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

Barcelona win La Liga title after beating rivals Espanyol

Published

15 hours ago

May 16, 2025

Admin

Barcelona have been crowned champions of LaLiga after a Lamine Yamal-inspired 2-0 win at Espanyol

Second-half goals from Yamal and Fermin Lopez either side of Leandro Cabrera’s sending off for Espanyol secure a league and cup double for head coach Hansi Flick in his first season in charge.

Seventeen-year-old Yamal, a league winner for the second time, found the top corner with a pinpoint, curling strike from the edge of the box to open the scoring after 53 minutes.

Yamal, who Cabrera struck to earn a red card with 10 minutes left, then set up fellow La Masia graduate Lopez in stoppage time to extend their lead against their rivals Espanyol.

Barcelona have dethroned rivals Real Madrid, who they beat in the Copa del Rey final last month.

The treble was still a possibility until earlier this month, when Barcelona were knocked out of the Champions League by Inter Milan in one of the great semi-final ties, losing 7-6 on aggregate.

Barcelona won their 28th Spanish title with two games to spare, but are still some way off matching Real Madrid’s tally of 36.

Sports

U-20 AFCON: South Africa defeat Flying Eagles 1-0 to reach final

Published

16 hours ago

May 16, 2025

Admin

Nigeria’s hopes of winning the 2025 CAF U-20 Africa Cup of Nations have come to an end following a narrow 1-0 defeat to South Africa’s Amajita in Thursday’s semifinal clash, held on May 15, 2025.

Led by coach Aliyu Zubairu, the Flying Eagles entered the contest on the back of a dramatic penalty shootout victory over Senegal in the quarterfinals—a win that also secured their qualification for the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup. However, their AFCON journey fell short of the final hurdle.

The semifinal was a tense, tactical encounter, with both sides relying heavily on counter-attacking football. Despite dominating possession, the Flying Eagles struggled to convert their control into clear-cut chances, and the first half ended goalless.

The second half brought a major setback for Nigeria when 15-year-old goalkeeper Ebenezer Ifeanyi-Harcourt was forced off due to injury. He was replaced in the 51st minute by Ajia Soliu Yakub.

Yakub, however, was unable to prevent South Africa from breaking the deadlock. In the 66th minute, Tylon Christopher Smith rose to meet a cross and headed home what would prove to be the match-winner.

Despite late substitutions and a push for an equalizer, Nigeria couldn’t find a way back into the game, allowing South Africa to advance to the final while the Flying Eagles were left to reflect on what might have been.

Sports

Osimhen’s brace fires Galatasaray to Turkish cup glory

Published

2 days ago

May 15, 2025

Admin

Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen delivered a sensational performance, scoring twice to lead Galatasaray to a commanding 3-0 victory over Trabzonspor in the Turkish Cup final at Gaziantep Stadium.

The win secured Galatasaray’s 19th Turkish Cup title and their first since 2019.

Osimhen has been instrumental throughout Galatasaray’s cup run, bagging a brace in their 2-1 quarter-final win over Fenerbahçe and adding a goal and assist in the 5-1 semi-final rout of Konyaspor.

Facing a determined Trabzonspor side, last year’s runners-up, Galatasaray struck early through Baris Alper Yilmaz, who finished off a precise cutback from Yunus Akgün in the 5th minute.

Osimhen took center stage in the second half. He powered through a defender to double the lead, then capped a swift counter-attack with his second goal, his 35th of the season, putting the result beyond doubt.

The match also saw Osimhen face off against compatriot Anthony Nwakaeme, who was hoping to inspire Trabzonspor to glory on his return.

This triumph marks Osimhen’s first trophy with Galatasaray and the fourth of his career, adding to his U-17 World Cup, U-23 AFCON (both in 2015), and Serie A (2023) titles.

His 35-goal haul also sets a new record, surpassing Mario Jardel’s 24-year milestone to become the highest-scoring foreign player in a single season for Galatasaray.