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PIX: Manchester United, Bayern win; Barcelona held

September 27, 2023 08:08 IST

Images from the football matches played on Tuesday.

Man Utd start League Cup defence with easy win

IMAGE: Casemiro celebrates scoring Manchester United's second goal against Crystal Palace at Old Trafford in Manchester on Tuesday. Photograph: Peter Powell/Reuters

Casemiro scored one goal and set up another as holders Manchester United kicked off their League Cup defence with a 3-0 home win over top flight rivals Crystal Palace in the third round on Tuesday.

 

While Erik Ten Hag's side set aside a difficult start to the season and cruised comfortably through at Old Trafford, Premier League Wolverhampton Wanderers and Luton Town were knocked out by lower-division opponents.

Wolves went 2-0 up and then lost 3-2 at Championship (second tier) high-flyers Ipswich Town while Premier League newcomers Luton were beaten 1-0 at League One (third tier) side Exeter City.

Exeter held on with 10 men after Demetri Mitchell was sent off for a second yellow five minutes after scoring his 83rd minute goal.

Vincent Kompany's Burnley, without a win in the Premier League so far this season, overran League Two (fourth tier) opponents Salford City 4-0 with a second-string team.

Palace lost goalkeeper Dean Henderson, signed from United in August, after 19 minutes of his club debut when he appeared to strain his right leg after what had looked like a straightforward long kick.

He was replaced by Sam Johnstone, another graduate of the Manchester United academy, who was picking the ball out of the net two minutes later when Diogo Dalot cut back from the byline for Alejandro Garnacho to sweep in right-footed.

Brazilian midfielder Casemiro, having an excellent evening, made it 2-0 in the 27th when he rose in the box for a looping header into the far corner off Mason Mount's swinging corner.

Anthony Martial scored the third in the 55th with his first goal of the season when he cashed in on some poor defending to run onto a Casemiro cross at the back post and fire past Johnstone.

The match was the night's only fixture pitting two top flight clubs against each other and they will meet again in the league at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Morocco international loan signing Sofyan Amrabat made his first start for United at left back after joining from Fiorentina.

"I think it was a perfect night," the defensive midfielder told Sky Sports television.

"I told the manager I play where you need me, even if its like a goalkeeper I play where I can help the team. Today it was left back but I had a bit of a free role."

Jack Taylor hit the 58th minute winner for Ipswich, through to the last 16 for the first time since 2010, with a long-range strike after Freddie Ladapo equalised in the 39th and Omari Hutchinson began the fightback in the 28th.

Wolves went ahead in the fourth minute through Hwang Hee-Chan, with Toti Gomes doubling the score in the 15th.

Championship side Middlesbrough won 2-0 at League Two Bradford City and League Two Mansfield Town beat League One Peterborough United 3-1 on penalties after the game ended level at 2-2.

The league's bottom club Sutton United lost 2-1 at League One Port Vale.

The draw for the fourth round will be after Wednesday's matches, with 12 Premier League clubs in action and last year's losing finalists Newcastle United hosting Premier League champions Manchester City.

Barcelona held to draw at Mallorca

IMAGE: Fermin Lopez scores second goal for Barcelona against Mallorca at Son Moix in Mallorca. Photograph: Peter Powell/Reuters

Barcelona twice fought back to secure a 2-2 draw at Mallorca on Tuesday, maintaining their unbeaten start to the LaLiga season.

Barca moved up to 17 points, but could be overtaken as LaLiga leaders on Wednesday by Girona, who are one point adrift and visit Villarreal, and Real Madrid, who have 15 points and host Las Palmas.

"The game got stuck from the start. We've had two games with a bit of a bad feeling and we need to improve. We are giving too many chances," Barcelona midfielder Oriol Romeu told DAZN.

"The fact that they are counter-attacking so easily makes us run a lot of metres. We need to improve on this."

The hosts' early pressure paid off as they took the lead after eight minutes when Vedat Muriqi capitalised on a poor clearance from Barca's keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

Raphinha grabbed an equaliser with a powerful shot into the bottom left corner in the 41st minute, only to see Abdon Prats restore Mallorca's lead in stoppage time with a simple finish after keeper Predrag Rajkovic's superb long clearance and a Muriqi header.

Mallorca took their foot off the gas in the second half and Barca substitute Fermin Lopez tapped home Raphinha's low cross from the right to make it 2-2 in the 75th minute.

"The problem was our defensive errors, these are improper mistakes that shouldn't happen, especially in this type of tight, intense match," Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez said.

"We conceded too much. I think we had the game under control after the equaliser, we had a chance to make it 2-1 several times. We didn't win today because of our mistakes."

Barcelona host Sevilla on Friday, before travelling to Porto for their second Champions League group stage match.

Bayern ease into German Cup second round

IMAGE: Bayern Munich's Konrad Laimer celebrates with teammate Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting after scoring their second goal against Preussen Muenster. Photograph: Thilo Schmuelgen/Reuters

Bayern Munich cruised past third-tier club Preussen Muenster 4-0 despite having several players missing, including striker Harry Kane, in their delayed German Cup first round match on Tuesday.

Kane had scored a hat-trick in their 7-0 demolition of VfL Bochum on Saturday but was rested and left on the bench.

Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel, who was also missing three of his central defenders through injury, opted for 18-year-old Mathys Tel and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting up front.

The pair combined perfectly with Tel whipping a cross into the box and Choupo-Moting drilling in to give Bayern the lead in the ninth minute.

But Serge Gnabry had to be taken off injured after 11 minutes with a broken bone in his left arm and will be sidelined for weeks. He had fallen down after a challenge in the fourth minute but had briefly tried to play on.

Tuchel said the Germany international would also undergo surgery on Wednesday.

"It is bitter for him personally but also for us," Tuchel said. "He is an important player with a great character."

Israeli keeper Daniel Peretz made his Bayern debut in goal but was rarely troubled in a one-sided encounter which was briefly interrupted after 30 minutes.

Bayern fans threw hundreds of tennis balls onto the pitch, in protest against the decision to hold the German Super Cup last month on the day of the Cup first round, forcing Bayern to delay their first-round match.

It had no effect on their team's performance as they struck twice more in the first half to put the game to bed.

Konrad Laimer made it 2-0 with a looping header in the 40th and 20-year-old Frans Kraetzig volleyed in with the last kick of the first half.

France youth international Tel added a fourth from a tight angle in the 85th to continue his good form, having also scored three goals in the league so far this season.

Juventus move up to second

IMAGE: Juventus' Arkadiusz Milik celebrates scoring their first goal with Nicolo Fagioli. Photograph: Massimo Pinca/Reuters

Arkadiusz Milik's 57th-minute goal secured Juventus a 1-0 home victory over Lecce on Tuesday, moving them up to second in the Serie A standings.

The home fans collectively breathed a sigh of relief when Milik tapped the ball in from a short distance following Adrien Rabiot's header back across the face of the goal.

Juve moved up to 13 points, two behind Inter Milan, who host Sassuolo on Wednesday. Lecce are fourth on 11 points after suffering their first Serie A defeat of the season.

Lecce were solid in their defence but failed to register a single shot on target.

"We were up against a Lecce side that allowed you very little, but we stayed balanced and made the most of our chances," Juve manager Massimiliano Allegri told DAZN.

Juve supporters, who had hoped for redemption following Saturday's 4-2 loss at Sassuolo, were left frustrated after a dull first half ended without any goals.

"It was important to get the win, especially after a chaotic defeat against Sassuolo," Allegri added.

Federico Chiesa came closest to scoring for Juve in the first half, but his angled drive inside the box narrowly missed the target by inches.

Lecce went down to 10 men three minutes into stoppage time after Mohamed Kaba earning a second yellow card for diving.

Allegri played down his team's ambitions for this season.

"Over the last few days we have gone from Scudetto rivals for Inter to being flops, so there has to be a little balance in the way we are talked about," he said.

"I don’t want to hide here, Inter, AC Milan and Napoli have better resources than us to win the title.

"We have many players without a great deal of experience, but they can grow. It takes patience and time to absorb errors and learn from them."

Juventus will visit Atalanta on Sunday.

Source: REUTERS
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