Soccer Extras: Inter's bad boy Icardi scores win

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Mauro Icardi scored on his first Inter Milan appearance in almost two months to help his side extend their lead in third place with a 4-0 Serie A win away to 10-man Genoa on Wednesday.

The Argentine had not featured since being stripped of the captaincy on February 13 amid protracted contract renewal talks.

Icardi initially said he could not play because of a knee problem, before returning to training last week after negotiations between his lawyer and the club.

Roberto Gagliardini opened the scoring in the first half before Icardi won and converted a penalty after Genoa defender Cristian Romero was sent off.

The former Inter captain then teed up Ivan Perisic for their third in the second half and Gagliardini scored his second of the night to complete the rout but coach Luciano Spalletti insisted Icardi could have offered more.

"He played a good match, but he could have done even better," Spalletti said.

"The team reacted in the correct manner, putting Inter above everything. He has paid the price that he needed to pay. Now we can be stronger with him."

The result leaves Inter four points clear of fourth-placed rivals AC Milan, while Genoa remain 12th on 33 points.

"(Genoa) played a great game 15 days ago when they beat Juventus. With (coach Cesare) Prandelli Genoa have won important points and had some great performances," Spalletti added.

"The game which we played is a consequence of having clear ideas about what a team should do.

 “When you win it is because everyone plays well. We are professionals and are paid to do this, and have to go to work in a serious way because that is what the people who care about Inter want.”

Other results also boosted Inter’s Champions League qualification hopes, as AS Roma were held to a 2-2 draw at home to Fiorentina and Lazio fell to a shock 1-0 defeat at relegation battling SPAL.

Andrea Belotti’s double helped Torino beat Sampdoria 2-1, leaving Atalanta, Lazio, Roma and Torino level on 48 points in places fifth to eighth, eight points adrift of Inter although Atalanta and Lazio have a game in hand.

At the other end of the table, second-bottom Frosinone scored a 103rd-minute penalty to secure a 3-2 win over Parma that moves them within eight points of safety, while SPAL’s victory moved them five points clear of the drop zone.

Empoli shocked Napoli with a 2-1 victory in the early kickoff to move out of the relegation zone at Bologna’s expense, but Sinisa Mihajlovic’s side can return to 17th place with a win over Atalanta on Thursday.

PSG reach French Cup final as Verratti nets rare goal

Marco Verratti scored a rare goal for Paris St Germain as they beat Nantes 3-0 at home to reach the French Cup final on Wednesday, with a fifth consecutive title in their sights.

The midfielder, who also found the net for Italy last week, opened the scoring for the Cup holders in the first half with his first PSG goal of the season.

Kylian Mbappe scored a penalty and Daniel Alves found the net with a delicate lob to wrap up victory in the closing stages.

Mbappe was denied from the spot by Nantes keeper Ciprian Tatarusanu earlier in the match before the visitors were reduced to 10 men after Kalifa Coulibaly was sent off for a second yellow card in the 71st minute.

PSG, who lost Marquinhos to a muscle injury, will face Stade Rennais, who beat Olympique Lyonnais 3-2 on Tuesday, in the April 27 showdown at the Stade de France.

The Ligue 1 leaders have not conceded a single goal on their way to the final.

With Neymar watching from the stands, Verratti unleashed a low diagonal shot from outside the box on 29 minutes to put the home side ahead.

It was his second goal in eight days after he scored in Italy's 6-0 victory over Liechtenstein in a Euro 2020 qualifier last Tuesday.

Mbappe beat Tatarusanu from the penalty spot after a Nicolas Pallois handball, but referee Francois Letexier had it retaken due to players encroaching into the box.

Tatarusanu blocked the second attempt, but he was powerless with Mbappe's penalty in the 83rd minute after Alves was brought down by Diego Carlos.

Alves wrapped up an emphatic win when he lobbed Tatarusanu from the edge of the box two minutes into added time.

The sides will meet again at the Parc des Princes in Ligue 1 in two weeks.

Lewandowski double helps 10-man Bayern edge cup thriller 5-4

Robert Lewandowski scored twice off the bench to send 10-man Bayern Munich into the German Cup semi-finals as his late penalty secured a 5-4 home win against second division Heidenheim on Wednesday.

Lewandowski came on for the second half and netted the winning penalty six minutes from fulltime for 18-times cup winners Bayern, who had Niklas Suele sent off after 15 minutes.

"I don't know how to rate this game," said Bayern midfielder Thomas Mueller.

"That they came back to 4-4 after we led 4-2, so that cannot please us. The match should have gone differently after we went 1-0 up."

The Bundesliga champions took the lead through Leon Goretzka’s 12th-minute opener, but goals from Robert Glatzel and Marc Schnatterer put the visitors ahead.

Thomas Mueller equalised eight minutes into the second half, before Lewandowski and Serge Gnabry gave the home side a two-goal cushion.

Yet Heidenheim did not give up and Glatzel netted twice more, including a penalty, in the space of four minutes to level.

A handball in the area earned Bayern a penalty that Lewandowski coolly converted, sending them through to the last four along with Hamburg SV, RB Leipzig and Werder Bremen, who claimed a 2-0 win at Schalke 04 thanks to second-half goals by Milot Rashica and Davy Klaassen.

Bremen had midfielder Nuri Sahin sent off for a second bookable offence in the last minute. 

Indian football team up two places to 101 in FIFA rankings

The Indian football team gained two places to rise to 101 in the FIFA rankings issued on Thursday.

With 1219 total ranking points, the Indian team lies 18th among the Asian countries.

The team did not play any international match after the last rankings on February 7.

Iran continued to top the Asian rankings at 21, followed by Japan (26), South Korea (37), Australia (41) and Qatar (55).

Overall, Belgium remained on top with 1737 points, ahead of France (1734), Brazil (1676), England (1647) and Croatia (1621).