Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund edged VfL Wolfsburg 1-0 away on Saturday thanks to captain Marco Reus’s sixth goal of the season to go four points clear of Bayern Munich.
Dortmund, unbeaten in 15 matches in all competitions this season and with their best start in decades, needed to work hard against the Wolves after Reus nodded in at the far post in the 26th minute.
The result put them on 24 points, ahead of second-place champions Bayern, who were held 1-1 at home by SC Freiburg.
Photo: AFP
In an entertaining game, both teams had their share of chances, but Dortmund could have added another goal through Reus or Jacob Bruun Larsen to avoid a nervous finale.
“We defended well as a team and could have scored more goals,” defender Manuel Akanji said.
SERIEA
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Paulo Dybala scored after 44 seconds for Juventus on Saturday, but they were made to struggle in a 3-1 win over Cagliari as they stayed six points clear in the league.
Juventus have won 10 of their 11 league games, but they needed the help of an own goal by Filip Bradaric after Joao Pedro had equalized for Cagliari.
Dybala gave Juve the perfect start when he received a pass on the edge of the penalty area and scored with a right-foot shot past Alessio Cragno.
Cagliari fought back and forced Juve goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny into a point-blank save to block a Leonardo Pavoletti volley.
The Sardinian side deservedly leveled in the 36th minute when Joao Pedro controlled Darijo Srna’s cross with an excellent first touch before beating Szczesny with a low drive.
However, Juve were gifted a goal less than two minutes later by Bradaric who slid in and diverted Douglas Costa’s low cross into the net.
Cristiano Ronaldo, who hit the post on the stroke of halftime, laid the third on a plate for Juan Cuadrado with three minutes left after Cagliari were exposed on the counter-attack.
PREMIER LEAGUE
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Tottenham Hotspur held on nervously to beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-2 away on Saturday after conceding two second-half penalties.
Spurs looked comfortable with a two-goal lead after 30 minutes. Erik Lamela played a neat one-two with Son Heung-min to charge into the box and score the first, and Lucas Moura comfortably headed in from a Kieran Trippier cross.
Wolves had a goal disallowed for offside before halftime, although replays appeared to show that it was an incorrect decision.
Harry Kane finished from close range after the hour mark, following good work by Lamela, but Ruben Neves pulled one back for Wolves from the penalty spot after Spurs defender and Premier League debutant Juan Foyth brought down Raul Jimenez.
Foyth gave away another penalty when he appeared to push Jonny Castro. Jimenez stepped up and sent goalkeeper Hugo Lloris the wrong way to make it 3-2 with 12 minutes remaining.
Liverpool had to be satisfied with a 1-1 draw at Arsenal on Saturday as their usually prolific attacking trio were well shackled by their improving hosts.
“Arsenal is in a very good moment... We made life a bit too easy in the first half for them,” Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp said.
Despite starting brighter, Arsenal were fortunate not to go behind in the first half when striker Sadio Mane steered home a rebound of the post. It was ruled out for offside even though he was behind the ball when Roberto Firmino took his initial shot.
“It should have been a goal,” Klopp said.
Liverpool’s best chance fell to center back Virgil van Dijk before James Milner drove home in the 61st minute after Bernd Leno tipped Mane’s cross into his path.
A well-taken equalizer by Alexandre Lacazette meant that Arsenal took their unbeaten streak in all competitions to 14 games.
LA LIGA
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Late goals from Ousmane Dembele and Luis Suarez on Saturday earned league champions Barcelona a 3-2 win at struggling Rayo Vallecano de Madrid to keep them clear at the top of the standings.
Suarez slotted in a cross from Jordi Alba from close range to give Barca a deserved lead in the 11th minute after they had made a flying start at a ground where they had eased to victory in their previous five visits.
However, Rayo, 19th in the table and with only one win all season, fought their way back into the game and midfielder Jose Pozo smashed an equalizer in off the post in the 35th minute.
Rayo winger Alvaro Garcia sent the raucous home fans into delirium early in the second half by stabbing his side in front on the rebound after striker Raul de Thomas had struck the post with a diving header.
Substitute Dembele got Barca out of trouble with a perfectly struck half volley in the 87th minute after a knockdown by Gerard Pique.
Suarez completed the comeback three minutes later by arriving at the far post to steer in a cross from Sergi Roberto.
Barca coach Ernesto Valverde did not think his side should be criticized for making hard work of a trip to a team fighting relegation.
“When Rayo are at home they have a lot of reasons to believe they can do something, they have quality players and it’s not like it’s only us playing and that’s that. The opponents play, too, and they fight very hard,” he said.
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