SULKY SAVIOUR BALE
Blank-faced Welshman earns Real battling win over Levante
GARETH Bale came off the bench to score a controversial winning penalty against Levante on Sunday but his refusal to celebrate suggested all may not be well again at Real Madrid.
Bale’s spot-kick earned Real a battling and, in truth, undeserved 2-1 victory at the City of Valencia Stadium where referee Ignacio Iglesias failed to reverse his decision, despite VAR exposing a theatrical dive from Casemiro.
The absence of any delight from a stony-faced Bale was telling, as he turned and brushed off teamates’ attempts to congratulate him.
“The players can celebrate goals how they want, as long as we win,” coach Santiago Solari said.
This was Bale’s sixth game on the bench in the eight matches since he returned from injury and it remains to be seen if his cameo will be enough to win a start against Barcelona tomorrow, in the semi-final of the Copa del Rey.
“He looked thrilled in the dressing room because he scored,” added Solari. “I loved how he came into the game, the anger he played with helped, and he gave us the victory, he gave us hard work.
“When we had 10 men he performed a double-job up front. For me, he had a fantastic match.”
Bale replaced Karim Benzema in the 74th minute, after the Frenchman had scored his own penalty in the first half before Roger Marti pulled Levante level.
Alvaro Morata scored his first Atletico goal at the Wanda Metropolitano, toasting his smart finish by poking fun at VAR, which had twice intervened to prevent him opening his account at his new club.
Real have been among the most vocal critics of the technology in La Liga this season but Levante were the ones hard done by this time.
Cheick Doucoure’s swinging right foot was wild but there was no contact to merit the leap from Casemiro. Iglesias reviewed but retained his decision.
Barcelona, whom Real now face in two Clasicos in four days, the second in the league, also at the Santiago Bernabeu, will now benefit from an extra day’s rest and also a suspension for Nacho, who was sent off late on for a second yellow card.
Atletico’s victory was more comfortable as Barcelona’s closest challengers kept up the chase with a 2-0 win over Villarreal.
Since joining Atletico on loan from Chelsea last month, Morata has twice had goals ruled out on review so when this one finally stood, he celebrated by imitating a referee putting a finger to his ear.
Saul Niguez added a late second for Atletico, who sustain momentum after their brilliant win over Juventus on Wednesday in the Champions League.
M IL A N: Juventus maintained their 13-point lead at the top of Serie A on Sunday after Paulo Dybala hit the winner in a 10 victory at Bologna to keep the champions ahead of Napoli who easily saw off Parma 4-0.
But there was drama in Tuscany as Jordan Veretout converted a 101st-minute penalty to hold third-placed Inter Milan 3-3 in a chaotic game.
In Turin, Dybala came off the bench to slot home in the 67th minute after defender Danilo deflected Blaise Matuidi’s low cross straight to the Argentine international in front of a gaping goal.
Napoli eased past mid-table Parma, Piotr Zielinski scoring in the 19th minute before Arkadiusz Milik rolled a cheeky free-kick under the wall and past Luigi Sepe.
Milik added the third with a fine strike past Sepe in the 73rd minute following sloppy play from Parma, and Adam Ounas completed the rout by finishing off a superb passing move with an angled strike.
The goals were the first in Serie A for Carlo Ancelotti’s side in three matches.
“Juve are far away but next week we want to play well against them at the (Stadio) San Paolo,” said Milik, who now has 14 league goals for the season.
“We’re a long way from the title but we need to keep going and hope that they go through a bad patch.”
Juventus travel to Napoli this week knowing that anything other than a defeat effectively seals their eighth straight league title before they try to overhaul a 2-0 deficit against Atletico Madrid in their Champions League last-16 second leg at the Allianz Stadium.
“We’ll be up against an even more defensive Atletico, we’ll have to be even more quick and precise with our passes, something that we weren’t today,” said Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri.
“I’m convinced we can go through.”
Bologna stay third-from-bottom on 18 points and three from safety.
BERLIN: Jadon Sancho scored as Borussia Dortmund beat a spirited Bayer Leverkusen 3-2 at Signal Iduna Park on Sunday to restore their three-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga table.
The home side endured a nervous end to the game but held out for a huge win after three straight league draws.
“It’s a really good feeling to be back in top spot,” said Dortmund defender Manuel Akanji.
“It wasn’t an easy game, but we did it well. It shows that we’ve got our self-confidence back.”
Serious defensive questions remain for coach Lucien Favre’s side, who have now conceded 11 goals in their past five games in all competitions.
Earlier in the day, Eintracht Frankfurt’s attack was on song as the visitors ran out 3-0 victors over a struggling Hanover 96 at the HDI Arena.
Frankfurt now sit in the Europa League places and are well in the hunt for a Champions League berth.
PARIS: Portuguese youngsters Gelson Martins and Rony Lopes scored as Monaco pulled further clear of the Ligue 1 relegation zone with an impressive 2-0 win over Lyon on Sunday.
Leonardo Jardim’s men are now unbeaten in four league games and five points clear of Caen, who occupy the relegation play-off spot.
“It’s better, but nothing is done,” said Jardim.
Bruno Genesio’s Lyon remain third, only three points ahead of Saint-Etienne as they bid to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
“The goal (when Jardim returned) was to play at the level of one of best teams in France for the last 16 league matches,” Jardim added. “We have done that for four matches. We must continue.”