Sports
UCL: Man Utd Holds Bayern At Old Trafford …Barca Denies Atletico At Camp Nou
Manchester United gave David Moyes arguably the best result of his reign yesterday as they drew 1-1 with European champions Bayern Munich.
Moyes has endured a rocky debut season, but his United side showed their defensive steel despite coming under intense pressure from Bayern in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League quarter-final at Old Trafford.
The hosts were under the cosh for almost the entire match but captain Nemanja Vidic grabbed the opening goal 13 minutes into the second half as Europe’s premier club competition continued to represent a bright spot in United’s otherwise troublesome campaign.
Despite their fall from grace domestically, the Premier League champions had won all four of their European ties at Old Trafford this season prior to yesterday and that run looked set to continue when Vidic produced a header of the highest quality from Wayne Rooney’s corner.
Vidic, departing for Inter at the end of the season, gave United the platform for victory but they were unable to build on it as the recently-crowned German champions equalised through Bastian Schweinsteiger just eight minutes later.
The away goal will make life that bit harder for United when they make the trip to Munich, with Pep Guardiola’s side holding a slight advantage as the Spaniard looks to replicate predecessor Jupp Heynckes in securing a treble.
However, Guardiola will be without Schweinsteiger for the second leg after the midfield lynchpin picked up a second yellow card late on for a foul on Rooney.
In Spain, Neymar’s composed finish cancelled out Diego’s wondergoal as Barcelona rescued a 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Champions League.
It appeared as though the visitors would take a slender lead from the quarter-final encounter at Camp Nou after Atletico’s Brazilian midfielder struck.
Diego had started on the bench, but was called upon in the first half when Diego Costa – who overcame a knee injury to start the match, had to exit play.
And he duly lit up a match that proved every bit as tight as their respective positions in La Liga suggested with a rasping drive from 25 yards.
However, Brazil international Neymar ensured Gerardo Martino’s side would not head into the return leg at Vicente Calderon with a deficit when he curled past the otherwise excellent Thibaut Courtois with just under 20 minutes remaining.
Diego Simeone’s men will still have the advantage of an away goal in that fixture, but the tie remains nicely poised after the first encounter.
The visitors showed no signs of being fazed by a boisterous home crowd in the opening exchanges, home goalkeeper Jose Manuel Pinto showing the biggest display of nerves, but former Barca man David Villa failed to punish his weak clearance, inexplicably missing the target from eight yards after being found by Arda Turan.
Centre-back Gerard Pique was forced off in the 10th minute after falling heavily in an aerial challenge, Marc Bartra replacing him.
Despite the setback, Barcelona started showing glimpses of their free-flowing best and Lionel Messi showed superb footwork to escape Miranda before his throughball was collected by Andres Iniesta who was denied by a great block from Diego Godin.
Atleti were hit with an injury blow of their own as Costa limped off and a subsequent lack of physical presence in their attack helped Barcelona dictate the tempo, but Messi’s tame five-yard header was the closest they went before the break.
Indeed, Martino’s men were almost caught on the counter, Villa’s curling effort from the edge of the box forcing Pinto into a smart low save on the stroke of half-time.
Barcelona were met with a dogged Atleti display in the second half, and their tenacity paid dividends in the 56th minute.
Diego skipped cleverly past Iniesta before drilling an unstoppable drive which swerved past Pinto and into the top right-hand corner.
Barcelona sought a quick response, and Sergio Busquets’ well-controlled volley from 20 yards almost provided one shortly after the hour mark, but Courtois was equal to the task.
However, there was nothing the Belgian could to stop Neymar levelling matters in the 71st minute.
Iniesta’s exquisite outside-foot throughball found the 22-year-old on the left-hand side of the area and he curled a fine strike past a despairing Courtois.
The equaliser buoyed Barcelona, and the visitors had Courtois to thank for ensuring a fourth draw of the season between the two sides, the Chelsea loanee making impressive saves from Iniesta and Messi, the latter of which was a fine diving stop to prevent the Argentina international’s superb free-kick finding the net.
Sports
Tottenham Fight Back To Hold Brighton
Tottenham fought back from two-goals down to secure a deserved point against Brighton.
The Seagulls were second best for much of the match but found themselves 2-0 up after 31 minutes thanks to Yankuba Minteh’s early strike and Yasin Ayari’s powerful drive.
However, Richarlison halved the deficit just before half-time when he stopped a shot by Mohammed Kudus before slotting in.
Spurs dominated the second half but their finishing let them down as Richarlison and substitute Xavi Simons were both unable to make the most of promising opportunities.
But the equaliser came eight minutes from time when Jan Paul van Hecke turned Kudus’ cross into his own net.
Spurs then pushed for a winner as they looked to continue their impressive start to the season, but Brighton held on for the point.
Bundesliga: Kane Continues Goal Harvest (5)
Harry Kane scored his second hat-trick of the season as Bayern Munich overcame a shaky start to win at Hoffenheim and continue their 100% start.
The England captain, 32, broke the deadlock on the stroke of half-time with a clinical first-time finish from a cleverly worked low corner, and doubled Bayern’s lead from the spot after Albian Hajdari was harshly penalised for a handball.
That broke Hoffenheim’s resistance and Kane completed his ninth Bundesliga hat-trick with another penalty, given for a foul on substitute Michael Olise after a video assistant referee (VAR) check.
This time Kane sent home keeper Oliver Baumann the wrong way for his 13th Bayern goal in seven matches across all competitions this season, adding to his Champions League double against Chelsea last Wednesday.
“Hat-trick Harry is what they called me in school,” Kane told Tidesports source after the match. “That one kind of stuck when I was younger.”
“Any ball in the box, whether penalty or not, I back myself to hit the target.”
Hoffenheim had the better of the first 45 minutes, Fisnik Asllani only able to hit the post after goalkeeper Manuel Neuer passed straight to the Kosovan.
They eventually got some reward for their efforts, former West Ham full-back Vladimir Coufal’s deflected free-kick beating Neuer to earn the Czech his first goal for the club.
Ex-Liverpool winger Luis Diaz hit the top of the bar late on as he failed to continue his record of scoring in every Bundesliga game this season, but Serge Gnabry added a fourth for Bayern with the last kick, converting a rebound from a tight angle after Baumann saved from Joshua Kimmich.
Nicolas Jackson made his first start since joining Bayern on an initial loan deal from Chelsea, but the Senegal striker had a very quiet game before being replaced in the 62nd minute.
In Italy, Lorenzo Pellegrini fired Roma into the Serie A top four as Lazio had two players sent off in a fiery derby.
The midfielder found the bottom corner in the 38th minute as Roma extended their unbeaten run to four games against their city rivals.
Lazio have lost three of their opening games of the season and had Reda Belahyane and former Arsenal midfielder Matteo Guendouzi dismissed in late drama.
Roma started well and Rome-born Pellegrini claimed the vital goal – his fourth in a Rome derby after being available for transfer in the summer – following good work down the right by Matias Soule.
But the hosts will rue missed opportunities as Boulaye Dia, Mattia Zaccagni and Alessio Romagnoli all had openings.
With four minutes left substitute Belahyane was shown a red card for a late studs-up challenge on Manu Kone.
Danilo Cataldi struck the outside of the post for Lazio in a last-gasp effort to snatch a point, while team-mate Guendouzi was sent off for dissent after the final whistle.
Sports
Zidane’s Son Switches Allegiance To Algeria
Luca Zidane, the son of France’s World Cup-winning playmaker Zinedine, has switched his international allegiance from France to Algeria.
Born just outside Marseille, the 27-year-old goalkeeper had appeared for France at various youth levels.
The move, which was approved by Fifa, may enable Zidane to follow in his father’s footsteps by appearing at a World Cup, with Algeria expected to secure a place at the 2026 finals in North America in their qualifier against Somalia next month.
Zidane, who is the second of four brothers, all of whom came through the Real Madrid academy, currently plays for Spanish second tier side Granada.
He played two matches for Madrid and has La Liga experience at Rayo Vallecano, but dropped a level in 2022 to play for Eibar before heading to Andalusia in 2024.
Zidane qualifies for the North African country through his father, whose parents hailed from the Kabylie region of Algeria.
Zinedine Zidane, who is regarded as one of the games greatest players scored twice for France in their 1998 World Cup final victory over Brazil, but was famously sent-off in the 2006 final, which was won by Italy after a penalty shootout.
Sports
Man Utd Beat Chelsea To Ease Pressure
Manchester United capitalised on Robert Sanchez’s fifth-minute red card to secure a crucial victory over Chelsea in torrential rain at Old Trafford.
The first match in Premier League history to see two or more goals, red cards and substitutions in the first half was settled by goals from United skipper Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro, who was the other player sent off before the break.
It was Sanchez’s dismissal that set the course of the game though.
The Spain international raced from his goal to meet Bryan Mbeumo as the striker ran beyond the Chelsea defence.
Sanchez then upended the forward outside his area rather than allow him past to tap the ball into an empty net.
Enzo Maresca’s response to the red card was to take off both Pedro Neto and Estevao Willian and, as Cole Palmer had to be replaced after suffering a recurrence of a groin injury, Chelsea had lost three attacking players in the space of 20 minutes.
Trevor Chalobah pulled one back for Chelsea with a header 10 minutes from time but United kept their nerves at bay to make it to the final whistle with their lead intact.
The victory was United’s second of the season and came in front of minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who gave head coach Ruben Amorim assurances over his future 48 hours earlier.
It also means Chelsea have still not won at Old Trafford since 2013, when Sir Alex Ferguson was United manager.
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