Category: Hertha Berlin

European roundup: Napoli sink Atalanta to stretch lead at top of Serie A | European club football


Napoli extended their Serie A winning streak to nine games when first-half goals from Victor Osimhen and Eljif Elmas secured a 2-1 comeback victory at second-placed Atalanta, stretching the victors’ lead to eight points, at least until Milan’s late game against Spezia.

Luciano Spalletti’s men played without their exciting young winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who was out due to acute lower back pain that he felt in training on Friday.

The home side’s Ademola Lookman opened the scoring after 19 minutes with a penalty after handball by Osimhen. Napoli’s 23-year-old Nigerian international made amends four minutes later when he headed home Piotr Zielinski’s cross.

In the 35th, Elmas put the visitors in front after taking a pass from Osimhen inside the box, with his effort flying into the net via a slight deflection off Atalanta’s Hans Hateboers.

The hosts started the second half aggressively, chasing an equaliser. Joakim Maehle’s shot after 55 minutes was saved superbly by Meret and Lookman hit the rebound against the bar. That was as close as Atalanta came.

Bayern Munich’s Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting scored twice in two minutes to lead the champions to a nervy 3-2 victory at Hertha Berlin as they went top in the Bundesliga, with the previous leaders, Union Berlin, playing at Bayer Leverkusen on Sunday. The 33-year-old Cameroon forward is in scintillating form less than three weeks before the World Cup, having netted for the seventh consecutive game in all competitions and the fourth straight in the league.

Jamal Musiala gave the visitors an early lead, rifling in after 12 minutes. In a frenzied end to the first half Choupo-Moting slotted in their second goal in the 38th before pouncing on a bad clearance to knock in another a minute later to make it 3-0.

Borussia Dortmund fans hold banners in protest to the World Cup in Qatar.
Borussia Dortmund fans hold banners in protest to the World Cup in Qatar. Photograph: Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images

But Hertha, whose fans unfurled a banner reading “Boycott Qatar 2022” over the Gulf state’s human rights record, still had time to score twice before the break. Dodi Lukebakio volleyed in at the far post in the 40th and Davie Selke converted a 45th-minute penalty to cut the deficit. The pace dropped off after the break with Bayern doing enough to protect their slim lead.

The World Cup hopeful Youssoufa Moukoko scored twice as Borussia Dortmund cruised past local rivals VfL Bochum 3-0 to take over third spot. The 17-year-old Moukoko could not have delivered a better pitch ahead of Germany coach Hansi Flick’s squad announcement next week, confirming his outstanding form when he rifled in from 18 metres to give Dortmund the lead in the eighth minute.

Moukoko, who became the youngest player to reach 10 career goals in the Bundesliga, added another on the stroke of halftime, after Gio Reyna had made it 2-0. He audaciously lobbed the ball over out-of-position keeper Manuel Riemann for his sixth league goal of the season.

There was more good news for Dortmund early in the second half when captain Marco Reus made his comeback from injury, just in time for the World Cup squad announcement.

Borussia Dortmund fans had a banner showing German television’s test card and the message: “Switch off Qatar”.

This story will be updated

European roundup: Oshimen’s stunner seals victory for leaders Napoli at Roma | European club football


Napoli’s seemingly unstoppable winning streak continued when Victor Osimhen’s late strike secured a 1-0 win at Roma in Serie A, giving them 11 straight victories in all competitions.

In front of a raucous crowd at the Stadio Olimpico, both sides were evenly matched in a largely uneventful first half. Napoli thought they had a penalty in the 38th minute when Roma goalkeeper Rui Patrício challenged Tanguy Ndombele but the decision was rescinded after a VAR check.

Napoli were in control by the hour mark and had several chances, with Roma struggling to get the ball out of their own half. Osimhen secured the win for Napoli 10 minutes from time when he half-volleyed in a brilliant rasping shot from an acute angle, after getting the better of his marker Chris Smalling.

Napoli have a three-point lead at the top with 29 after 11 games, three ahead of Milan in second. Roma are fifth with 22 points.

Mattia Zaccagni and Felipe Anderson scored to give Lazio a comfortable 2-0 win at Atalanta, moving up to third as a result. Zaccagni converted in the 10th minute, poking in a Pedro cross.

Anderson made it 2-0 seven minutes after half-time, firing a low shot into the bottom-left corner. The visitors continued to control the game and Atalanta had Luis Muriel sent off in the 90th minute for a second booking.

The Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini said: “It’s a fair defeat. It’s true that Lazio had an extraordinary first half and we were unable to limit their passing, while the early goal put them in the best possible situation. Only after the second goal did we see something positive.

“It’s a loss we deserved and we will learn from this experience. We hoped that Lazio would drop their tempo and we got close after the second goal but it was too late,” Gasperini added. “We had not yet met a team that was so good on a technical level and with a high press; they always got to the ball first, and perhaps we had not yet faced a team of this level.”

In Spain, Ousmane Dembélé scored and provided assists for Sergi Roberto, Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres as Barcelona defeated Athletic Bilbao 4-0 in La Liga.

Barça remain second in the table on 28 points, three behind leaders Real Madrid and five clear of third-placed Atlético Madrid. The hosts scored three times in 10 minutes in the first half, starting with Dembélé’s towering header from close range in the 12th minute.

The France forward then put Roberto through with some brilliant one touch build-up play in the 18th minute, with the Spanish full back’s strike bouncing in off a defender past a helpless Unai Simón.

Ousmane Dembélé scored one goal and set up three in Barcelona’s 4-0 win against Athletic Bilbao.
Ousmane Dembélé (centre) scored one goal and set up three in Barcelona’s 4-0 win against Athletic Bilbao. Photograph: Quique García/EPA

Four minutes later, Dembélé ran down the right channel before crossing to Lewandowski who swivelled and finished with a powerful shot. Barça took their foot off the gas after the break but there was still time for Dembélé to deliver another assist less than 20 minutes before the end, playing the ball in from the left touchline for Torres to score.

Two second-half goals from Antoine Griezmann, one scored directly from a corner kick, gave Atlético Madrid a 2-1 win at Real Betis, extending their unbeaten run to five games. Griezmann opened the scoring in the 54th minute directly from a corner.

Fifteen minutes later, substitute Matheus Cunha passed to Griezmann whose right-footed shot found the bottom right corner. Betis replied with a Nabil Fekir free-kick in the 84th minute but the visitors held firm.

In Germany, relegation-threatened VfL Bochum scored once in either half to stun Union Berlin 2-1, leaving the Bundesliga leaders with only a one-point gap at the top and moving off the bottom of the table.

Union, with the league’s best backline before the game, suffered only their second loss of the season. Philipp Hofmann’s glancing header two minutes before the break put Bochum with the hosts’ high press proving a major problem for Urs Fischer’s team.

Union’s Milos Pantovic whipped a shot just wide on the hour mark but it was Bochum, who had also hit the woodwork early in the second half, who scored again.
This time they struck on the break with Gerrit Holtmann completing the lightning-quick passing move, tapping in from a Christopher Antwi-Adjei assist.
Union remain in top spot on 23 points, one ahead of champions Bayern Munich. Freiburg are third on 21.

Schalke 04, who sacked coach Frank Kramer on Wednesday, dropped to bottom place following their 2-1 defeat at Hertha Berlin courtesy of Wilfried Kanga’s 88th-minute winner.