At 40! Francesco Totti at top of his game, age is just a number
Football
By
Game Yetu
| Oct 01, 2016
Inter Milan's aversion to Europa League football continued with a 3-1 defeat at Sparta Prague, while AS Roma ended a continental hoodoo stretching back seven games with a 4-0 home win over Romanian side FC Astra on Thursday.
Inter's Serie A rivals Roma had no such problems with talismanic forward Francesco Totti continuing to defy the ageing process as he played a pivotal role in their comprehensive demolition of Astra two days after his 40th birthday.
Goll Strootman Assist Totti! #SepuhAmpuh #Roma #UEL pic.twitter.com/y8YIuMhriP
— Siaran Bola Live (@SiaranBolaLivee) September 30, 2016
Totti had a hand in three of Roma's goals, teeing up Kevin Strootman for the opener, rattling the crossbar with a free kick for Federico Fazio to net the rebound and playing a clever flick to release Mohamed Salah for Roma's fourth.
The only one he did not play a part in was a 47th-minute own goal by Astra's Fabicio as Roma ended a run of seven matches without a win in European fixtures.
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Manchester United also needed the intervention of an ageing great to beat minnows Zorya as Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who turns 35 on Monday, headed home a second-half winner.
United manager Jose Mourinho had signalled his intentions by picking a strong side that also featured world record signing Paul Pogba, Juan Mata and Marcus Rashford.
He was rewarded with a third consecutive win in all competitions to lift the mood at the club after they had previously suffered three straight losses.
"One week, three defeats. One week, three victories," Mourinho said. "But I was not depressed by the defeats and I am not over the moon with three wins."
Ajax Amsterdam ended a run of five successive home draws in Europe as they beat Standard Liege 1-0 to join FC Krasnodar, Schalke 04, Shakhtar Donetsk, Zenit St Petersburg and APOEL Nicosia on maximum points from their opening two group games.
Krasnodar won 5-2 against Nice, with the visiting French side's Italian striker Mario Balotelli scoring his fifth goal in four games, while Schalke won 3-1 at home to Salzburg and Shakhtar defeated visitors Braga 2-0.
Zenit's Aleksandr Kokorin scored twice in a 5-0 thrashing of AZ Alkmaar, while APOEL sneaked a 1-0 win at Olympiakos Piraeus thanks to an early goal from Pieros Sotiriou.
Fiorentina brushed aside Qarabag 5-1 with Khouma Babacar and Mauro Zarate both scoring twice against the Azerbaijani side who played an hour with 10 men after Elvin Yunuszada was sent off.