Bundesliga: Bayern win, Reus and Haaland save Dortmund's blushes – Newstrends
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Bundesliga: Bayern win, Reus and Haaland save Dortmund’s blushes

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Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski and Thomas Mueller scored two goals each as the German champions crushed hosts Arminia Bielefeld 4-1 to move within a point of top spot.

Mueller grabbed an eighth-minute lead with a bit of luck after his first effort was saved but the ball bounced back into his path, while Lewandowski was left with far too much space to score with a well-placed shot in the 26th.

With the last kick of the first half, a deflected shot from Lewandowski found the back of the net after good work from Mueller.

Bayern, who had to use changing rooms in a nearby school ahead of the game due to strict Covid-19 regulations, scored again six minutes after the restart when Lewandowski crossed and Mueller volleyed in from close range.

Arminia’s Japan international Ritsu Doan was rewarded for a fine performance with a goal in the 58th before Bayern were left with 10 men following the dismissal of Corentin Tolisso for a last-man foul.

Substitutes Marco Reus and Erling Haaland came on to end Borussia Dortmund’s barren run against Hoffenheim with a 1-0 victory in the Bundesliga.

Dortmund hadn’t won any of the last five meetings between the sides, but Haaland ran on to a ball headed from midfield and kept his cool in front of Hoffenheim’s goalkeeper before unselfishly crossing to give Reus a tap-in in the 76th minute.

It had been an uninspiring game from the visitors, the first of seven matches in 21 days, including Tuesday’s Champions League opener at Lazio and next week’s Ruhr derby against Schalke.

Yussuf Poulsen scored a contender for goal of the season to help RB Leipzig end Augsburg’s perfect start with a 2-0 win. Dani Olmo sent the ball on and Poulsen connected with a volley to curl the ball over the goalkeeper and inside the far post.

Elsewhere, Freiburg and Werder Bremen drew 1-1, Hertha Berlin lost 2-0 at home to promoted Stuttgart and Bayer Leverkusen won at Mainz 1-0

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Lookman, Zaniolo fire Atalanta to 2-0 win over Stuttgart

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Ademola Lookman

Lookman, Zaniolo fire Atalanta to 2-0 win over Stuttgart

Second-half goals from Nigeria’s Ademola Lookman and Nicolo Zaniolo earned Atalanta a 2-0 win at VfB Stuttgart in the Champions League on Wednesday.

The result means the Italian side are still yet to concede a goal in this season’s competition.

The opener came in the 51st minute when Ademola Lookman tapped in a cross from Charles De Ketelaere and, with the home side struggling to find a way through, Zaniolo struck the decisive second two minutes from time.

The defeat ended Stuttgart’s impressive home record of not losing a game in any competition for more than a year, while Atalanta continued their excellent form, unbeaten in their last eight matches.

Atalanta moved up to ninth in the standings on eight points, with Stuttgart dropping out of the playoff zone as they slipped to 27th with four points.

“We came here with ambition but from there to winning is a long way off,” Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini told Sky Sport.

“These are difficult pitches, Stuttgart had won in Turin against Juventus. It is the way this victory came that gives us confidence. We won with personality.”

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The visitors had the bulk of the possession in the opening half but it was Stuttgart who looked the more likely to score, with Anthony Rouault heading over from inside the six-yard box.

Stuttgart’s best chance of the half came right at the end when Chris Fuhrich’s pass set Deniz Undav up for a shot from close range but he hit the side netting.

Atalanta sent De Ketelaere on at the start of the second half and it was his silky skills which led to the breakthrough as he went past two defenders and his ball across the goal gave Lookman the easiest of tap-ins.

Stuttgart, who had beaten Juventus 1-0 in their last Champions League game, could not find a way past the Atalanta defence, and the visitors wrapped up the win near the end.

Substitute Zaniolo pounced on sloppy Stuttgart defending and in a one-on-one with the keeper he coolly slipped the ball past Alexander Nubel.

Atalanta and Inter Milan are the only two sides in the competition who have not conceded a goal after four games, and Gasperini’s side have put themselves in an excellent position at the halfway stage of the league phase.

“In all the games we have played we have shown solidity and we haven’t suffered much,” Gasperini said.

“We were able to have a good defensive phase and we built the points on that.”

Lookman, Zaniolo fire Atalanta to 2-0 win over Stuttgart

(Reuters/NAN)

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I decide my future, Osimhen tells Napoli on Galatasaray stay

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Victor Osimhen

I decide my future, Osimhen tells Napoli on Galatasaray stay

Nigeria international striker  Victor  Osimhen  has reportedly said  he would be  the one to determine his own future amid  transfer  rumours  away  from Galatasaray.

Napoli president Aurelio di Laurentiis has been quoted as saying that  he will be open for Osimhen to join Serie A rivals AC Milan in exchange for Rafael Leao and should Kvaratskhelia quit.

But  Osimhen has said  that  he would be  the one to decide where he plays after Galatasaray.

“I decide on my future, I don’t want others to decide,” he said firmly .“I feel happy when I remember how the Galatasaray fans welcomed me. I couldn’t be happier in a better place than here. My aim is to finish this year here.”

Yet a football transfer expert  has suggested  only a big money deal can lure  away Osimhen  from  Galatasaray  in the upcoming  January Transfer Window.

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Osimhen, who was linked with Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain right up until the final week of the summer transfer window, ultimately did not make a move to either club.

Instead, the 25-year-old joined Galatasaray on loan, where he’s been showcasing his ability by scoring four goals and providing four assists in seven appearances across all competitions.

According to Turkish outlet Sozcu, Galatasaray is keen to make his stay permanent as the club is reportedly willing to pay £42 million to sign him on a full-time basis from Napoli.

But in his recent appearance on the PSG Talk Extra Time podcast, Football Transfer’s Robin Bairner spoke about whether he sees Osimhen leaving this upcoming January transfer window.

“He’s been in the Turkish news this week saying that he’s going to stay at Galatasaray [and] he’s spoken to fans and said he’s going to stay to the end of the season,” Bairner said. “But I think if a big offer came in from a PSG or a Chelsea or an Arsenal, any of the teams that were interested in him during the summer, I think it’s certainly something you would have to consider. But he does seem to be enjoying life in Turkey and there seems to be no urgency, I suppose, to leave at the moment. So it would have to be the right offer.”

I decide my future, Osimhen tells Napoli on Galatasaray stay

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AFC Champions League: Cristiano Ronaldo strikes as Al Nassr thrashes holder Al-Ain 5-1

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Cristiano Ronaldo

AFC Champions League: Cristiano Ronaldo strikes as Al Nassr thrashes holder Al-Ain 5-1

Cristiano Ronaldo helped fire Al Nassr to a crushing 5-1 victory against reigning Asian champions Al Ain in the AFC Champions League Elite on Tuesday.

The Portuguese star, without a goal in his past three appearances for the Saudi Arabian side, netted the second of the hosts’ goals at Al Awwal Park in Riyadh.

Right on the half hour, Al Ain goalkeeper Khalid Essa failed to hold a routine long-range drive from former Liverpool forward Sadio Mane, leaving Ronaldo to pounce on the rebound to tap home.

The win maintained Al Nassr’s unbeaten start to the rebranded AFC Champions League Elite, lifting them to third in the 12-team West Asia table. Saudi counterparts Al Hilal and Al Ahli sit above them. The top eight reach the knockout phase.

Seeking revenge following last season’s quarter-final exit at the hands of Al Ain, Al Nassr burst out of the blocks on Tuesday. Stefano Pioli’s side took the lead after five minutes, when Brazilian Anderson Talisca finished low past Essa from the edge of the Al Ain area.

After Ronaldo doubled Al Nassr’s advantage, the home team put the result beyond their UAE rivals seven minutes later. Angelo Gabriel, a summer signing from Chelsea, exchanged passes with Mane and sent his shot looping over Essa courtesy of a deflection off Al Ain defender Fabio Cardoso. It was eventually deemed an own goal.

Al Ain pulled one back at the start of the second half, when Park Yong-woo’s shot struck the upright and cannoned back off Al Nassr goalkeeper Bento for the game’s second own goal.

However, Brazilian teenager Wesley, introduced moments before, curled home eight minutes from time before Talisca rounded off the night deep into stoppage time with his second.

With the loss, Al Ain languish at the bottom of the West Asia standings having taken a solitary point from a possible 12. A third successive defeat ramps up the pressure on manager Hernan Crespo, who in May guided the club to a first Asian crown in 21 years.

– Vissel go top in East –

Meanwhile, in East Asia, domestic title-holders Vissel Kobe beat South Korea’s Gwangju FC 2-0 at the top of their group stage on a good night for Japanese teams.

Kawasaki Frontale scored three times in the first half at home on the way to a 3-1 victory over newly crowned Chinese champions Shanghai Port. Akihiro Ienaga, Yusuke Segawa and Sai van Wermeskerken were on the scoresheet.

In Kobe, the hosts and J. League champions triumphed through a Taisei Miyashiro penalty and a Daiju Sasaki header. The victory left Vissel top of the 12 teams in the East zone at the halfway point, while Gwangju dropped to second.

Malaysia’s Johor Darul Ta’zim moved up to third with a 3-0 home victory over South Korea’s Ulsan, who are rooted to the bottom without a point.

Central Coast Mariners scored deep in injury time as they roared back to grab a 2-2 home draw with Shanghai Shenhua to finally get a point on the board.

Bailey Brandtman poked home for the Australians in the 95th minute after the hosts had been 2-0 down. That left Shenhua fourth in the group while the Mariners are one off the bottom.

AFC Champions League: Cristiano Ronaldo strikes as Al Nassr thrashes holder Al-Ain 5-1

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