Striker Aritz Aduriz scored two goals and set up another to help Athletic Bilbao beat RC Celta de Vigo 4-2 in the Copa del Rey round-of-16 on Tuesday.
Malaga also seized control of their Copa tie, crushing Levante UD 2-0 at home thanks to brilliant goals by Juan Pablo Anor and Ricardo Horta.
In Balaidos, 23-time winners Bilbao took advantage of a series of defensive errors to build a commanding advantage for next week’s second leg at home.
Mikel San Jose tapped in after Aduriz headed the ball on from Xabier Etxeita’s free-kick in the fifth minute.
Alex Lopez leveled for Celta in the 11th, only for Aduriz to nod home against Os Celeste’s slack defending four minutes later.
Charles made it 2-2 in the 54th from Mikel Balenziaga’s bad clearance, but Markel Susaeta scored after Celta lost possession in the 61st minute.
The hosts had David Costas sent off in the 70th minute and Aduriz converted a penalty in the 87th after he was pulled down by Gustavo Cabral.
“It’s a good result, I won’t deny it, but we respect Celta too much to make the mistake of saying that the tie is decided,” Bilbao manager Ernesto Valverde said. “Celta have enough weapons to make it difficult for us at the San Mames [Barria], so until next Wednesday nothing is over.”
At La Roselada, Malaga took the lead with a superb goal from Anor in the 16th minute when he rifled a left-foot shot into the top corner of the net after fending off his marker.
Goalkeeper Francisco Ochoa made two good saves to deny Levante and Malaga’s Luis Alberto hit the upright before Horta doubled the lead in the 78th by chipping the ball over goalie Jesus Fernandez before smashing it home.
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
A stunning Lamine Yamal strike on Thursday helped crown Barcelona La Liga champions with a 2-0 win over local rivals RCD Espanyol, with victory ensuring Real Madrid cannot catch them at the top of the table. Yamal’s effort and Fermin Lopez’s goal took Hansi Flick’s side seven points clear of Los Blancos with two matches remaining, to clinch Barcelona’s 28th title and complete a superb domestic treble. Only the UEFA Champions League title escaped an exciting young Barca side this season, as they won the league for the second time in six years, at Espanyol’s ground again just as in 2022-2023. Back then,
Jannik Sinner on Thursday marched into the semi-finals of the Italian Open after destroying Casper Ruud in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, while Coco Gauff won a marathon three-set battle with China’s Zheng Qinwen to advance to the women’s singles final. American Gauff is to face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in today’s title match after pulling through 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) in a match that lasted over three-and-a-half hours. Ruud was supposed to be Sinner’s toughest test in Rome since he came back from his three-month doping ban, as the Norwegian came into the match in hot form on clay after winning in
RSS