European football: Lewandowski brace inspires Barcelona rout of Sevilla

  • 10/20/2024
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The French league has condemned homophobic chants by some Paris Saint-Germain fans during the club’s home win against Strasbourg on Saturday. PSG are playing their bitter rivals next Sunday in Marseille and the offensive slurs were made about the club and the midfielder Adrien Rabiot. He is a former PSG player who made more than 200 appearances for the club from 2012-19, and his move to Marseille is regarded as a betrayal. “These latest discriminatory chants made by Paris Saint-Germain supporters are unacceptable when, at the same time, the whole of professional football has been working to ban homophobic behaviour and chants from stadiums,” the league, known as LFP, said in a statement. While the chanting was happening, the stadium announcer at Parc des Princes twice asked for the chants to stop and was jeered. The LFP said its disciplinary committee would look into evidence. Last season, some PSG players received a one-match suspended sentence by the league’s disciplinary committee for offensive chants aimed at Marseille after a home league match. Ousmane Dembélé, Achraf Hakimi, Randal Kolo Muani and Layvin Kurzawa were filmed using insults while celebrating at the end of a 4-0 win against Marseille. The four players issued apologies. That match was also marred by homophobic chanting by sections of PSG fans targeting Marseille players. As a result, the league ordered the closure of the Auteuil stand behind one of the goals for two matches, including one that was suspended. PSG fans are banned from attending next Sunday’s game for security reasons, with a history of clashes between rival supporters. In Italy, Napoli came away from Empoli with all three points on Sunday, but the Serie A leaders struggled against stubborn opponents, and the manager, Antonio Conte, was content to get the win after a disappointing opening 45 minutes. A second-half penalty by Khvicha Kvaratskhelia earned a 1-0 win, but Napoli could easily have trailed at the break as they failed to get going. “In the first half we were spectators, I didn’t see what we had prepared and I saw a lot of nervousness,” Conte told reporters. “Certainly, what satisfies me is to have seen a reaction in the second half, the first was very negative. This is a difficult place to come, I don’t know if it was due to the fact of defending the top spot, but it makes me smile if I think about last year or how we started this season.” A Stockholm derby that could decide the Swedish league’s title race was suspended in the second half Sunday after Djurgården supporters threw multiple fireworks on to the field. The game between Hammarby and Djurgården is set to resume Monday afternoon without fans after police ruled that the game organisers could not guarantee public safety if play was restarted. Hammarby is second in the league table and was leading 2-0 in a game where a draw would hand rival Malmö the title with three rounds to spare. Djurgården is tied on points with Hammarby but behind on goal difference, and a win would give either team a mathematical chance to overtake Malmö. The Atlético Madrid forward Alexander Sørloth scored twice in the second half as they fought back to earn a 3-1 victory against visitors Leganes in La Liga on Sunday. Winless in their previous three games in all competitions with a series of lacklustre performances, Atlético had to recover from a goal down after the Cameroon midfielder Yvan Neyou gave Leganes the lead in the 34th minute with a superb strike into the top corner. Sørloth equalised with a cheeky back-heel in the 69th minute before Antoine Griezmann cleverly chipped a cross past the goalkeeper into the back of the net 11 minutes later, with Sørloth wrapping up the win with a close-range strike from a rebound deep in added time.

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