Bayern Munich suffered a Champions League hangover on Saturday, before Dutch winger Arjen Robben scored twice to seal a 2-1 win over strugglers SC Freiburg to put the hosts back on top of the Bundesliga.
After Tuesday’s away goals victory over Fiorentina, which saw them make the Champions League’s quarter-finals, Bayern were brought back down to earth by second-from-bottom Freiburg, before Robben hit two second-half goals.
Bayern went behind when Freiburg striker Cedrick Makiadi rifled in a long-range shot at Munich’s Allianz Arena which gave the home side’s goalkeeper, Hans-Joerg Butt, no chance on 31 minutes.
PHOTO: EPA
The hosts looked lethargic before Dutch international Robben scored his ninth league goal of the season and his second in two games, when he drilled home a free-kick on 76 minutes. He then completed Munich’s fightback when he converted an 83rd-minute penalty after Germany’s rising star Thomas Mueller was fouled in the area.
The result puts Bayern top of the league and two points clear of second-placed Schalke 04.
Earlier, rock-bottom Bundesliga side Hertha Berlin slipped closer to relegation after suffering a 2-1 home defeat to fellow strugglers Nuremberg, who grabbed a stoppage-time winner.
Berlin, who remain five points adrift, had taken the lead when their Greece striker Theofanis Gekas scored only his third goal of the season just before halftime, before Nuremberg hit back with two second-half goals.
Nuremberg, who had shocked Bayer Leverkusen 3-2 the previous weekend, drew level when Swiss striker Albert Bunjaku netted with a header on 61 minutes, before Greek striker Angelos Charisteas scored the winner in stoppage-time.
Police made 30 arrests and four officers were injured after 100 Hertha fans rampaged through Berlin’s Olympic Stadium.
Borussia Dortmund moved up to fourth and picked up their second straight win with a 4-1 victory at VfL Bochum.
Lucas Barrios scored twice in three minutes midway through the second half.
VfL Wolfsburg picked up their fourth-straight win under caretaker manager Lorenz-Guenther Koestner when they hammered Borussia Moenchengladbach 4-0 to go eighth. Hannover 96 picked up their second consecutive win under new coach Mirko Slomka with a 2-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt. In the other match, FSV Mainz 05 beat Cologne 1-0.
US national team star Folarin Balogun was among the scorers as AS Monaco on Friday won 3-1 at Paris Saint-Germain, dealing a blow to the side from the French capital before they face Chelsea in a crunch UEFA Champions League round-of-16 tie. Maghnes Akliouche gave Monaco a first-half lead at the Parc des Princes, and Aleksandr Golovin doubled their advantage early in the second half of the French Ligue 1 clash. Bradley Barcola pulled one back for the reigning European champions, but Balogun struck shortly after with a fifth goal in his last five games as Monaco claimed a precious
West Ham United on Monday advanced to the FA Cup quarter-finals with a 5-3 penalty shoot-out win against Brentford, who paid the price for Dango Ouattara’s spot-kick blunder. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side twice blew the lead as Jarrod Bowen’s double was canceled out by an Igor Thiago brace to force extra-time in the 2-2 draw at the London Stadium, but in the shoot-out, Brentford winger Ouattara attempted a chipped Panenka penalty, but his woeful effort was straight at West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola. It was an awful mistake by the Burkina Faso international and West Ham took full advantage. Bowen, Valentin Castellanos, Callum
Teenage star Lamine Yamal’s superbly-taken goal on Saturday earned Barcelona a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao in Spanish La Liga. The champions restored their four-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid, who had on Friday temporarily closed the gap by beating Celta Vigo. Atletico Madrid tightened their grip on third with an entertaining 3-2 win over Real Sociedad. Yamal, 18, curled into the top corner after 68 minutes to split the sides at Athletic’s San Mames stadium. “We’re already seeing what Lamine can do — he puts it right in the top corner, and there’s nothing the keeper can do,” Barca
CHANCE TO QUALIFY: Both teams now have three points from two games, and Taiwan sit ahead of Vietnam and behind Japan, who last night beat India 11-0 Taiwan yesterday defeated Vietnam 1-0 to move into second place in Group C at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup with one match remaining. Su Yu-hsuan scored the decisive goal in the 26th minute after Taiwan midfielder Saki Matsunaga’s shot hit the crossbar, leaving Su to nod the rebound into an empty net for the team which won the last of their three Asian Cup titles in 1981. It was a deserved victory for Taiwan, 2-0 losers to Japan on Wednesday, who created several chances to extend their lead. Vietnam, the 2022 quarter-finalist, beat India in their opener, but struggled to
RSS