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Sports Shorts: Juventus win Coppa Italia; Monaco claim Ligue 1

May 18, 2017 10:47 IST

A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday.

Juventus win Coppa Italia to keep treble dream alive

Juventus players

IMAGE: Mario Mandzukic of Juventus celebrates. Photograph: Stuart Franklin/Getty Images.

Juventus beat Lazio to win a third successive Italian Cup final as goals from Dani Alves and Leonardo Bonucci kept them on course for a treble this season with a 2-0 victory in the Olympic Stadium.

The Turin side, who are on the verge of winning a sixth successive Serie A championship before facing Real Madrid in the Champions League final in Cardiff on June 3, won the domestic cup for a record 12th time.

"Compliments to the lads for what they did in the first half and for coming through a defensive test in the second," coach Massimiliano Allegri told reporters.

Allegri quickly turned his thoughts to the weekend when Juventus can clinch Serie A with a win over Crotone having missed their chance in a 3-1 defeat on Sunday away to AS Roma, who are four points behind with two fixtures remaining.

"We've won the first title, now we want to clinch the second, Sunday against Crotone, who have taken17 points from the last seven matches," he said.

"It's going to be a difficult match. We'll have to play a mean game like this evening's."

Monaco claim first Ligue 1 title in 17 years

Monaco claimed their first Ligue 1 title in 17 years with one game to spare when they beat St Etienne 2-0 at home on Wednesday to bring an end to Paris St Germain's four-year reign as champions.

Monaco, who took their tally in a swashbuckling season to 104 goals, needed a draw to be guaranteed top spot but got over the line in style with efforts from Kylian Mbappe and Valere Germain to lift them to 92 points, six ahead of PSG.

Leonardo Jardim's side built their success around a devastating attack featuring French prodigy Mbappe and the resurgent Radamel Falcao, who have been fed all season by Portugal hope Bernardo Silva and young French international Thomas Lemar.

With midfielder Fabinho and talented fullbacks Djibril Sidibe and Benjamin Mendy adding to their forward firepower, Monaco were a cut above the rest -- even PSG.

The title put them joint third in the professional era with Nantes on eight titles behind St Etienne (10) and Olympique de Marseille (9).

"PSG are used to being champions, that's the logic. But once in a while we can win one title and that's an achievement. It's time to celebrate now," said Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim.

Mbappe, whose performances have made him one of Europe's most coveted young players, added: "We reached our goal, we managed to keep PSG and Nice at bay. They sustained the pace for most of the season, but we hung on."

"At the beginning of the season we did not really believe in it but then we started to score freely and we grew more confident," said midfielder Nadil Dirar, one of four players along with Subasic, Germain and Andrea Raggi, who were also crowned Ligue 2 champions in 2013.

Source: REUTERS
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