Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland scores twice in four minutes to revive Champions League hopes; Real Madrid draw to fall three points behind La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid
Sunday 18 April 2021 22:31, UK
Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland scored twice in four minutes on Sunday, ending his seven-game goal drought in all competitions, to help his team to a 4-1 win over Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga and revive their hopes of a top-four finish.
Fifth-placed Dortmund, on 49 points, cut the gap to Eintracht Frankfurt, in fourth, to four with five games left. The top four teams qualify for next season's Champions League.
Norway international Haaland grabbed his first goal of the afternoon in the 34th minute with a penalty to put the hosts, eliminated in midweek by Manchester City in the Champions League quarter-finals, in front.
Werder had taken a 14th-minute lead through Milot Rashica only for Giovanni Reyna to level in the 29th with a powerful shot.
The 20-year-old Haaland, a likely major transfer target if Dortmund fail to finish in the top four, then tapped in his 23rd league goal of the season in the 38th minute to complete Dortmund's comeback with three goals in nine minutes.
Defender Mats Hummels' header in the 87th minute made it 4-1 as Werder equalled their worst run in the Bundesliga with their fifth consecutive loss to stay on 30 points, four above the relegation play-off spot.
Juventus slipped to a late 1-0 defeat at Atalanta on Sunday as Gian Piero Gasperini's side leapfrogged the champions into third place in the Serie A standings.
Juve, missing Cristiano Ronaldo due to injury, struggled to break down the in-form hosts without their Portuguese talisman and were forced to defend for much of the second half against Serie A's top scorers.
It looked as though Juve had done enough to hold on for a point, but substitute Ruslan Malinovskiy snatched a fifth successive league win for Atalanta in the 87th minute, sparking wild scenes of celebration.
Atalanta moved on to 64 points, two ahead of Juventus, from 31 games played. Juve's hopes of a 10th successive Scudetto are now all but over as they trail leaders Inter Milan by 13 points.
Christian Eriksen's first league goal of the season earned Inter a 1-1 draw at Napoli, moving the league leaders nine points clear at the top of the Serie A standings.
In a thrilling first half, Inter hit the woodwork twice but found themselves behind as goalkeeper Samir Handanovic diverted what appeared to be a comfortable low cross into his own net nine minutes before the break.
Inter, chasing a 12th successive league win, stepped it up a gear in the second half, with Dane Eriksen arrowing a fine strike into the net in the 55th minute.
Napoli hit the crossbar and thought they had won a late penalty only for VAR to overturn the decision, as Inter hung on to move on to 75 points from 31 games, nine clear of second-placed AC Milan.
Gennaro Gattuso's Napoli stayed fifth, but closed to within two points of champions Juventus in fourth.
Paris Saint-Germain stayed in the hunt for a fourth successive Ligue 1 title after Mauro Icardi scored in the dying seconds of stoppage time to secure a dramatic 3-2 home win over St Etienne on Sunday.
Icardi headed home a cross from fellow substitute Angel Di Maria to cap a frantic climax after the visitors took a 78th-minute lead and then levelled in the first minute of added time after Kylian Mbappe had turned the game PSG's way.
The result left PSG second in the standings on 69 points from 33 games, one behind leaders Lille who were held to a 1-1 draw by eighth-placed Montpellier on Friday.
Second-placed Monaco beat Bordeaux 3-0 with goals from Kevin Volland, Gelson Martins and Stevan Jovetic while Les Girondins had Tom Lacoux sent off.
Memphis Depay's double, the second a penalty, earned fourth-placed Lyon a 2-1 win at Nantes to bring them just three points behind next week's opponents Lille. Nicolas Pallois replied for relegation threatened Nantes.
Bottom club Dijon were the day's other winners as Fouad Chafik and a Yassine Benzia penalty saw off Nice 2-0, while Brest held fifth-placed Lens 1-1. Gael Kakuta's penalty for Lens cancelled out Yannick Cahuzac's own goal before late red cards for Lens' Steven Fortes and Simon Banza and Brest's Jean Lucas.
Strasbourg had Frederic Guilbert sent off but drew 1-1 at Nimes as Dimitri Lienard cancelled out Renaud Ripart's penalty, while Reims and Metz drew 0-0.
La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid thrashed basement club Eibar 5-0 on Sunday in an emphatic response to a stuttering run of results which had let their rivals back into the title race.
Atletico were missing two of their top forwards in Luis Suarez and Joao Felix but Argentine striker Angel Correa took responsibility in attack, scoring twice at the end of the first half to put the hosts in charge.
Yannick Carrasco further stretched their lead soon after the interval before Marcos Llorente struck twice to complete the rout as his side picked up a first victory in three matches after drawing 1-1 at Real Betis and losing 1-0 at Sevilla.
Atletico top the standings on 70 points after 31 games, four ahead of second-placed Real Madrid and five above third-placed Barcelona, who both have a game in hand. Eibar are bottom with 23 points.
A heavily depleted Real Madrid side scraped a 0-0 draw at Getafe in La Liga to fall three points behind leaders Atletico.
Real beat Barcelona 2-1 last week and overcame Liverpool in midweek to reach the Champions League semi-finals but were crippled by the absence of nine players due to either injury, suspension or COVID-19 positives.
Forward Mariano had an early goal ruled out for offside after a VAR review but Getafe had far more and far better opportunities, hitting the woodwork in the first half and being thwarted by two fine saves from Thibaut Courtois in the second.
Meanwhile, Sevilla came from behind to win 2-1 at Real Sociedad on Sunday and stay in contention for an unlikely La Liga title bid.
The visitors, who won a dramatic match at Celta Vigo 4-3 in their last fixture, fell behind in the fifth minute to a goal from their former forward Carlos Fernandez.
But they responded with two quickfire strikes by midfielder Fernando and striker Youssef En-Nesyri in the 22nd and 24th minutes to move into the lead.
Sevilla have not won the Spanish title since 1946 and have not finished in the top two since 1957, but En-Nesyri dared to dream.
"We'll go all out to win the seven games we have left and try to win La Liga. We're going to fight for the title," he told reporters.
Sevilla visit Levante on Wednesday before home games against Granada and Athletic Bilbao. They travel to Real Madrid on May 9.