Mario Gomez scored twice on his competitive debut for Bayern Munich to help them to a 3-1 win against sixth division SpVgg Neckarelz in the German Cup on Sunday.
Neckarelz, who switched the tie to Hoffenheim and were rewarded with a bumper 30,000 crowd, held the 14-time Cup winners for 50 minutes, although they were helped by Bayern’s dreadful first-half finishing.
Gomez, who moved from VfB Stuttgart in May, broke the deadlock in the 51st minute with a shot that went in off both posts from Bastian Schweinsteiger’s pass. His second came from a penalty awarded for handball six minutes later.
PHOTO: AFP
Despite having Christian Fickert sent off for a second bookable offense, the part-timers pulled one back through Heiko Throm with 10 minutes left, before Hamit Altintop restored Bayern’s two-goal lead and sent them into the second round.
The first round of the cup is a potential minefield for Bundesliga clubs as the seeding system pits them away to lower league teams in one-leg ties.
Hannover 96 became the second top flight side to go out when they lost 3-1 at fourth division Eintracht Trier.
Jan Rosenthal gave Hannover a halftime lead, but Martin Wagner, Josef Cinar and Sahr Senesie scored in the last half hour to give Trier a stunning win. Mainz were the other victims, losing 2-1 at fourth division VfL Lubeck on Friday.
Cup holders Werder Bremen had no such problems as they trounced second division Union Berlin 5-0 away, with two goals apiece from Ivorian Boubacar Sanogo and Bolivian Marcelo Martins, and one from Brazilian Naldo.
Martins was making his debut after joining on loan from Shakhtar Donetsk.
Carlos Alcaraz on Monday powered into the French Open second round with a resounding win to start his title defense, while world No. 1 Jannik Sinner and three-time defending women’s champion Iga Swiatek also progressed at Roland Garros. Four-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz struck 31 winners in a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri and is to face Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan in round two. Alcaraz is now on an eight-match winning streak at the French Open and also took Olympic silver at Roland Garros last year, losing the final to Novak Djokovic. “The first round is never
‘DREAM’: The 5-0 victory was PSG’s first Champions League title, and the biggest final win by any team in the 70-year history of the top-flight European competition Paris Saint-Germain won the Champions League for the first time as Luis Enrique’s brilliant young side outclassed Inter on Saturday in the most one-sided final ever with teenager Desire Doue scoring twice in an astonishing 5-0 victory. Doue supplied the pass for Achraf Hakimi to give PSG an early lead and the 19-year-old went from provider to finisher as his deflected shot doubled the advantage in the 20th minute. Doue scored again just after the hour mark, ending any doubt about the outcome before Khvicha Kvaratskhelia ran away to get the fourth and substitute Senny Mayulu, another teenager, made it five. Inter were
FRUSTRATION: Alcaraz made several unforced errors over four sets against Bosnian Damir Dzumhur, who had never made it past the third round in a major competition Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz reached the fourth round of the French Open after laboring past Damir Dzumhur 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in the Friday night session. The second-seeded Spaniard had never before played Dzumhur, a 33-year-old Bosnian who had never been past the third round at any major tournament. “I suffered quite a lot today,” Alcaraz said. “The first two sets was under control, then he started to play more deeply and more aggressively. It was really difficult for me.” Dzumhur hurt his left knee in a fall in the second round, and had treatment on Friday on his right leg during the
The horn sounded on Wednesday night to signal a third straight trip to the Stanley Cup Final, as the Florida Panthers celebrated merely by hopping over the boards and several heading over to congratulate goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. It was a subdued celebration seemingly more befitting a regular-season win for the reigning Cup champs. “I remember a few years ago, it felt like such an accomplishment from where we were at one point,” forward Matthew Tkachuk said, adding: “It’s all business and we’ve got a bigger goal in mind.” The Panthers closed out the Carolina Hurricanes in five games, with a 5-3 victory in
RSS