Flat Barca claim late draw at Rayo

Barcelona’s Polish forward Robert Lewandowski reacts after Rayo Vallecano’s French defender Florian Lejeune scored an own goal during their Spanish league match on Nov. 25, 2023. (AFP)
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Updated 25 November 2023
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Flat Barca claim late draw at Rayo

  • Unai Lopez drove Rayo ahead from long range in the first half
  • Barca levelled through Florian Lejeune’s own goal in the 82nd minute

MADRID: Spanish champions Barcelona slipped up in a 1-1 draw at Rayo Vallecano on Saturday in La Liga, continuing a worrying run of underwhelming performances.
Surprise leaders Girona and rivals Real Madrid in second now have the chance to extend their lead on the third-place Catalans over the next two days.
Unai Lopez drove Rayo ahead from long range in the first half but Barca levelled through Florian Lejeune’s own goal in the 82nd minute.
The draw adds to the doubts around Barcelona, who have not been at their best for several weeks and face Porto on Tuesday seeking Champions League knock-out round qualification.
Inaki Pena started in goal for Barca with Marc-Andre ter Stegen out with a back problem, while Xavi turned to the fit-again Frenkie de Jong to replace the injured Gavi in midfield.
The 19-year-old’s cruciate ligament tear will keep him out for the season, with Barcelona losing a player the coach has described as the “soul” of the team.
Barcelona players wore shirts before kick off with his name on the back, and a message saying “we are with you, Gavi.”
Pena spilled the ball the first time he was called into action but recovered quickly to clear up the danger.
The goalkeeper then denied Oscar Valentin after De Jong lost the ball on the edge of his own box.
Hosts Rayo started well, encouraged by having beaten Barca on three of their four previous clashes, including twice at their ramshackle Vallecas stadium.
They took the lead after 39 minutes when Lopez hammered a superb effort into the bottom right corner from around 30 yards out after the ball was cleared into his path.
Rayo came close to adding a second in stoppage time but Alejandro Balde was alert to cut Jorge de Frutos’ low cross out with two Rayo attackers ready to pounce.
Xavi said Barca would miss Gavi’s “intensity, heart and courage” against Francisco Rodriguez’s side and he was proven right, although they improved a little after the break.
Ferran Torres might have levelled early in the second half with a header but sent it too close to Rayo goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski.
Xavi immediately replaced the winger, along with Oriol Romeu after another disappointing shift at the base of Barca’s midfield, sending Ilkay Gundogan and Joao Felix on.
Pedri headed narrowly over from Robert Lewandowski’s cross and Inigo Martinez nodded a Gundogan free kick off target too as Barca sought the equalizer.
Raphinha’s raking effort struck the post and Rayo hacked Lewandowski’s attempted finish from the rebound off the line.
Eventually the Catalans levelled with eight minutes remaining when Lejeune diverted Balde’s cross into his own net, under pressure from Lewandowski.
Raphinha appealed for a penalty in stoppage time when he fell after Pacha Espino challenged him, but the officials did not oblige.
Barcelona now have failed to beat Rayo in five matches and could fall seven points behind Girona if they beat Athletic Bilbao on Monday at Montilivi.
Real Madrid, two points clear of Barca, visit Cadiz on Sunday, while fourth place Atletico Madrid host Mallorca later Saturday.


Sporting defend Portuguese title with final day win

Updated 17 May 2025
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Sporting defend Portuguese title with final day win

  • Sporting and Benfica were level on points going into their last match
  • Benfica needed to better Sporting’s result to triumph but drew 1-1 at Braga

LISBON: Sporting Lisbon defended their Portuguese crown on Saturday with a 2-0 win over Guimaraes to hold off rivals Benfica on the final day of the Primeira Liga season.

Both Sporting and Benfica were level on points going into their last match after a tense 1-1 derby draw last weekend left the title race on a knife edge.

Benfica needed to better Sporting’s result to triumph but drew 1-1 at Braga, although even a victory would not have been enough as Rui Borges’ side triumphed and had the superior head-to-head.

Pedro Goncalves broke the deadlock in the second half and the division’s top goalscorer Viktor Gyokeres notched his 39th league goal of a stunning campaign to seal Sporting’s victory.

Manchester United coach Ruben Amorim led Sporting to last year’s title and after he departed in November was replaced by Joao Pereira, who only lasted six troubled weeks before Borges took over.

Sporting claimed their 21st Primeira division title and could make it a domestic double as they face Benfica next Sunday in the Portuguese cup final.


Crystal Palace’s Eze seals historic FA Cup final win against Man City

Updated 17 May 2025
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Crystal Palace’s Eze seals historic FA Cup final win against Man City

  • Local boy Eze volleyed in after 16 minutes
  • Omar Marmoush had first-half penalty saved by Henderson as City lost in the Cup final for a second successive season

LONDON: Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze sparked a massive south London party by scoring the only goal to win the FA Cup 1-0 against Manchester City on Saturday and claim the club’s first major trophy in their history.

Local boy Eze volleyed in after 16 minutes, former Manchester United goalkeeper Dean Henderson performed heroics in the Palace goal and City contrived to waste a sack-load of chances including a penalty in an enthralling final.

After England forward Eze, whose goals in the last eight and semis fired his team into the final for the third time, scored completely against the run of play, Palace had to survive a City siege to spark wild celebrations.

Omar Marmoush had a first-half penalty saved by Henderson as City lost in the Cup final for a second successive season, summing up a harrowing campaign in which they have been dethroned as the powerhouse of English football and will go without a domestic trophy for the first time since 2016-17.

For Palace’s massed ranks decked in purple and blue, it was a day of unbridled joy as Oliver Glasner’s team rode their luck to make it third time lucky after suffering defeats in their previous two FA Cup final appearances in 1990 and 2016.

Glasner, who took charge of the club 15 months ago, becomes the first Austrian coach to win the FA Cup.
City have been a pale imitation of the side that has dominated the English game for the most of the past decade.

But the way they began at Wembley suggested that Pep Guardiola’s side were determined to prove that talk of their demise had been greatly exaggerated.

Having picked an ultra-attacking lineup shorn of defensive midfielders, City hemmed Palace deep inside their own half for the opening 15 minutes with Kevin de Bruyne pulling the strings on what was his last Wembley appearance in City’s colors.

BRILLIANT HENDERSON

His lofted ball picked out Erling Haaland whose stretching effort at the far post was brilliantly saved by Henderson who shortly afterwards beat out Josko Gvardiol’s header.

Palace finally broke the siege and in their first foray beyond the halfway line they ripped through City’s lines.

Jean-Philippe Mateta played in Daniel Munoz and his cross was met by Eze who flashed a first-time volley past Stefan Ortega to provoke an eruption of noise from the Palace fans.

Ismaila Sarr nearly made it 2-0 but Ortega saved and Palace’s hearts were in their mouths when Henderson appeared to have handled the ball outside his area under pressure from Haaland but a subsequent VAR check spared him a possible red card.

There was no escape for Palace defender Tyrick Mitchell when he tripped Bernardo Silva and referee Stuart Attwell pointed to the spot. Surprisingly, Haaland did not take it and instead Omar Marmoush stepped forward for his first penalty since joining City in January, but his effort lacked conviction and Henderson dived to his right to save.

Henderson made a flying save to keep out Jeremy Doku’s curling effort as Palace reached halftime ahead despite having only 19 percent of possession.

Munoz thought he had made it 2-0 just past the hour mark but a lengthy VAR check ruled his effort out for offside.

Seven-time winners City went close numerous times after the break with Henderson and his defenders performing heroics to preserve Palace’s lead.

A huge groan went up from the Palace fans as 10 minutes of stoppage time but after more close shaves and nail-biting the final whistle sounded and the club’s anthem Glad All Over bellowed around the stadium.


Dortmund, Frankfurt clinch Champions League qualification on final day of Bundesliga

Updated 17 May 2025
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Dortmund, Frankfurt clinch Champions League qualification on final day of Bundesliga

  • Dortmund clinched fourth place and the last for Champions League qualification
  • It’s a remarkable turnaround under coach Niko Kovač

FRANKFURT: Borussia Dortmund and Eintracht Frankfurt qualified for the Champions League on the last day of the Bundesliga on Saturday, leaving Freiburg to be content reaching the Europa League.

Dortmund clinched fourth place and the last for Champions League qualification after a 3-0 home win over already-relegated Holstein Kiel, which played with 10 men after less than 10 minutes.

It’s a remarkable turnaround under coach Niko Kovač, who took over in February when Dortmund were languishing in 11th place. Dortmund won their last five Bundesliga games.

Frankfurt stayed third with a 3-1 win in Freiburg, which dropped to fifth as a result, two points behind Dortmund. Freiburg needed to win to qualify for the Champions League in place of Frankfurt.

Mainz overcame three disallowed goals and drew with Bayer Leverkusen 2-2 to qualify for the Conference League in sixth place, a point ahead of Leipzig, which missed out on European qualification after losing at home to Stuttgart 3-2.

Stuttgart next faces Arminia Bielefeld in the German Cup final next weekend.

Kane scores again
Bayern Munich, which clinched the title with two rounds to spare, finished the season a 4-0 winner at Hoffenheim in Thomas Müller’s last Bundesliga game for the club. It was his 503rd.

Harry Kane replaced Müller for the last half hour and set up Serge Gnabry for Bayern’s third goal before he completed the scoring with his league-leading 26th.

It’s the second consecutive year Kane has finished as the Bundesliga top-scorer.

Leverkusen record
While Mainz were playing for European qualification, Leverkusen were thinking of the future in the last game for the club for coach Xabi Alonso and some players.

Mainz had two early goals ruled out for offside then another ruled out through VAR before Anthony Caci finally gave the home team a deserved lead.

But Leverkusen emerged a different side after the break. Patrik Schick scored twice to jeopardize Mainz’s European spot.

A Jonathan Burkardt penalty kept Mainz ahead of Leipzig, which twice squandered a lead against Stuttgart.

It was Leverkusen’s 34th away game without defeat, a new Bundesliga record.

Other results
Heidenheim stayed in the relegation playoff place after losing at home to Werder Bremen 4-1. Frank Schmidt’s team next faces a two-leg playoff against the side that finishes third in the second division to determine which play in the Bundesliga next season.

Bottom club Bochum, relegated last weekend, signed off with a 2-0 win at St. Pauli for their first victory since beating Bayern 3-2 away in early March.

Wolfsburg won at Borussia Mönchenglabach 1-0 and Union Berlin won in Augsburg 2-1.


Cameroon soccer great Emmanuel Kundé dies at age 68

Updated 17 May 2025
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Cameroon soccer great Emmanuel Kundé dies at age 68

  • Kundé scored a penalty against England in the last eight of the 1990 World Cup
  • “His death is a huge loss for Cameroonian soccer,” the country’s football federation said

YAOUNDE, Cameroon: Emmanuel Kundé, Cameroon’s defensive anchor on the first African team to reach the quarterfinals of the World Cup, has died, the country’s soccer federation said. He was 68.

Kundé scored a penalty against England in the last eight of the 1990 World Cup in Italy before the Indomitable Lions lost in extra time. He also played at the 1982 World Cup when Cameroon made its tournament debut.

“His death is a huge loss for Cameroonian soccer,” the country’s football federation said in a statement late Friday.

Federation president Samuel Eto’o hailed Kundé as the “control tower” and “defensive wall” on the field.

Kundé twice helped the team win the Africa Cup of Nations — in 1984 and 1988. His second-half penalty was the difference in Cameroon’s 1-0 victory over Nigeria in the ‘88 final in Casablanca.

He made over 100 appearances for the national team.

“He was an intelligent and peaceful man filled with dignity and had a precise magic foot,” Emmanuel Maboang Kessack, a former team member told The Associated Press. “We will never forget him.”

Kundé died of cardiac arrest in his own home, Maboang Kessack said.

Kundé also played club football in France for Reims and Laval, but his main team was Canon de Yaoundé in Cameroon’s capital.


Partying, celebrations not an excuse, Flick warns as champions Barca eye strong finish

Updated 17 May 2025
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Partying, celebrations not an excuse, Flick warns as champions Barca eye strong finish

  • “A lot of players went out partying, but whoever can party can work, it’s not an excuse,” Flick told reporters
  • “It’s the last time we play at home and we want to win”

BARCELONA: Barcelona players celebrated the club’s 28th LaLiga title with thousands of fans in an open-bus victory parade on Friday, but coach Hansi Flick was quick to remind them that the season was not over.

Flick, who has led Barcelona to the league title, Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup in his debut season, said he needed his players to focus on finishing the campaign on a high.

“Yesterday was a day of celebration and rest. A lot of players went out partying, but whoever can party can work, it’s not an excuse. I want to finish the season as we started it,” Flick told reporters on Saturday, a day before hosting Villarreal.

“It’s the last time we play at home and we want to win. We want to end the season as champions. We haven’t lost in 2025 (in the league) and we want to keep it that way.”

Flick said he was overwhelmed by the passion of the supporters during the celebrations.

“It was incredible to see the faces, the passion of the people, how they celebrated. It was fantastic to see,” said the coach.

“To celebrate year after year would be amazing. Maybe we can do it again next year. We will work for it. It’s everyone’s title.”

Flick said his team would face a difficult task against fifth-placed Villarreal, with the visitors looking to ensure Champions League qualification with a top-five finish going into the last two matches of the campaign.

“We’re playing against great teams and Villarreal have done a fantastic job, they have won their last four games. You can see the hand of their coach and they have key players,” he added.

Asked if he could start with 11 home-grown players on Sunday, Flick said the idea had been discussed at the club.

“To be honest, we’ve talked about it internally, but we haven’t decided. It could be. We’ll wait until tomorrow to see how the team is,” he said.