Milan, Sep 16 (AP/UNB) — When the first goal finally came, it couldn't have been any easier for Cristiano Ronaldo.

It took the former Real Madrid forward nearly 320 minutes to score his first league goal for Juventus and he did it with the simplest of tap-ins. Ronaldo doubled his tally shortly after as the Bianconeri beat Sassuolo 2-1 in Serie A on Sunday.

It was Ronaldo's fourth league match for Juventus since his Serie A record 112 million euro (then $131.5 million) move from Madrid and the relief on his face was obvious as he tore away in celebration after breaking his duck in the 50th minute. Ronaldo ran to the corner flag with his arms outstretched and displaying a huge grin. He then jumped in the air as he turned back to the field and waited to be embraced by almost all his teammates, who ran over to celebrate with him.

"I wanted to score, I'm really happy," said Ronaldo, who had missed several good chances in previous games. "That's football. What's most important is to win and to do well. Certainly there was a bit of pressure in general after my move from Real, there was a lot of expectation. That's life, I'm working well. My teammates are helping me hugely to adapt to this new league."

His first goal came after Sassuolo defender Gian Marco Ferrari could only head a Juventus corner onto the left post and Ronaldo was waiting to volley in a rebound from less than two yards out.

The Portugal forward had scored his first league goal in his fourth match last season for Real Madrid.

Ronaldo added a second 15 minutes later when he finished off a swift counterattack with a precise finish into the bottom right corner.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner was denied a hat trick by a fine save from Sassuolo goalkeeper Andrea Consigli, while he also mishit a clear opportunity late on.

Substitute Khouma Babacar pulled one back for Sassuolo in the final minute.

Douglas Costa had seemingly elbowed Sassuolo's Federico Di Francesco in the buildup to that goal and, as the pair continued to argue, the Juventus midfielder appeared to head butt his opponent.

Costa was lucky to only be shown a yellow card at first but he received a straight red moments later after video review showed he had also spat at Di Francesco. The Brazil international risks a lengthy ban.

Juventus, which is seeking a record-extending eighth successive Serie A title, is the only team still with a perfect record. It was Sassuolo's first defeat of the season.

NEGATIVE POINTS

Roma was made to pay for its complacency as it fumbled a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 against Chievo Verona.

Stephan El Shaarawy volleyed Roma in front in the 10th minute and Bryan Cristante doubled his team's advantage with his first goal for the club in the 29th.

Roma appeared to be coasting to a much-needed victory after defeat to AC Milan and a draw with Atalanta.

But Valter Birsa reduced the deficit shortly after the break with a magnificent curled strike and Chievo equalized seven minutes from time when Mariusz Stepinski fired in a rebound.

Chievo is last on minus 1 after being deducted three points last week for false accounting.

OTHER MATCHES

Poland international Krzysztof Piatek scored his fourth goal in three matches to give Genoa a 1-0 win over Bologna, which had midfielder Erick Pulgar sent off in stoppage time for a harsh tackle on Romulo.

Lazio won 1-0 at newly promoted Empoli, while Torino drew 1-1 at Udinese.

Milan visits Cagliari later.

Islamic University, Sep 16 (UNB) - An inter-department football competition began at Islamic University (IU) in Kushtia on Sunday amid festive mood and much enthusiasm.

IU Pro-VC Professor M Shahinoor Rahman, also the acting Vice-Chancellor, inaugurated the competition as the chief guest at the central football playground of the university around 10:30am.

A total of 32 departments out of 33 will take part in the contest, Muhammad Sohel, director of IU Physical Education department, told UNB.

IU Treasurer Professor M Selim Toha, Proctor Professor M Mahbubar Rahman, Student Advisor Professor M Rezwanul Islam, Tourism and Hospitality Management department chairman Professor M Mahbubul Arefin and its lecturer Shariful Islam Jewel, among others, were present.
 

Dhaka, Sept 16 (UNB) – Hosts Bangladesh will start their Group F campaign of the AFC U-16 Women’s Championship taking on gulf nation Bahrain on Monday at the Bir Shreshta Shaheed Sepoy Mohammad Mostafa Kamal Stadium in Kamalapur here.

The match will kick-off at 3:30 pm (Bangladesh time).

Lebanon will face United Arab Emirates (UAE) in Monday’s other match at 11:30 am at the same venue.

Bangladesh, which was placed in Group F of the AFC U-16 Women’s Championship along with the UAE, Vietnam, Bahrain and Lebanon, will play Lebanon on September 19 at 11:30 am, the UAE on September 21 at 3:30 pm and face Vietnam in the last group match on September 23 at 3:30 pm.

Both the Bangladesh and Bahrain teams made their practices at the game venue on Sunday ahead of their Monday’s battle.

Earlier on Saturday, Lebanon made a flying start in the meet outplaying Bahrain by 8-0 goals in opening Group F qualifier while favorite Vietnam got off a 4-0 win against United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the other opening day’s fixture at the same venue

London, Sep 16 (AP/UNB)  — The foundations are being laid for one of the English Premier League's most exhilarating and competitive title races.

For the first time since the league's inception 26 years ago, two teams — Chelsea and Liverpool — have a 100 percent winning record after five matches.

Eden Hazard's hat trick powered Chelsea to a 4-1 victory over Cardiff on Saturday shortly after Roberto Firmino helped Liverpool overcome Tottenham 2-1. Dual-track perfection can't last much longer as Chelsea hosts Liverpool in a showdown at Stamford Bridge in two weeks.

And the defending champions are in the slipstream. Still unbeaten, Manchester City beat Fulham 3-0 to remain two points behind the front-runners.

Watford made an unexpectedly perfect start to the campaign but that was now over after being beaten 2-1 by Manchester United, which is trying to close a six-point gap on the leaders.

HAZARD TAKES TIPS

Hazard prepared for the Cardiff game with some encouragement and advice from Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri on Friday.

"You can score 40 goals," Sarri recalled telling the winger. "But you have to spend less energy far from goal and you have to play in the last 25 meters of the field."

Hazard's best tally since joining Chelsea in 2012 is 18 in the 2016-17 campaign. He already has six from the opening five fixtures fueled by only his second Premier League treble.

The Belgium international surged through the defense before finishing powerfully in the 37th minute at Stamford Bridge to cancel out Sol Bamba's surprise opener from winless Cardiff. Before halftime, Olivier Giroud laid the ball off for Hazard to unleash a strike which deflected in off Bamba to send Chelsea in front. Hazard's third came from the spot in the 80th after a penalty was won by Willian, who curled in the fourth three minutes later.

"When I arrived I thought that Hazard was one of the best players in Europe," Sarri said. "Now I have changed my mind. Maybe he is the best. But I also think he can still improve more."

MONEY TALKS

Tottenham spent nothing in the offseason. Liverpool invested more than $200 million in new talent. Now the tables have been turned in a rivalry that saw Tottenham beat Liverpool 4-1 at home last season and finish a place ahead in third.

Liverpool's 2-1 victory at Wembley pointed to a tight contest. In fact, after Erik Lamela pulled one back in stoppage time, Son Heung-min was unfortunate not to earn a stoppage-time penalty when South Korea's returning Asian Games champion was kicked by Sadio Mane.

But Liverpool was far more sprightly and dangerous on the ball in north London, while Tottenham — particularly striker Harry Kane — was lethargic. Georginio Wijnaldum and Roberto Firmino scored either side of halftime past Michel Vorm, who was deputizing for injured goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.

UNITED RECOVER

United is getting its season back on track after a 3-0 humbling at home by Tottenham, with victory before the international break at Burnley followed by the success at Watford.

Mourinho wasn't completely satisfied. Romelu Lukaku and Chris Smalling both scored inside three minutes in the first half but United had to withstand a second-half fightback that saw Andre Gray left unmarked to reduce the deficit.

United was reduced to 10 men in stoppage time when Nemanja Matic received a second booking for bringing down Will Hughes. It then took David de Gea's fingertips save from Abdoulaye Doucoure's header to ensure United claimed a third victory of the campaign.

"In the second half, maybe our ambition went a little bit down," Mourinho said. "We gave them the chance to be more aggressive."

SANE OPENS ACCOUNT

Voted the league's best young player by his fellow professionals last season, the recalled Leroy Sane needed only two minutes to score in his first start of this campaign.

City's Silvas combined for the second. A cross from Bernardo Silva deflected into the path of David Silva, who netted with a half-volley. Raheem Sterling tapped in two minutes into the second half.

ARSENAL ROAD RECOVERY

For the first time since May 2017, Arsenal has successive away wins in the league. Granit Xhaka struck a long-range free kick and helped to set up Mesut Ozil's goal in a 2-1 victory at Newcastle for Unai Emery's new side.

BOURNEMOUTH BUOYANT

Bournemouth has collected 10 points from its opening games — to sit a point above Tottenham, Arsenal and United — thanks in part to Ryan Fraser's contribution. The Scottish winger scored two and set up another in a 4-2 victory over Leicester.

ZAHA'S COMMITMENT

Wilfried Zaha rushed back from a groin injury and scored to give Crystal Palace a 1-0 win at Huddersfield and its first success since the opening day.

Milan, Sep 16 (AP/UNB) — Just three years after going bankrupt, Parma upset Inter Milan 1-0 at San Siro in Serie A on Saturday.

And it was a player on loan from Inter, Federico Dimarco, who scored a spectacular long-range goal to hand Parma its first win in the topflight after a fairytale rise through the divisions.

It was also Parma's first win at Inter since 1999.

"It's an indescribable feeling," said Dimarco, who celebrated wildly after scoring his first Serie A goal.

"I still can't grasp myself what I did ... I just saw it go in and celebrated like crazy. It felt like watching a replay to me, the ball took forever to reach the net. I'm happy, it's a very important win because we hadn't won yet this season. It's a win that gives us energy.

He added: "You never forget your first goal in Serie A. I'm enjoying the moment but I mustn't have too much joy because you go up quickly and you come back down quickly."

For Inter, it was a disappointing way to warm up for its return to the Champions League.

The Nerazzurri host Tottenham on Tuesday in their first match in Europe's elite club competition in more than six years.

With that game in mind, Inter coach Luciano Spalletti rested Mauro Icardi, Matteo Politano, and Kwadwo Asamoah, although all three came on in the second half.

Inter had the better chances for much of the match.

Dimarco was sent on by Parma coach Roberto D'Aversa at the start of the second half and was almost the villain of the match as he appeared to handle the ball when clearing off the line against Ivan Perisic, but the referee waved play on.

The 20-year-old left back proved to be the hero 11 minutes from time with a stunning shot from 30 yards into the top right corner.

"I didn't see Dimarco's shot coming because there was a player in front of me who was offside," Inter goalkeeper Samir Handanovic said. "He scored a great goal but I don't think it was within the rules. At Inter we don't look for alibis but their goal shouldn't have stood and there was a clear-cut penalty for us which they pretended nothing happened."

Dimarco, who is an Inter fan himself, has faced a barrage of insults on social media and has pleaded with the Nerazzurri fans to halt the abuse.

"The celebration was the freedom from these past few difficult years. I would never have wanted to score this first goal against the team I adore, but that's football. I'm sorry for the fans who felt offended, but it's not like that. I want to ask you to not insult me ..."

GHOSTS EXCORCISED

Napoli exorcised some of the ghosts of last season by beating Fiorentina 1-0.

When the two sides last met, Napoli lost 3-0 — a week after beating Juventus in Turin — and effectively handed the title to the Bianconeri.

Napoli also needed to recover from another 3-0 defeat, after losing by that scoreline to Sampdoria before the international break.

Lorenzo Insigne broke the deadlock 11 minutes from time. Arkadiusz Milik sent a deft chip over the defense and Insigne side-footed it across into the bottom left corner.

FIVE-STAR SAMP

Sampdoria routed newly promoted Frosinone 5-0, including two by Gregoire Defrel.

Frosinone has yet to score in Serie A.