European roundup: Barcelona’s Yamal becomes La Liga’s youngest scorer

  • 10/8/2023
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Barcelona winger Lamine Yamal became La Liga’s youngest goalscorer at 16 years and 87 days old as the reigning champions drew 2-2 at Granada on Sunday. Bryan Zaragoza had scored twice for the hosts in the first half to secure a surprise two-goal lead but Yamal struck from close range to get Barça back in the game before the break before substitute Sergi Roberto scored late on to rescue a point. Granada goalkeeper André Ferreira had made a string of saves to preserve Granada’s advantage but Roberto finally equalised when he converted first-time from Alejandro Balde’s cross in the 86th minute. “When we see that a player can help the team, we give him the opportunity,” said Barça coach Xavi. “Lamine is helping us a lot and making a difference. He scored an important goal.” The draw leaves Barcelona third in the table on 21 points after nine games, one point behind Girona and three adrift of Real Madrid. Atlético Madrid are fourth on 19 points after Antoine Griezmann scored a late penalty to earn a 2-1 home win against Real Sociedad, in a match in which VAR was again under the spotlight after two contentious handball decisions. The hosts dominated from the start and Samuel Lino opened the scoring in the 22nd minute with a tidy finish after beating the offside trap following a brilliant long pass by Koke. Atlético missed several chances, including hitting the post twice, once through Rodrigo de Paul, the other from Axel Witsel from point-blank range, but Real Sociedad slowly started to take control and almost scored when Mikel Oyarzabal’s shot hit Jan Oblak’s left upright. In the 67th minute the referee, José Luis Munuera Montero, spent several minutes in a lengthy VAR check for a possible handball inside the box, but decided there had been no infringement. The visitors equalised through Oyarzabal after a 73rd-minute counterattack and Oblak made two crucial saves to prevent them from taking the lead. Atlético were given a lifeline when the referee spotted a handball by Real Sociedad’s Carlos Fernández in the 86th minute and Griezmann slotted home the penalty to earn his side the three points. The Real Sociedad players and coach, Imanol Alguacil, were furious, complaining vociferously to Montero because Fernández had his back to the play when Griezmann’s shot hit his arm. “When the referee decides, in the end it’s going to be complicated, but football continues,” Griezmann told DAZN. “You have to set rules and not leave it to the referee’s interpretation. Today he whistled in our favour and we won. It won’t always be like that.” In Germany, the Bayern Munich winger Kingsley Coman scored once in each half to lead the champions to a 3-0 home win against Freiburg on Sunday as they bounced back from their draw with RB Leipzig last week. Goals from Coman and Leroy Sané in the first half put Bayern in the driving seat and the France international Coman scored again after the interval. Bayern are third on 17 points, two behind the leaders Bayer Leverkusen, who earlier beat Köln 3-0. Coman opened his account with a sensational goal in the 12th minute after picking up the ball and charging down the right wing. The 27-year-old, almost at the sideline, looked set for a deep cross but instead floated the ball in off the far post from 25 metres out. Sané quickly doubled their lead in the 25th and had another effort ruled out after a VAR review. With Freiburg posing no threat, Bayern took their foot off the gas after the break. Coman should have scored again in the 78th minute but chose to lay the ball off for Mathys Tel, who was offside. Tel had replaced Bayern’s top scorer Harry Kane in the 72nd minute. The Freiburg goalkeeper Noah Atubolu tipped a shot by Leon Goretzka on to the crossbar in the 83rd minute but was beaten two minutes later when Coman’s deflected shot made it 3-0. In Serie A, Fiorentina’s Giacomo Bonaventura and Nicolas Gonzalez scored second-half goals to secure a 3-1 win at champions Napoli on Sunday after a Victor Osimhen penalty had got the hosts back in the contest. Fiorentina, who opened the scoring through Josip Brekalo aftr seven minutes, leapfrogged Napoli into fourth spot, level on 17 points with third-placed Juventus, two points behind Internazionale and four adrift of leaders Milan. Napoli suffered their second league defeat of the season. “I am responsible for this defeat tonight. However, I did not expect it,” Napoli coach Rudi Garcia told DAZN. “We missed a great chance ... and dropped out of the top four. There is bitterness, frustration, it’s a bad result. We shouldn’t have conceded the first goal, the penalty before the interval should have given us an extra push.” Roma striker Romelu Lukaku scored twice as they strolled to a 4-1 win at the bottom side Cagliari to take the pressure off José Mourinho. Roma struck twice in two minutes to take an early hold on the game. Houssem Aouar scored in the 19th minute and a minute later Lukaku chested home a Rick Karsdorp cross. Paulo Dybala went off injured in the first half but his replacement Andrea Belotti made it 3-0 six minutes after the break before Lukaku got his second just before the hour. Cagliari scored a late consolation goal from a Nahitan Nández penalty. Roma moved up to 10th on 11 points from eight games, while Cagliari remain bottom with two. In Ligue 1, Montpellier’s home game against Clermont was abandoned in stoppage time after the visiting goalkeeper Mory Diaw was stunned by a firework. The home side were leading 4-2 when a firecracker was thrown from the stands and landed and exploded near Diaw as he prepared to take a goalkick, leaving the Clermont player needing treatment. He was carried off the field on a stretcher before it was announced the game was called off. Montpellier, seventh in Ligue 1, were heading towards victory as the game entered time added on, despite the 54th-minute dismissal of the defender Maxime Estève for two yellow-card offences. Clermont, who sit bottom without a win, twice equalised through Yohann Magnin and Cheick Konaté after Musa al-Taamari and Teji Savanier’s penalty had put Montpellier ahead. Savanier, with a second penalty, and Taamari scored again as Montpellier took a two-goal lead. Paris St Germain returned to winning ways with a 3-1 win at Rennes after Achraf Hakimi scored one goal and created another on Sunday to help them move up to third in Ligue 1. PSG went ahead after a superb run from Ousmane Dembélé who cut in from the flank and skipped past several challenges before finding Vitinha, who made space and curled his effort from the edge of the box into the top corner after 32 minutes. Four minutes later PSG right-back Hakimi ghosted past an unsuspecting defence and headed in 17-year-old Warren Zaire-Emery’s cross from close range. Rennes improved and hit back in the 56th minute when they pounced on a loose pass and Amine Gouiri headed home Ludovic Blas’s cross. PSG’s Luis Enrique brought on Randal Kolo Muani a minute later and the forward got on the scoresheet almost immediately with a first-time finish from Hakimi’s pass, leaving Rennes shell-shocked and their coach Bruno Genesio fuming on the bench.

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