Real Madrid edge past Sevilla 2-1
MADRID: Real Madrid midfielder Casemiro produced a performance worthy of a top striker by scoring twice in a 2-1 win for Zinedine Zidane’s side over Sevilla on Saturday that took them top of La Liga for at least 24 hours.
Sevilla, however, were left fuming by the decision to rule out a first-half header from Luuk de Jong from a corner after a VAR review of a challenge by midfielder Nemanja Gudelj on Real defender Eder Militao.
Brazilian Casemiro, initially deployed as a holding midfielder, broke the deadlock in the 57th minute with an ice-cool dinked finish after a back-heel from Serbian forward Luka Jovic released him in the area.
Sevilla levelled in the 64th with a curled effort from Dutch striker De Jong which was allowed to stand even though the ball had bounced off the elbow of forward Munir El Haddadi in the build-up.
Casemiro dragged Real back in front moments later with a towering header, taking his side first in the standings on 43 points after 20 games, three ahead of champions Barcelona who host Granada on Sunday.
Sevilla’s sporting director Monchi was furious with the call to rule out the first goal for the tangle between Gudelj and Militao. “I refuse to analyse the game after that because that moment was key and it’s absurd to try and give any analysis after a goal like that was ruled out,” he said.
Sevilla coach Julen Lopetegui added: “I cannot understand how they could rule out that goal, there is no reason at all.”
HAALAND NETS THREE ON DORTMUND DEBUT
BERLIN: Norwegian rising star Erling Braut Haaland came off the bench to claim a hat-trick inside 20 minutes on his Borussia Dortmund debut and inspire a 5-3 comeback win at Augsburg in the Bundesliga on Saturday.
The 19-year-old showed why Dortmund paid Salzburg 20 million euros ($22 million) for him last month when he came on in the 56th minute with his new team 3-1 down.
“I am pretty relaxed about it... I don’t really know why,” said Haaland. “I’m at a fantastic club with great team-mates and good people around me. I came here to score goals and it was a good debut for me.”
Dortmund’s victory left them fourth in the Bundesliga table, level on points with defending champions Bayern Munich and Schalke, four points behind leaders RB Leipzig.
YOUNG BEGINS ‘NEW ADVENTURE’ AT MILAN
MILAN: Manchester United defender Ashley Young has signed for Italian club Inter Milan on a six-month deal with an option for a further season, the Serie A club confirmed.
The 34-year-old, whose contract with the Premier League club expired in June has completed a move reported to be worth 1.5 million euros ($1.6 million) plus bonuses.
Young spent the past eightand-a-half seasons at Old Trafford since arriving from Aston Villa in 2011 for around 20 million pounds ($26 million).
“My message to the fans is that success is coming back to the club,” said Young.