European roundup: Guardiola stuns Madrid with late Valladolid equaliser
Real Madrid stumbled to a 1-1 draw against Real Valladolid in their first home game of the La Liga season on Saturday after the visitors levelled with an 88th-minute strike from former Barcelona trainee Sergi Guardiola.
Madrid striker Karim Benzema looked to have won the game when he gave the hosts a deserved lead in the 82nd minute with a splendid piece of skill, controlling a pass with his back to goal and swivelling before striking into the far corner.
Serbian striker Luka Jovic had gone close to breaking the deadlock earlier in the game when he headed against the crossbar barely a minute after coming off the bench, while Gareth Bale and James Rodriguez missed chances earlier in the game.
Valladolid had offered little in attack but grabbed a shock equaliser with only their second shot on target when Guardiola struck through the legs of Thibaut Courtois to complete a swift counterattack after Toni Kroos had surrendered possession.
In Serie A Giorgio Chiellini scored early as Juventus won 1-0 at Parma to kick off its bid for a record-extending ninth straight title in the league opener Saturday.
As Cristiano Ronaldo was involved in a series of near misses, Chiellini netted in the 21st minute following a corner.
In Germany Robert Lewandowski scored a hat-trick and Philippe Coutinho made his Bundesliga debut as Bayern Munich eased to a 3-0 win at Schalke on Saturday.
Coutinho, who completed his loan move from Barcelona on Monday, came on for an unhappy looking Thomas Müller with more than half an hour remaining, but had to be content with a co-starring role as Lewandowski stole the limelight.
The Polish striker opened the scoring with a penalty in the 20th minute, doubled Bayern’s lead with a brilliant free kick in the 50th, and claimed his fifth league goal in two games with a fine turn and finish in the 75th.
Comments
Post a Comment