BORUSSIA DORTMUND LED twice but were held 2-2 by bitter local rivals Schalke to lose ground on Bayern Munich who earlier won 5-3 against Augsburg and ended Saturday two points clear atop the Bundesliga.
Kenan Karaman scored Schalke’s second equaliser with 10 minutes left to frustrate visiting Dortmund’s hopes of keeping pace in the title race.
With many attacking stars missing including captain Marco Reus, it took defender Nico Schlotterbeck to put Dortmund ahead, hammering in a low drive from outside the box.
Schalke equalised five minutes into the second half through Marius Buelter, who latched onto a pinpoint cross from winger Rodrigo Zalazar.
Dortmund re-took the lead after 60 minutes, when a defence-splitting pass from Emre Can found Rafael Guerreiro who slammed home.
With 10 minutes remaining, Schalke pegged Dortmund back once more when an unmarked Karaman headed past ‘keeper Alex Meyer.
Earlier on Saturday, two goals from Benjamin Pavard and a first in Bayern colours for Joao Cancelo helped the leaders romp to a 5-3 home victory over Augsburg.
Elsewhere, RB Leipzig climbed up to third with a comfortable 3-0 win over Borussia Moenchengladbach at home thanks to second-half goals from Timo Werner, Emil Forsberg and Josko Gvardiol.
Eintracht Frankfurt missed a chance to put more pressure on the top four, held to a 1-1 draw at home against Stuttgart.
In the German capital, Hertha Berlin picked up a valuable point in their relegation battle, playing out a 1-1 draw against Mainz.
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In Spain, Vinicius Junior scored a fine solo goal as Real Madrid came from behind to beat Espanyol 3-1 and cut Barcelona’s lead to six points at the top of La Liga.
Joselu had sent the visitors ahead early on at the Santiago Bernabeu but Vinicius produced a surging run and lethal finish to pull the champions level.
Eder Militao’s header completed the turnaround and Madrid could have added more goals in the second half, with Rodrygo hitting the crossbar from a free-kick.
Eventually, Marco Asensio tucked away the third in stoppage time after a fine run and pass from defender Nacho Fernandez.
Barcelona visit Athletic Bilbao on Sunday to try and restore their advantage, ahead of El Clasico at Camp Nou next weekend.
“They caught us out a bit with their goal, but the game gives us confidence to face a complicated week,” said Nacho, ahead of Madrid’s clashes with Liverpool in the Champions League on Wednesday and Barcelona on Sunday.
“When space opens out, we’re a team that has very fast players up front (to capitalise).”
After failing to score from open play in their last three matches across all competitions, Madrid’s three well-taken goals were a confidence boost.
With Karim Benzema out with an ankle issue, although poised to return for the Champions League last 16 second leg clash with Liverpool, Carlo Ancelotti selected Rodrygo up front in his place.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia helped move Napoli another step closer to a first Serie A title in more than three decades with a wonder goal in Saturday’s 2-0 win over Atalanta to push his team 18 points clear.
Georgia winger Kvaratskhelia lashed in the opening goal on the hour mark after spellbinding dribbling left Atalanta’s defence wondering which way to look before the ball finished in the back of the net.
His 11th league strike of the campaign set Napoli on their way to stretching their lead on Inter Milan who fell to a shock 2-1 defeat at lowly Spezia on Friday.
Lazio could have risen to second and trimmed the lead to 17 points in the late game on Saturday but played out a 0-0 draw in Bologna to remain third.
In Naples, Amir Rrahmani made sure of the points with 13 minutes remaining with a towering header from substitute Eljif Elmas’ corner.
Finally in France, Kylian Mbappe broke away to score a last-minute winner as Paris Saint-Germain beat Brest 2-1 on Saturday, a result that will go a small way towards healing the wound of their midweek Champions League exit at the hands of Bayern Munich.
PSG have been left with just the Ligue 1 title to play for in the remaining months of the season after the Qatar-owned club were knocked out of Europe’s elite club competition in the last 16 with a 3-0 aggregate defeat.
They took the lead on their trip to Brittany in the 37th minute when Carlos Soler followed in to score after Mbappe’s shot had been parried by Brest goalkeeper Marco Bizot.
Yet the home side, battling to avoid relegation, drew level before half-time through Franck Honorat and it looked like they would hold on for a precious point in their fight to avoid relegation.
But then Mbappe, who had just been booked for kicking Brest midfielder Haris Belkebla in the back of the calf, was sent through on goal by Lionel Messi and rounded Bizot to score.
Despite an unconvincing performance, the result allows PSG to extend their lead at the top of Ligue 1 to 11 points over nearest challengers Marseille, who face Strasbourg on Sunday.
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Bayern make most of Dortmund draw, Madrid cut La Liga gap
LAST UPDATE | 11 Mar 2023
BORUSSIA DORTMUND LED twice but were held 2-2 by bitter local rivals Schalke to lose ground on Bayern Munich who earlier won 5-3 against Augsburg and ended Saturday two points clear atop the Bundesliga.
Kenan Karaman scored Schalke’s second equaliser with 10 minutes left to frustrate visiting Dortmund’s hopes of keeping pace in the title race.
With many attacking stars missing including captain Marco Reus, it took defender Nico Schlotterbeck to put Dortmund ahead, hammering in a low drive from outside the box.
Schalke equalised five minutes into the second half through Marius Buelter, who latched onto a pinpoint cross from winger Rodrigo Zalazar.
Dortmund re-took the lead after 60 minutes, when a defence-splitting pass from Emre Can found Rafael Guerreiro who slammed home.
With 10 minutes remaining, Schalke pegged Dortmund back once more when an unmarked Karaman headed past ‘keeper Alex Meyer.
Earlier on Saturday, two goals from Benjamin Pavard and a first in Bayern colours for Joao Cancelo helped the leaders romp to a 5-3 home victory over Augsburg.
Elsewhere, RB Leipzig climbed up to third with a comfortable 3-0 win over Borussia Moenchengladbach at home thanks to second-half goals from Timo Werner, Emil Forsberg and Josko Gvardiol.
Eintracht Frankfurt missed a chance to put more pressure on the top four, held to a 1-1 draw at home against Stuttgart.
In the German capital, Hertha Berlin picked up a valuable point in their relegation battle, playing out a 1-1 draw against Mainz.
In Spain, Vinicius Junior scored a fine solo goal as Real Madrid came from behind to beat Espanyol 3-1 and cut Barcelona’s lead to six points at the top of La Liga.
Joselu had sent the visitors ahead early on at the Santiago Bernabeu but Vinicius produced a surging run and lethal finish to pull the champions level.
Eder Militao’s header completed the turnaround and Madrid could have added more goals in the second half, with Rodrygo hitting the crossbar from a free-kick.
Eventually, Marco Asensio tucked away the third in stoppage time after a fine run and pass from defender Nacho Fernandez.
Barcelona visit Athletic Bilbao on Sunday to try and restore their advantage, ahead of El Clasico at Camp Nou next weekend.
“They caught us out a bit with their goal, but the game gives us confidence to face a complicated week,” said Nacho, ahead of Madrid’s clashes with Liverpool in the Champions League on Wednesday and Barcelona on Sunday.
“When space opens out, we’re a team that has very fast players up front (to capitalise).”
After failing to score from open play in their last three matches across all competitions, Madrid’s three well-taken goals were a confidence boost.
With Karim Benzema out with an ankle issue, although poised to return for the Champions League last 16 second leg clash with Liverpool, Carlo Ancelotti selected Rodrygo up front in his place.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia helped move Napoli another step closer to a first Serie A title in more than three decades with a wonder goal in Saturday’s 2-0 win over Atalanta to push his team 18 points clear.
Georgia winger Kvaratskhelia lashed in the opening goal on the hour mark after spellbinding dribbling left Atalanta’s defence wondering which way to look before the ball finished in the back of the net.
His 11th league strike of the campaign set Napoli on their way to stretching their lead on Inter Milan who fell to a shock 2-1 defeat at lowly Spezia on Friday.
Lazio could have risen to second and trimmed the lead to 17 points in the late game on Saturday but played out a 0-0 draw in Bologna to remain third.
In Naples, Amir Rrahmani made sure of the points with 13 minutes remaining with a towering header from substitute Eljif Elmas’ corner.
Finally in France, Kylian Mbappe broke away to score a last-minute winner as Paris Saint-Germain beat Brest 2-1 on Saturday, a result that will go a small way towards healing the wound of their midweek Champions League exit at the hands of Bayern Munich.
PSG have been left with just the Ligue 1 title to play for in the remaining months of the season after the Qatar-owned club were knocked out of Europe’s elite club competition in the last 16 with a 3-0 aggregate defeat.
They took the lead on their trip to Brittany in the 37th minute when Carlos Soler followed in to score after Mbappe’s shot had been parried by Brest goalkeeper Marco Bizot.
Yet the home side, battling to avoid relegation, drew level before half-time through Franck Honorat and it looked like they would hold on for a precious point in their fight to avoid relegation.
But then Mbappe, who had just been booked for kicking Brest midfielder Haris Belkebla in the back of the calf, was sent through on goal by Lionel Messi and rounded Bizot to score.
Despite an unconvincing performance, the result allows PSG to extend their lead at the top of Ligue 1 to 11 points over nearest challengers Marseille, who face Strasbourg on Sunday.
– © AFP 2023
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