European roundup: Roma earn win at Inter, Lewandowski takes Barcelona top

  • 10/1/2022
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A second-half header by Chris Smalling helped Roma to seal a 2-1 victory at Inter in Serie A on Saturday. The England international headed home in the 75th minute after a brilliant free kick by Lorenzo Pellegrini from about 45 yards. Federico Dimarco opened the scoring for Inter in the 30th minute when Nicolò Barella met him with a pass in the middle of the box, with his low strike taking a deflection off Rui Patrício but still reaching the corner of the net. Edin Dzeko had scored in the 11th minute as Roma’s defence faltered but his goal was chalked off by VAR for offside. Roma’s Leonardo Spinazzola had an attempt on goal eight minutes later from the edge of the box but was denied by Samir Handanovic. That was quickly followed up by Paulo Dybala’s effort on a rebound which was also saved by the Inter goalkeeper. Roma eventually netted an equaliser through Dybala in the 39th minute, his fourth goal in Serie A this season, following a superb cross by Spinazzola. Smalling then wrapped up the points late on. Meanwhile, André-Frank Zambo Anguissa scored the first two goals as Napoli beat Torino 3-1 to move three points clear at the top of the league. Atalanta can move back level with Napoli by beating visiting Fiorentina on Sunday. Milan snatched a dramatic 3-1 win at Empoli as three goals in the game were scored in second half stoppage time. Milan started the game aggressively and kept up the intensity throughout the first half, but despite a number of chances could not beat goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario. Ante Rebic broke the deadlock in the 79th minute with a controlled shot inside the area after being played in with a great pass from Rafael Leão. Nedim Bajrami thought he had rescued a point for Empoli two minutes into stoppage time with a goal from a free-kick, creating euphoria among the home fans. However, Fodé Ballo-Touré saw it differently as only two minutes later he managed to put the ball beyond Vicario after a headed assist from Rade Krunic. Leao made sure of the win when he scored Milan’s third in the seventh minute of stoppage time with a beautiful chip over Vicario. Borussia Dortmund conceded two goals in three minutes and slumped to a 3-2 loss at Cologne, missing their chance to go top of the Bundesliga at the expense of Union Berlin. Julian Brandt slotted in for Dortmund in the 31st minute. They eased off, however, after the break, allowing Cologne too much space to come forward and score three times in the second half. The hosts launched their comeback in the 53rd with Florian Kainz turning a cutback from Linton Maina into the Dortmund goal. Before Dortmund had any time to recover Cologne struck again three minutes later with former Dortmund player Steffen Tigges beating Nico Schlotterbeck at the near post to score with a glancing header and turn the game around. Florian Dietz hit the woodwork a little later as Cologne kept the pressure on, and they got a third goal in the 71st minute when Dejan Ljubicic was given too much space by a struggling Dortmund backline and curled a superb shot into the far corner. Dortmund dropped to fourth place on 15 points, two behind Union Berlin, who lost 2-0 at Eintracht Frankfurt, and Freiburg, 2-1 winners over Mainz. Bayern Munich, who crushed Bayer Leverkusen 4-0 on Friday for their first win in five league games, are also on 15 in third place. Over in La Liga, In-form Robert Lewandowski scored again to give Barcelona a 1-0 win at Mallorca. The Polish striker secured Barca’s points in the 20th minute when he sped into the area, made a brilliant cut inside to clear a defender and slotted the ball to the goalkeeper’s left. Barcelona’s victory lifted them to the top of the table on 19 points, one ahead of Real Madrid who have a game in hand and host Osasuna on Sunday aiming to restore their lead. Sevilla succumbed to a 2-0 home defeat by Atlético Madrid to continue their poor start to the campaign . Marcos Llorente scored Atlético’s first goal in the 29th minute, lashing a shot to the right of Yassine Bounou, the Sevilla keeper, and into the back of the net. Álvaro Morata secured the points in the 57th minute, lobbing Bounou with a brilliant effort. Atlético’s win lifted them to fifth on 13 points, five behind city rivals and leaders Real Madrid. In Ligue 1, Kylian Mbappé came off the bench to give Paris Saint-Germain a 2-1 home win against Nice as the French champions reclaimed top spot. Mbappé netted seven minutes from time to put PSG on 25 points from nine games.

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