Sunday, December 22, 2024

Mbappe’s ‘failure’, Kane on target and Napoli pull clear

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Napoli, Barcelona and Bayern Munich are top of their respective leagues [Getty Images]

Kylian Mbappe was criticised as Barcelona triumphed against Real Madrid’s new generation of ‘Galacticos’ in the first Clasico of the season, while Antonio Conte’s Napoli remain Serie A leaders and Harry Kane was on target for Bayern Munich.

On Saturday, Robert Lewandowski scored twice in three minutes, while 17-year-old Lamine Yamal and Raphinha wrapped up a successful night for Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu.

There were also wins for Bayern Munich and Sporting, while there was an eight-goal thriller in the Derby d’Italia.

BBC Sport rounds up of the latest action across Europe’s top leagues.

Mbappe ‘a worry’ in first El Clasico

Kylian Mbappé of Real MadridKylian Mbappé of Real Madrid

Mbappe scored twice in El Clasico but both were ruled out for offside [Getty Images]

Real Madrid striker Mbappe, who was playing in his first El Clasico since joining Los Blancos from Paris St-Germain in the summer, thought he had given his side the lead in the first half, but the goal was ruled out for offside by the tightest of margins.

In fact, the Frenchman then went on to be flagged offside a further seven times as he struggled to get to grips with Barcelona’s high line.

Speaking after the game, which left Real Madrid six points adrift of La Liga leaders Barcelona amid racist abuse of the visiting players, Real boss Carlo Ancelotti said: “The truth is he [Mbappe] had three or four opportunities where he could have scored and needed a bit more precision.”

Madrid newspaper AS wrote: “The star’s first Clasico was a cataclysm – a failure, stumbling eight times in Flick’s offside trap. Shrunken and without venom, he’s a worry.”

City rivals Atletico Madrid could not capitalise, losing 1-0 at Real Betis through a Jose Maria Gimenez own goal in the fourth minute.

Former Newcastle forward Ayoze Perez scored the winner to lift Villarreal above Atletico into third after a hard-fought 2-1 win at Real Valladolid.

But there was heartbreak for bottom side Valencia after they conceded a 90th-minute Mauro Arambarri equaliser in their visit to Getafe.

Napoli stay top after Derby d’Italia thriller

Napoli remain top of Serie A for another week at least after they claimed a narrow 1-0 win over strugglers Lecce on Saturday.

Antonio Conte’s side dominated chances but struggled to break through Lecce’s defence until Giovanni di Lorenzo tapped home in the 73rd minute.

“I calmed them down, because you have to have the maturity and patience to keep going, move the ball around and create chances to score,” Conte told DAZN.

The result left them four points clear of second-placed Inter Milan, who played out a 4-4 thriller with Juventus in Sunday’s eventful Derby d’Italia at the San Siro.

Piotr Zielinski converted two penalties for Inter, while Kenan Yildiz also bagged a brace for Juventus, including an 82nd-minute strike to level the game.

Elsewhere in Italy, Genoa’s winless run continued as they fell 3-0 to Lazio, while AC Milan’s match at Bologna on Saturday was postponed because of heavy rain and flooding in the area.

Kane nets as Bayern bounce back

Harry Kane celebrates after scoring his team's third goal during the Bundesliga match between VfL Bochum 1848 and FC Bayern MunichHarry Kane celebrates after scoring his team's third goal during the Bundesliga match between VfL Bochum 1848 and FC Bayern Munich

Harry Kane has scored nine Bundesliga goals this campaign [Getty Images]

Bayern Munich returned to the top of the Bundesliga with a 5-0 win over bottom side Bochum.

Harry Kane and Michael Olise were both on the scoresheet in a game filled with high-quality goals as Vincent Kompany’s side bounced back from their 4-1 thrashing at Barcelona in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw against Werder Bremen, with Victor Boniface scoring just six days after being involved in a traffic accident.

Three second-half goals gave RB Leipzig victory over Freiburg after Ritsu Doan had put the visitors in front, while Borussia Dortmund fell to a 2-1 defeat at Augsburg.

The result left Dortmund seventh in the table and seven points off joint-leaders Bayern and Leipzig. They went down to 10 men in the ninth minute of added time when 18-year-old debutant Almugera Kabar was shown a second yellow card.

Elsewhere…

Nice, Lille and Paris St-Germain were the big winners on a weekend full of derbies in France.

Evann Guessand’s goal handed Nice a 2-1 win in the Cote d’Azur derby as second-placed Monaco suffered their first loss of the campaign, while Lille claimed a dramatic 2-0 win at Lens thanks to goals from Jonathan David and Mohamed Bayo in the eighth and 11th minutes of injury time.

But leaders PSG remain three points clear after a 3-0 win at third-placed Marseille, who had Amine Harit sent off in the 20th minute. Joao Neves opened the scoring, before an own goal from Leonardo Balerdi and Bradley Barcola’s effort had the victory sealed by half-time.

Elsewhere, Sporting continued their 100% start to the season in Portugal with a 3-0 victory over Famalicao.

On the back of a midweek goal double in the Europa League, Swedish striker Viktor Gyokeres was again on the scoresheet to take his record this term to 12 in nine league games.

Third-placed Benfica also claimed three points with Muhammed Kerem Akturkoglu’s hat-trick the standout showing in a 5-0 victory over Rio Ave.

In the Netherlands, PSV stretched their lead at the top to eight points with a resounding 6-0 defeat of PEC Zwolle.

Closest challengers Utrecht were cut further adrift after losing 2-0 at home to Feyenoord, while Ajax are third after a routine 1-0 win at home to Willem II.

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