Sports

Leverkusen Beat Heidenheim To Go Eight Clear In Bundesliga

Published

1 year ago

February 18, 2024

Goals from Jeremie Frimpong and Amine Adli earned Leverkusen a 2-1 win at Heidenheim on Saturday, sending Xabi Alonso’s Bundesliga leaders eight points clear of Bayern Munich in second.

Leverkusen’s win extended their unbeaten run to 32 games in all competitions this season, equalling the record set by Hansi Flick’s Bayern across the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons.

Frustrated by the resolute hosts early, Leverkusen eventually broke through right before half-time when Frimpong’s deflected shot found the net.

Midfield maestro Florian Wirtz hit the crossbar late but helped seal the result shortly after, laying on a perfect pass for Adli to round the goalkeeper and score.

Heidenheim’s Tim Kleindienst headed in a goal with three minutes remaining, the first time Leverkusen had conceded in six hours in the league.

“Altogether we did it very smartly, other than the late goal we conceded,” Leverkusen’s Granit Xhaka told Sky.

“The team is ripe. We showed again how dominant we can be.”

Second-placed Bayern, thumped 3-0 by Leverkusen last week, can narrow the gap when they play on Sunday at Bochum.

Elsewhere, RB Leipzig’s won 2-0 at home against Borussia Moenchengladbach in a match overshadowed by the death of a spectator who fell ill in the stands.

Leipzig tweeted during the game that medical staff had “tried to resuscitate” the individual but were unsuccessful.

Leipzig midfielder Xavi Simons gave his team the lead with a brilliant goal, bouncing a Dani Olmo pass off his thigh before unleashing a rocket from the edge of the box.

Lois Openda doubled Leipzig’s lead after 57 minutes, chipping over the goalkeeper’s head and into the goal.

Openda, who arrived from Ligue 1 side Lens in the summer, has 16 league goals this season and has scored in each of his past five games.

Leipzig’s win took them one point behind fourth-placed Borussia Dortmund, who drew 1-1 at struggling Wolfsburg, with home midfielder Yannick Gerhardt’s second-half header cancelling out an early Niclas Fuellkrug goal.

Having absorbed some early pressure from the hosts, Dortmund scored after eight minutes, Fuellkrug kneeing in a rebound from a Marco Reus shot on the counter.

Gerhardt equalised after a long interruption due to fan protests against an investor deal for the Bundesliga, heading in from close range after a deflected clearance from the Dortmund defence.

“We didn’t have enough chances on the whole,” said Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel. “We are not satisfied with the point.”

Serhou Guirassy scored his first goal of the calendar year as 10-man Stuttgart won 2-1 at Darmstadt to go five clear of Dortmund in third.

Guirassy headed in from close range 15 minutes in for his 18th league goal of the season.

Both sides scored in second-half injury time as Stuttgart held on despite being reduced to 10 men late in the first half.

Union Berlin secured a crucial victory in their bid to avoid the drop, American midfielder Brenden Aaronson scoring late for a 1-0 win at Hoffenheim.

Both sides played the second half with 10 men after Hoffenheim’s Stanley Nsoki and Union’s Kevin Volland picked up second yellow cards just before half-time.

Union’s win took them eight points clear of the relegation spots in an increasingly crowded lower half of the table.

Mainz won just their second match of the season 1-0 at home over Augsburg, with Liverpool loanee Sepp van den Berg’s first-half strike enough despite Nadiem Amiri missing a penalty.

AFP

Sports

Real Madrid squeeze past Atletico on penalties to secure Arsenal showdown

Published

4 hours ago

March 13, 2025

Austin Ojomah

Real Madrid advanced to the Champions League quarter-finals after a tense penalty shootout victory over Atletico Madrid at the Metropolitano Stadium.

The match began explosively, with Gallagher giving Atletico the lead just 30 seconds into the game, setting the tone for a fiercely contested derby. Despite Vinicius Junior missing a crucial penalty in the 70th minute, Real Madrid managed to keep their composure and force extra time.

After 120 minutes of intense football, the tie was decided from the spot. Lucas Vazquez missed his penalty for Real, while Marcos Llorente failed to convert for Atletico.

A controversial moment arose when Julian Alvarez slipped while taking his penalty, causing the ball to graze his foot twice, leading to its disqualification after a VAR review.

Antonio Rudiger stepped up to take Real’s final penalty and calmly converted, sending Carlo Ancelotti’s side through to the next round.

Real Madrid now face an exciting quarter-final clash against Arsenal, who defeated PSV Eindhoven with an emphatic 9-3 aggregate scoreline. With their European ambitions intact, Los Blancos will look to build on this dramatic victory as they aim for further Champions League glory.

Sports

Just in: Amaju Pinnick’s FIFA dream vanishes, loses re-election bid

Published

14 hours ago

March 12, 2025

Naijablitznews

Ex-Nigeria Football Federation president Amaju Pinnick has lost his re-election bid for the FIFA Council.

He garnered 28 votes during the 14th CAF Extraordinary General Assembly in Cairo, narrowly missing out on a seat by just one vote.

Mauritania’s Yahia Ahmed and Djibouti’s Souleiman Waberi secured the final spots instead.

Pinnick was first elected to the council in 2021 and was the third Nigerian to hold the position.

Sports

UCL Round Of 16 Results as PSG, Barcelona, InterMilan, Bayern Munich advance to QF

Published

24 hours ago

March 12, 2025

Austin Ojomah

Barcelona FC, Paris Saint Germain, Inter-Milan, and Bayern Munich were the first four teams to advance to the quarter final stage of the UEFA Champions League games 2024/2025

Barcelona had become the first team into the last eight, turning on the style in an emphatic second-leg win against Benfica in the early kick-off.

Barcelona 3-1 Benfica (agg: 4-1)

Raphinha and Lamine Yamal starred as Barcelona roared into the quarter-finals. The pair combined for the 11th-minute opener, the Spanish youngster providing a fine cross for the Brazilian international to coolly volley in. Nicolás Otamendi replied almost instantly for Benfica with a header.

Yamal netted the pick of the goals with a sublime curling strike on 27 minutes, and Raphinha then fired in his 11th of the campaign to become the overall top scorer this season and end the contest before half-time.

Paris Saint Germain won 1-0 at Anfield before more Gianluigi Donnarumma shoot-out heroics helped them to overcome Liverpool on penalties and reach the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals.

Liverpool 0-1 Paris (agg: 1-1; 1-4 pens)

Paris keeper Donnarumma saved twice in the shoot-out as Paris overcame a 1-0 first-leg deficit to reach the quarter-finals.

Ousmane Dembélé completed a slick move by slotting in his seventh goal of the campaign in the 12th minute, drawing Paris level in the tie in doing so, but Liverpool dominated after the break and Luis Enrique’s side needed Donnarumma to brilliantly paw Luis Díaz’s header away and maintain overall parity in the tie.

The visitors went closest during extra time before Donnarumma denied Darwin Núñez and Curtis Jones from the spot, allowing 19-year-old substitute Désiré Doué to convert the decisive penalty.

Inter 2-1 Feyenoord (agg: 4-1)

Inter Milan are through to the quarter-finals for just the second time since 2010/11 after wrapping up a comfortable aggregate triumph over Feyenoord.

Marcus Thuram put the Serie A side ahead in style eight minutes in, receiving the ball midway inside the Feyenoord half and weaving his way into the penalty area before unleashing a sensational long-range strike.

Jakub Moder reduced the deficit for Feyenoord from the penalty spot just before half-time but Inter replied with a spot kick of their own shortly after the interval, converted by Hakan Çalhanoğlu for his second goal in the Champions League knockout rounds – the first coming in February 2015.

Bayern München also cruised through against Bundesliga rivals Leverkusen, and will meet Inter in the quarter-finals after the Nerazzurri completed their assignment against Feyenoord.

Leverkusen 0-2 Bayern München (agg: 0-5)

Harry Kane’s tap-in and Alphonso Davies’ first-time finish sealed a convincing victory for Bayern.

Kane, twice denied by Lukas Hrádecký in the opening stages, extended the lead across the tie early in the second half with a straightforward strike after Patrik Schick’s clearance rebounded into the path of the Bayern No9.

The England captain then turned provider when spotting the run of Davies into the area, with the Canadian international full-back sweeping in impressively.

The visitors pressed for further goals in the closing stages, with Jamal Musiala denied by the woodwork on two occasions.