Sergi Roberto scored two goals in the second half to secure a 3-2 victory for Barcelona against Almería, the bottom-ranked team in La Liga, on Wednesday.
In the first half, Barcelona had control but missed most of their 15 opportunities, with only five of them being on goal. Raphinha managed to score for the home team in the 33rd minute, following a save by Luís Maximiano on Ronald Araújo’s header from a corner.
The away team tied the game just before halftime with a skillful goal by Leo Baptistão, which was confirmed after a review by VAR for an offside call. Roberto then regained the lead for his team in the 60th minute with a header from a corner kick. However, Almería, who have yet to win a game in the league, equalized once again 11 minutes later thanks to a mistake by Iñaki Peña that was capitalized on by Edgar González.
As time was running short, Roberto scored once more to secure a win for his team. He skillfully passed the ball through Maximiano’s legs from a short distance, propelling Barça into third place above Atlético Madrid. In another match, Villarreal rose from a precarious position with a 3-2 win at home against Celta who are struggling. And in a thrilling finish, Unai Gómez saved the day with a last-minute goal for Athletic Bilbao against Las Palmas.
Patrik Schick’s three goals in the first half led Bayer Leverkusen to a 4-0 win against Bochum, securing the top spot in the Bundesliga before the winter break. It took Xabi Alonso’s team 30 minutes to score their first goal from a penalty by Schick, who then followed up with a second goal from a pass by Jérémie Frimpong.
Before the first half ended, Schick scored another goal by heading in a corner from Álex Grimaldo. In the 69th minute, Leverkusen scored a fourth goal with substitute Victor Boniface. They remain four points ahead of Bayern Munich, who still have a game to play, after Harry Kane helped them secure a challenging 2-1 victory against Wolfsburg.
Jamal Musiala scored the first goal for Thomas Tuchel’s team with a precise pass from Thomas Müller in the 33rd minute. Kane added a second goal before halftime, shooting into the top corner for his 21st goal of the season in the league. Maximilian Arnold scored one for the hosts, and also had a late shot saved by Manuel Neuer as Bayern managed to maintain their lead.
Stuttgart kept up their push for a Champions League place with an impressive 3-0 home victory against Augsburg, with Denis Undav and Serhou Guirassy on target. Union Berlin boosted their survival hopes with a 2-0 home win against Cologne, thanks to goals from Benedict Hollerbach and David Datro Fonana in either half.
Eintracht Frankfurt came from behind to defeat 10-man Mönchengladbach 2-1 in a thrilling match. Max Wöber gave Gladbach the lead, but was later shown a red card with only two minutes remaining. In the final minutes of stoppage time, Eintracht’s Buta and Robin Koch scored to secure the victory. Heidenheim also had a late surge, scoring two goals to beat Freiburg 3-2 and climb into the top half of the standings.
Inter Milan were eliminated from the Coppa Italia in the round of 16, suffering a 2-1 loss at their home stadium to Bologna in overtime. Despite numerous opportunities, the top-ranked team in Serie A failed to capitalize, including a missed penalty by Lautaro Martínez saved by Federico Ravaglia, resulting in a scoreless match at San Siro after regulation time.
In the additional time, Carlos Augusto scored the first goal for Inter with a header. However, Bologna retaliated and equalized with a corner kick from Sam Beukema. In the final minutes of the game, Dan Ndoye received a pass from Joshua Zirkzee and secured their place in the quarter-finals.
At their home game, Paris Saint-Germain’s Kylian Mbappé scored two goals, helping them secure a 3-1 victory against Metz in Ligue 1. This win keeps PSG in the top spot with a five-point advantage over Nice.
The first period concluded without any goals, but PSG was lucky to not give up an own goal when Danilo Pereira’s header hit the post and bounced back. Vitinha broke the deadlock early in the second half, followed by a magnificent second goal from Mbappé on his 25th birthday. The striker secured his second goal towards the end of the game due to a mistake by the defense.
Nice maintained their effort to secure a spot in the top three by defeating Lens, who currently hold seventh place, with a final score of 2-0. Substitute Terem Moffi made a swift impact by scoring a penalty and header towards the end of the game, breaking Lens’ 11-game unbeaten streak. Monaco, who are in third place, managed to come back from a goal deficit and win 2-1 against Toulouse, despite Aleksandr Golovin receiving a red card.
Patrick Vieira’s Strasbourg put an end to Lille’s 10-game undefeated run with a 2-1 victory at home, thanks to Junior Mwanga’s winning goal. Brest rose to fourth place after Kamory Doumbia scored all four goals in the first half of their 4-0 domination over Lorient. Marseille now sits in sixth place following Jordan Veretout’s headed goal, which earned them a point against Montpellier.
Lyon climbed out of the relegation zone with a 1-0 victory against Nantes. Alexandre Lacazette scored the decisive goal off a pass from Rayan Cherki, and Lyon managed to maintain their lead even after Dejan Lovren’s red card. Rennes staged a comeback to defeat Clermont, who are currently at the bottom of the standings, with a score of 3-1. Meanwhile, Keito Nakamura’s goal secured a win for Will Still’s Reims team against Le Havre.
Source: theguardian.com
