While You Were Asleep: Neymar stars in PSG’s win, Napoli back on top of Serie A, Swiatek clinches eighth title of the season
Off the pitch, Brazilian star Neymar is going through a troublesome period but the striker is in red-hot form for his club after his goal gave Paris St Germain a 1-0 home victory against bitter rivals Olympique de Marseille in Ligue 1.
Neymar found the back of the net on the stroke of halftime to put leaders PSG on 29 points from 11 games, three ahead of second-placed Lorient.
Back from injury, Lionel Messi hit the crossbar and combined well with Neymar and Kylian Mbappé throughout the game with the “MNM” combination creating many chances on the break in a lively match at the Parc des Princes.
PSG could have won a larger margin but Marseille goalkeeper Pau Lopez made eight saves to keep his team in the match.
PSG had drawn their previous three games in all competitions.
Neymar Jr and eight others go on trial in Barcelona on Monday charged with fraud and corruption over the player’s transfer to Barcelona from Santos in 2013.
Napoli on top of Serie A
Napoli continued their winning streak and opened a two-point lead in Serie A after a 3-2 home win over Bologna on Sunday. Luciano Spalletti’s side extended their winning run to 10 in a row in all competitions.
Napoli had to come from behind, and goals from Juan Jesus and Hirving Lozano either side of the break appeared to have turned the match around. But Musa Barrow leveled for Bologna before Osimhen scored what was to prove the winner.
Napoli is two points ahead of Atalanta at the top of the Italian league. Defending champion AC Milan moved into third place with a 2-1 win at lowly Hellas Verona.
Napoli was brimming with confidence after it qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League midweek. It had scored 14 goals in its last three matches in all competitions.
Swiatek wins the eighth title of season
Iga Swiatek was pushed to three sets surging qualifier Donna Vekic, but the World No.1 prevailed again to win her eighth title of the year at the San Diego Open.
8th title of 2022 🏆64th win of 2022 🏁24-1 in the US in 2022 💨
The accolades for @iga_swiatek just keep growing!#SanDiegoOpen pic.twitter.com/dOMoYvGqrg
— wta (@WTA) October 17, 2022
Iga Swiatek defeated Vekic 6-3, 3-6, 6-0 in a match that lasted for 1 hour and 47 minutes.
Swiatek has the most match-wins in a single season (including WTA Tour events and Billie Jean King Cup play) since Serena Williams won 78 matches in 2013.
Swiatek, who rose to world number one in April following Ash Barty’s retirement, is now 64-8 on the season. The 21-year-old won the US Open and French Open this year and will be the hot favourite when WTA Finals kick off in Fort Worth on October 31.
