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Home  » Sports » Soccer PIX: Dominant Real claim easy win; record-breaking Kane powers Bayern; Wolves stunned

Soccer PIX: Dominant Real claim easy win; record-breaking Kane powers Bayern; Wolves stunned

March 16, 2024 23:44 IST
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Images from soccer matches held across European Leagues on Saturday, March 16.

IMAGE: Real Madrid's Brahim Diaz celebrates scoring their third goal with Vinicius Junior. Photograph: Vincent West/Reuters

Runaway La Liga leaders Real Madrid continued their march towards the title with an easy 4-2 victory away at Osasuna on Saturday, with Vinicius Jr scoring a brace.

Real are alone at the league summit with 72 points, 10 ahead of second-placed Girona who face Getafe away later on Saturday. Osasuna are 10th with 36 points.

The win extended Real's unbeaten streak to 23 matches.

 

"Great game, from the beginning to the end, with good commitment, good attitude; it was an important game to get ahead of and we made the most of it," manager Carlo Ancelotti told Real Madrid TV.

Vinicius put the visitors ahead after four minutes but Osasuna's Ante Budimir levelled the score three minutes later by slotting in a close-range shot following a corner.

IMAGE: Real Madrid's Rodrygo in action with Osasuna's Unai Garcia. Photograph: Vincent West/Reuters

Dani Carvajal restored Real's lead after 18 minutes, using the outside of his foot to steer a curving shot into the far corner.

Brahim Diaz scored the third goal for the visitors in the 61st minute, before Vinicius got his second three minutes later with a low finish from a tight angle inside the box.

"Today he (Vinicius Jr) could (have scored) four goals without a problem; he has been extraordinary in all the situations he has had, correct, cold in front of the goal. We need a player like that," Ancelotti added.

In stoppage time, Osasuna got their second goal when Iker Munoz received a cutback inside the box and sent a powerful shot into the net.

Arda Guler had the chance to score a fifth goal for Real Madrid in the dying moments of the match but his shot from the centre of the field hit the top of the crossbar and bounced out.

IMAGE: Bayern Munich's Harry Kane celebrates scoring their second goal. Photograph: Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters

Bayern clinch 5-2 win at Darmstadt

Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane bagged a record-breaking 31st league goal and Jamal Musiala added two more in the side's 5-2 demolition of hosts Darmstadt 98 on Saturday that moved the champions to within seven points of leaders Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga.

Kane put Bayern, who face Arsenal in the Champions League quarter-finals next month, 2-1 up in first-half stoppage time to take his league tally to 31, more than any player has scored in their first Bundesliga season.

It is also a personal league best for the England captain -- the Bundesliga's most expensive transfer at 100 million euros -- who scored between Musiala's two goals.

But he was taken off injured in the 81st after sliding into the post, getting tangled in the sidenetting and twisting his ankle.

"He stumbled and fell in the net and twisted his ankle," Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel said. "He is cooling it now with ice. There is no diagnosis yet. We have to wait and see and hope it is just a scary moment."

England, preparing for Euro 2024 in Germany in June, play Brazil on March 23 and Belgium three days later.

"Overall we are happy with a deserved win. We kept creating chances and we deserved the goals we scored," Tuchel said.

"It has been a good week and we have a very good atmosphere and are training well. We are happy to continue our run after our wins over Lazio (in the Champions League) and Mainz 05 (last week)," said the coach who will leave at the end of the season after a poor run at the start of the year.

IMAGE: Bayern Munich's Jamal Musiala scores their third goal. Photograph: Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters

The win lifts Bayern to 60 points in second place, with Leverkusen, on 67, travelling to Freiburg on Sunday.

The visitors had the upper hand from the start but it was Darmstadt who struck first, with Tim Skarke slotting in to polish off a quick break that caught Bayern off guard in the 28th minute.

They did not have to wait long for an equaliser after teenager Aleksandar Pavlovic, fresh from being picked for the Germany squad for friendly matches later in March, dribbled past three players, charged into the box and found Kane, who passed to Musiala to finish the move in the 36th.

Kane then completed their comeback in stoppage time with a diving header but Bayern almost conceded another themselves when Darmstadt's Oscar Vilhelmsson hit the crossbar on the stroke of halftime.

Germany international Musiala, in superb form, put the game to bed in the 64th minute with a stunning solo run for his 10th league goal but they were not yet done.

Substitute Serge Gnabry and Mathys Tel both got onto the scoresheet before Vilhelmsson bagged another goal for Darmstadt, who also hit the woodwork once more late in the game. 

IMAGE: Coventry City's Milan van Ewijk celebrates after the match. Photograph: Molly Darlington/Reuters

Coventry stun Wolves

Coventry City stunned Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-2 with two injury-time goals in a rollercoaster FA Cup tie at Molineux Stadium on Saturday as the Championship side reached the semi-finals for only the second time in the club's history.

Wolves had looked set for a trip to Wembley after Rayan Ait-Nouri cancelled out Ellis Simms' second-half opener, and Hugo Bueno then put the home side ahead in the 88th minute.

But Simms grabbed a second in the seventh minute of added time before team mate Haji Wright scored the winner in the 10th minute of injury time, curling his shot into the corner to send the Coventry fans, team and staff alike wild with delight.

Simms's double made him the first Coventry player to score five goals in a single FA Cup campaign since Keith Houchen in 1986-87, the year Coventry won the cup -- the biggest trophy in the club's 140-year history.

IMAGE: Coventry City's Haji Wright scores their third goal. Photograph: Molly Darlington/Reuters

"A great occasion, the fans have been amazing and we're just delighted. I'm so proud of the lads. We've dug in, and even at 2-1 down we never gave up," Simms told ITV.

"It's going to be a great occasion at Wembley. We want to go all the way. The next round will be tough against a top Premier League team but we will give it our all and go in with all guns blazing."

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Source: REUTERS
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