Brazilian superstar rescues PSG for second week in row but support won’t forgive him
NEYMAR bagged the winning goal for PSG for the second straight week as the wantaway star continued his red-hot return from injury.
The Brazilian star, who angered the French club and supporters by demanding a transfer during the summer, bagged the only goal in a 1-0 win at Lyon last night.
His exquisite 87th-minute turn and finish – receiving the ball with his back to goal before swivelling and smashing beyond the reach of Anthony Lopes – followed his injurytime winner against Strasbourg in the previous Ligue 1 clash.
But despite his continued heroics for the Parisiens, fans still booed the 27-year-old after he admitted midweek he had “done everything possible” to rejoin Barcelona.
In Spain, Karim Benzema headed in his fifth goal of the season as Real Madrid returned to winning ways, with Eden Hazard shining on his first La Liga start.
It was a case of by any means necessary for Zinedine Zidane’s side after winning just two of their first five games – including a 3-0 hammering by PSG in the Champions League in midweek.
Sevilla went into the weekend as league leaders and put Real under a lot of pressure while struggling to find an opening.
But the visitors dug deep and in the 64th minute Dani Carvajal produced a lovely floated cross from the byeline and Benzema lost his man and powered home a header.
There was late drama when Sevilla appeared to have levelled through Javier Hernandez but he was rightly ruled to be offside.
Fourth-placed Real Sociedad continued their fine start as they beat Espanyol 3-1.
Willian Jose bagged a first-half double before Joseba Zaldua’s own goal gave the Barcelona men hope but that was extinguished by Alexander Isak’s clinical finish.
In Germany, a late own goal denied Borussia Dortmund victory at Eintracht Frankfurt as they were held to a 2-2 draw.
Alex Witsel’s early strike had given Dortmund the lead but summer signing Andre Silva levelled things up before England’s Jadon Sancho’s strike looked to have bagged the win.
Thomas Delaney then turned Daichi Kamada’s shot past his own keeper Roman Burki with only two minutes remaining.
The late setback leaves Dortmund third in the table, three points behind leaders RB Leipzig and one behind champions Bayern Munich.
Yesterday’s other game saw Borussia Monchengladbach come from behind to beat Fortuna Dusseldorf 2-1.
Kasim Nuhu opened the scoring after six minutes but a late Marcus Thuram double snatched the points.
●FIFA president Gianni Infantino has urged the Italian FA to hand out stadium bans for fans guilty of racism after another incident in Serie A.
The clash between Atalanta and Fiorentina was briefly stopped after Brazilian wingback Dalbert told referee Daniele Orsato he had been the target of racist abuse from fans at the Stadio Ennio Tardini in Parma, where Atalanta are based while their ground is revamped.
An announcement was read over the stadium loudspeaker urging supporters to stop and the game, which finished 2-2, then continued.
But Infantino said: “You can’t have racism in society or in football. In Italy the situation hasn’t improved and it’s serious.
“You need to identify those responsible and throw them out of stadiums. You can’t be afraid to condemn racists.”