shot triumphed in first Classic of the English season
- Kieren Fallon rode his fifth Guineas winner
- Focus now shifts to the Derby
(CNN) -- It was billed as a showdown between king and country: John Gosden's imperious Kingman versus Aiden O'Brien's exciting Australia. In the end it was 40-1 shot Night of Thunder, ridden by Kieren Fallon, who delivered a shock result in the first Classic of the English season.
Racing is a sport of many long and proud traditions. The newest of these is surely the preoccupation, in the run up to the 2,000 Guineas, with identifying the "next Frankel."
Richard Hannon, Jr.
Perhaps inevitably, Kingman, running in the same green, pink and white colours of Khalid Abdulla, had bourn the brunt of this fevered speculation. A star turn in the Greenham Stakes -- a race also won by Frankel en route to his Guineas in 2011 -- did nothing to quell racing fans' hopes that lightening could, perhaps, strike twice.
Kingman's only vulnerability appeared to be the ground -- he needed surgery last year to remove a bone chip and connections were concerned about the going being too fast. In the end it was not drought but thunder they should have worried about.
The 14-runner field had split into two groups at the start of the race, with one group, containing pre-race favorite Kingman and Night of Thunder, being lead by Spanish challenger Noozhoh Canarias, while the second was headed by Night of Thunder's more fancied stable mate Toormore.
As the two groups approached the final half-furlong, Kingman's jockey James Doyle looked to have timed his run perfectly on the outside, with Joseph O'Brien and Australia matching him stride-for-stride on the inside.
Night of Thunder, however, appeared on Kingman's flank and looked set to take him on, before taking an unexplained detour to join Australia on the stands side.
Despite loosing valuable seconds in the switch, Night of Thunder powered home to win by half a length. Kingman and Australia were split by a head in second and third respectively.
It was a first Classic win, on paper, at least, for Richard Hannon, Jr., who took the reins of his father's training operation just this season. The normally voluble Hannon was lost for words as the plaudits rained down on his champion.
"It's the stuff of dreams," said Hannon. "As a school boy you dream of days like this -- you think you might get there one day, and you might not. But we've done it."
By contrast, Night of Thunder's veteran jockey, Kieren Fallon, is a previous four-time winner of this race. The 49-year-old has seen his fair share of ups and downs in a colorful career which has seen him crowned Champion Jockey six times yet also serve lengthy bans following accusations of race fixing and testing positive for banned substances.
"It's brilliant," said Fallon, whose last win in the race came in 2006. "It's a great race to win and it kick-starts our confidence for the year."
From here, thoughts inevitably turn to the Derby, the next of the English "Classics" on the calendar.
Australia, on pedigree, should have his best chance at Epsom (he is the son of a Derby winner and an Oaks winner), while Kingman has shown too much class in his career to date to be written off just yet.
The search for the next Frankel goes on.
Ukraine nears full-scale civil war
5/3/2014 10:52:40 PM
- NEW: Sec. John Kerry: More sanctions "if those supported by Russia" interfere with election
- Separatist leader in Luhansk region announces emergency, mobilization of men
- Ukrainian minister says "active phase" of military operation is continuing in east
- OSCE observers, held by pro-Russian separatists in east Ukraine, are freed
Slavyansk, Ukraine (CNN) -- On the one side, Ukraine's interior minister said Saturday that military operations in the east would continue and vowed, "We are not stopping."
On the other, there was the pro-Russian separatist leader in Luhansk who announced the formation of an army to march on Kiev.
These and other statements suggest Ukraine's future will feature yet more unrest, more fighting and more likelihood that it will spawn a full-scale civil war and, perhaps, an international one.
Saturday actually featured a rare bright spot in the volatility: the release of seven international observers and five Ukrainians from the defense ministry who'd been seized together.
Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said this development "should signal to everyone that we need peace and reconciliation."
He added: "This is the only way ... to save Ukraine and ... make it a flourishing European state.
Yet there appears little indication that anything has changed overall in Ukraine -- particularly in its east and, increasingly, its south -- to change the perception that the nation is in crisis.
Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said the "active phase" of an operation involving "special units ... instructed to stop the provocation" was in its second day Saturday and centered in Kramatorsk, where people were urged to stay indoors.
A CNN team on the outskirts of the city, which is some 16 kilometers (10 miles) south of Slavyansk, saw troop carriers moving toward the city center. Amateur video posted online -- which CNN could not confirm the authenticity of -- showed burnt out buses, plumes of smoke and residents calmly observing it all.
Russia continued to condemn this and other actions by the Kiev-based government targeting those aligned with Moscow.
In a phone call Saturday with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, "(The) punitive operation in the southeastern Ukraine plunges the country into fratricidal conflict."
This unrest raises the prospect of Russia becoming even more involved, whether that involves taking over all or parts of the region peacefully as it did with Crimea or as part of a full-scale military conflict.
Dmitry Peskov, Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman, told CNN that his nation's government had received thousands of calls in the past 24 hours from people in southeastern Ukraine. The callers described the situation as "horrendous" and pleaded for Russia's involvement.
"Most of the people literally demand active help from Russia," Peskov said.
Separatist leader: We won't wait 'until we are encircled and burned'
If Moscow does get involved militarily, they won't have to go far: NATO has estimated up to 40,000 Russian troops are now near the border with Ukraine, a fact that has made not just Ukraine but other neighboring nations wary of invasion.
Ukraine's military has stepped up its own activity, including the launch Friday of its biggest push yet to reassert control over parts of the nation's east.
Earlier this week, acting Ukrainian President Oleksandr Turchynov acknowledged that the central government has effectively lost control of the country's Donetsk and Luhansk regions to the pro-Russian separatists.
The violence has spilled over into cities like Odessa, on the Black Sea. Saturday there was calm relative to the previous day -- when 46 people died in a blaze and clashes, a spokesperson for the local prosecutor's office told CNN -- with the frustration palpable on the city streets.
It's in Luhansk where separatist leader Valeriy Bolotov on Saturday declared a state of emergency and announced the formation of a "South-East" army for the entire region.
In a video statement aired on local stations, Bolotov also introduced a curfew, a ban on political parties, and his expectation that local law enforcement officials will take an oath of allegiance to the people of Luhansk.
"In case of not following this, you will be announced traitors of people of Luhansk and wartime measures will be taken against you," he announced in the video statement.
Bolotov stated that the new armed forces wouldn't just protect the region, it would try to move forward to take Ukraine's capital.
"We are not going to sit and wait until we are encircled and burned," he said.
Ex-hostage: Detained because mission 'wasn't coordinated' with locals
Saturday's release of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe observers -- who are from Germany, Denmark, Poland and the Czech Republic -- resolved a major diplomatic issue for the West.
The self-declared mayor of Slavyansk, Vyacheslav Ponomarev, confirmed the release, crediting Russian envoy Vladimir Lukin with helping make it happen. Ponomarev told CNN there had been no prisoner exchange.
One of the hostages freed, Col. Turatsky Igor Dmytrovych of Ukraine's armed forces, said that no one was injured and everyone got "food, drink and sleep." He also shed light on their captors' thinking, including their questions of "why did we come to that region, what was our goal, and which tasks we had to accomplish."
"We were told that our delegation was detained as our mission wasn't coordinated with local population representatives that have their own opinion on the course of events," Dmytrovych said after arriving in Kiev on Saturday.
This sense of who controls what -- or, at least, who should control what -- is at the core of the tensions in Ukraine.
Separatists, many of them of Russian descent, believe that the government in Kiev is illegitimate since it formed after what they call the illegal ousting of President Viktor Yanukovych in February. They have demanded that no one in Kiev should control their territory, saying that power and responsibility should rest with them or their Russian ally.
Officials in Kiev have the opposite view. They accuse Moscow of meddling, in its support of separatists and more, trying to break up Ukraine and, perhaps, take over parts or all of it. The government explains their military and security actions in the east and south are aimed at a common goal: to keep their Eastern European nation whole and united.
Referring to his call with Lavrov on Saturday, Kerry said he stressed the United States and allies' desire "for Russia to withdraw support from the separatists, ... assist in removing people from the buildings (and begin) to de-escalate the situation."
"If those supported by Russia continue to interfere with the (May 25 national) election, regrettably, there will have to be additional sanctions" against Moscow, said Kerry. "But Foreign Minister Lavrov and I did talk about how to proceed and perhaps how to find a way forward here."
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CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reported from Slavyansk while Greg Botelho wrote from Atlanta. CNN's Arwa Damon in Donetsk, Claudia Rebaza in Kiev, and Matthew Chance and Alla Eshchenko in Moscow contributed to this report. CNN's Marie-Louise Gumuchian, Chandrika Narayan, Chelsea J. Carter, Laura Smith-Spark. Andrew Carey, Khushbu Shah, Ralph Ellis, Elise Labott, Richard Roth, Boriana Milanova and Yon Pomrenze also contributed.
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