Jude Bellingham double maintains Real Madrid’s winning start to LaLiga campaign

By Sports Desk August 19, 2023

Jude Bellingham was on target twice as Real Madrid came from behind to beat Almeria 3-1 and maintain their winning start to the new season of LaLiga.

Sergio Arribas had the hosts in front in the third minute of Saturday evening’s contest but England midfielder Bellingham – who netted in the opening day win at Athletic Bilbao – levelled the scores 16 minutes later.

After Tony Kroos had seen an effort ruled out for VAR at the end of the first half, former Birmingham midfielder Bellingham put Real ahead on the hour and Vinicius Junior made it 3-1 with 17 minutes remaining.

Athletic Bilbao were 2-0 winners at Osasuna, with goals inside the first 20 minutes from Inaki Williams and Gorkua Guruzeta doing the damage. The hosts had substitute Chimy Avila dismissed late on.

Real Sociedad and Celta Vigo drew 1-1, with Oscar Mingueza earning the visitors a point in the last minute after Ander Barrenetxea had opened the scoring for Sociedad midway through the first half.

In Italy, champions Napoli opened with a 3-1 win at Frosinone, with Viktor Osimhen on target twice.

Abdou Harroui’s seventh-minute penalty had newly-promoted Frosinone ahead but Matteo Politano and Osimhen turned things around by half-time, before the latter sealed the points with 11 minutes remaining.

Lautaro Martinez netted in each half as Inter Milan beat Monza 2-0 at San Siro, while substitute Federico Bonazzoli got the only goal 15 minutes from time as Verona – who survived last season with victory over Spezia in the relegation play-off – won at Empoli.

Fiorentina were 4-1 victors at newly-promoted Genoa, with Cristiano Biraghi, Giacomo Bonaventura, Nicolas Gonzalez and Rolando Mandragora making the points safe before Davide Biraschi replied for the hosts.

A late penalty from Zakaria Aboukhlal earned Toulouse a 1-1 draw with Ligue 1 champions Paris St Germain.

Kylian Mbappe, absent from the squad for the opening-weekend goalless draw with Lorient after a dispute over his future left him training separately from the first team, came off the bench to score a penalty just past the hour mark.

However, Aboukhlal’s spot-kick meant a second successive draw for the capital club.

Lyon are propping up the table after a 4-1 home loss to Montpellier. Mousa Al-Taamari (2), Arnaud Nordin and Akor Adams were on target for the visitors, with Alexandre Lacazette getting a red card for Laurent Blanc’s struggling hosts having netted their only goal of the game when they trailed 3-0.

In the opening round of Bundesliga action, Donyell Malen’s 88th-minute goal gave Borussia Dortmund a 1-0 win over Cologne.

Augsburg and Borussia Monchengladbach shared eight goals in a 4-4 draw, while there were also wins for Bayer Leverkusen, Freiburg, Wolfsburg and Stuttgart.

Related items

  • Ronaldo delivers another hat-trick as Al Nassr ease past Al Wedha Ronaldo delivers another hat-trick as Al Nassr ease past Al Wedha

    Cristiano Ronaldo crafted a decisive hat-trick as Al Nassr hammered Al Wedha 6-0 in Saturday's Saudi Pro League meeting.

    Portugal veteran Ronaldo found the net twice in the first 12 minutes at Al Awal Park before completing his treble after the interval.

    Sadio Mane teed up Ronaldo's third finish, as well as an 18th-minute strike from Otavio, who returned the favour for the Senegal international to score on the stroke of half-time.

    Mohammed Al Fatil added a late sixth as Al Nassr recorded their seventh straight league win since their March 7 loss against Al Raed, moving them back within nine points of leaders Al Hilal.

    Jorge Jesus's Al Hilal swept Al Tauwoon aside in a 3-0 away triumph on Friday for their fourth straight victory across all competitions.

    Talisman Aleksandar Mitrovic opened the scoring at King Abdullah Sport City Stadium before Saud Abdulhamid and Saleh Alsherhi wrapped up a win that kept Al Hilal in charge of the title race.

    There was no such fortune for fifth-placed Al Ittihad as they fell to a third straight defeat in all competitions after a 3-1 loss away against Abha.

    Jota levelled after Grzegorz Krychowiak's 57th-minute penalty, only for Hassan Al-Ali and Fabian Noguera to power hosts Abha to a comfortable win.

  • Terzic hopeful of Wembley send-off for Dortmund hero Reus Terzic hopeful of Wembley send-off for Dortmund hero Reus

    Borussia Dortmund's Marco Reus will leave the club after 12 years at the end of the season but a Champions League final at Wembley would see his career at the Ruhr valley club come full circle, said coach Edin Terzic said on Saturday.

    Reus scored once and set up two more goals in their 5-1 win over Augsburg on Saturday as Dortmund prepare to face Paris Saint-Germain in their return leg in France on Tuesday after their 1-0 first leg win in Germany earlier this week.

    The Germans, Champions League winners in 1997, are hoping to make their first final in the competition since 2013 when they lost to Bayern Munich at Wembley.

    A return to that stadium for this year's final would be a fitting finale for Reus' Dortmund career, Terzic said.

    "Yes, a cycle would close," Terzic said. "It was in his first season at Dortmund that he played at Wembley and it would be perfect to return there," Terzic told a press conference.

    "He is a living legend. He has put all other stories in the shadow today.

    "What I wish is that the Marco Reus festival lasts for another month and we experience a few more games together," Terzic said.

    The 34-year-old, who joined in 2012 and also spent a decade at the Ruhr Valley club as a youth player, has scored 169 goals in 425 matches for Dortmund while setting up another 130.

    Reus won two German Cups but did not collect any other major titles, agonisingly missing out on his first ever Bundesliga trophy last season on the final matchday.

    Dortmund are in fifth place in the Bundesliga with two games remaining. They were at risk of missing out on Champions League football next season before their win over PSG sealed a fifth spot for Germany in next season's competition.

  • Bayern Munich defender Guerreiro doubtful for Real Madrid match - Tuchel Bayern Munich defender Guerreiro doubtful for Real Madrid match - Tuchel

    Bayern Munich defender Raphael Guerreiro is doubtful for next week's Champions League semi-final return leg at Real Madrid after he picked up an injury in their 3-1 loss to Stuttgart on Saturday, head coach Thomas Tuchel has said.

    Bayern, who also had Eric Dier taken off at half-time with a head injury, face Real in Spain on Wednesday after their 2-2 draw in Munich earlier this week.

    Portugal international Guerreiro was taken off in the 17th minute after he hurt his ankle in an attempt to block a shot.

    "Raphael Guerreiro needed crutches to walk. It is very, very bitter for us. He was supposed to get some playing time today to be ready for Wednesday. Instead, now we have to see what happens," Tuchel told reporters.

    "Eric Dier had to get stitches to the head wound that then opened up again so we at some point said it was enough. We did not want to risk it."

    Bayern have several injury concerns, with defender Matthijs De Ligt still doing individual training and fellow defender Dayot Upamecano, who came on for Dier, working back to full fitness after recovering from injury.

    "If there ever was a day when we needed to put this behind us quickly then it is today, and we see what we need for Wednesday," Tuchel said.

    "The medical meetings at the moment are more maths than medical. Who is on 60 per cent, who on 30 per cent, who can't play at all," said the coach, who will leave at the end of the season following a disappointing domestic run.

    Bayern are second in the league, two points ahead of Stuttgart in third and with two games left to play. The title has already been wrapped up by leaders Bayer Leverkusen.

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.