Valencia handed coach Gary Neville his first La Liga win when they beat RCD Espanyol 2-1 on Saturday, while Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice in a thrilling 4-2 home victory for Real Madrid over Athletic Bilbao.
Hosts Valencia fought their way back from Oscar Duarte’s opening goal for fourth-from-bottom Espanyol with strikes from Alvaro Negredo and Denis Cheryshev in the final 19 minutes.
“The fans were amazing, above all when we went behind they stuck with us,” former England and Manchester United defender Neville said. “When Espanyol scored we responded with better play and that’s because of how the fans supported the team. We knew that it was going to be a night of emotion.”
Photo: Reuters
Earlier, second-placed Real made a blistering start as Ronaldo netted after three minutes, surging into the penalty area from the left, cutting inside Xabier Etxeita and beating Gorka Iraizoz for his 15th goal in 14 matches.
Bilbao hit back with a string of counterattacks and were on level terms seven minutes later when midfielder Javi Eraso pounced on a poor back-pass by Raphael Varane.
James Rodriguez restored Real Madrid’s lead in the 37th minute with a ferocious shot from the edge of the area and they led by two goals at halftime after Toni Kroos scored from Ronaldo’s pass in stoppage-time.
“We missed a great opportunity because we could have won,” Bilbao coach Ernesto Valverde told reporters. “We were guilty of naivete with their third goal. The result shows that even if you do a lot, [Real] have good finishers. That made the difference.”
The hosts had Varane harshly sent off for a second booking after he elbowed striker Aritz Aduriz for the second time in the match while going for a high ball in the 83rd minute.
It was the first-ever red card for the 22-year-old France defender nicknamed “Mr Clean.”
Ronaldo grabbed his 21st league goal of the season, and the 16th of his career against Bilbao, in the 87th minute. The Basque side then pulled one back with substitute Gorka Elustondo’s header in stoppage-time.
Real have 53 points from 24 matches, one point behind leaders Barcelona, who have two games in hand and were due to host RC Celta de Vigo yesterday.
Neville celebrated his first win in 10 La Liga matches in charge after substitute Negredo equalized in the 71st minute and Cheryshev, on loan from Real Madrid, headed the winner five minutes later.
“We have to thank the fans for cheering us on from the very beginning,” Cheryshev said. “It was breathtaking.”
Valencia are 11th on 28 points. Espanyol, without a win in eight matches under Constantin Galca, remain one place and one point above the relegation zone with the Romanian’s job hanging by a thread.
Villarreal consolidated their hold on fourth place with a 1-0 home win over Malaga courtesy of Roberto Soldado’s first-half goal.
In the late match, ninth-placed RC Deportivo de La Coruna drew 2-2 at home to Real Betis Balompie, who are 14th.
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
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
RSS