Lazio revival in Serie A continues with 3-1 win at Atalanta

Lazio gained revenge for their Coppa Italia quarter-final defeat, inflicting Atalanta’s first Serie A loss of 2021 including a stunning Adam Marusic curler and classic counter-attacks.

There have been 21 goals in the last four competitive meetings between these sides, including Wednesday’s Coppa Italia quarter-final, in which La Dea won 3-2 despite going a man down and seeing a penalty saved. Both teams rotated for that tie, but Robin Gosens was suspended, Hans Hateboer injured and Cristian Romero ruled out by COVID. Luis Alberto returned for the first time since having his appendix out on January 19, but Felipe Caicedo, Luiz Felipe Ramos and Thomas Strakosha were injured.

It took just over two minutes to break the deadlock from an unexpected source, as Adam Marusic gathered 25 metres out and curled an absolute stunner of a right-foot strike into the far top corner. It bent wickedly at the end to go around Pierluigi Gollini’s fingertips, and his vision was also impaired by bright sunshine.

Atalanta had more possession, but Sergej Milinkovic-Savic’s free kick whistled wide, while Manuel Lazzari to his credit immediately assured the referee he had tripped when sprinting into the box and wasn’t fouled.

Sergej Milinkovic-Savic thought he’d surely scored with a free header on the splendid Immobile floated pass, but Gollini just managed to fingertip it onto the upright.

Atalanta kept more of the ball, with Josip Ilicic nutmegging Milinkovic-Savic, but Lazio had all the chances, Gollini rushing outside his area to clear from Immobile. Patric was already booked, so Simone Inzaghi hauled him off before half-time for the debut of exMilan defender Mateo Musacchio.

Luis Alberto’s lob had to be fingertipped out from under the bar, the sun again making it tricky for Gollini, while Duvan Zapata’s header was too close to Pepe Reina.

Ruslan Malinovskyi came on for the restart, switching Joakim Maehle to the left and seemingly adopting a four-man defence. Maehle immediately volleyed over the bar, but Lazio doubled their lead with a classic counter.

Reina’s long ball was flicked on by Immobile in midfield, so Joaquin Correa could sprint away, dribble round Gollini and score from the tightest of angles.

Lazzari was sent sprinting onto a Milinkovic-Savic pass, but a combination of Maehle and Gollini parried at the near post.

Immobile had the ball in the net, but it was ruled offside on another Milinkovic-Savic pass, then the striker managed to dribble past two defenders in the box only to eventually see his shot charged down.

Atalanta did eventually get one back, as Luis Muriel twisted through the entire Lazio defence with wonderful skill, his finish bouncing off the post and into the path of fellow substitute Mario Pasalic.

However, the Aquile restored their two-goal cushion immediately with another two substitutes combining. The offside trap failed on a slide-rule pass for Andreas Pereira, whose run drew defenders and Gollini out wide, but instead he squared the pass for unmarked Vedat Muriqi to tap into the empty net.

Wolf scores 2 as Cologne beats relegation rival Bielefeld

Two goals from Marius Wolf lifted Cologne to a 3-1 win over Arminia Bielefeld on Sunday in a game between two teams trying to avoid relegation from the Bundesliga. Cologne moves up two places to 14th with its second win of 2021, dropping Bielefeld into 16th and a relegation playoff spot.

Wolf gave Cologne the lead with a goal on the rebound in the 10th minute after Ellyes Shkiri's header was palmed away by the goalkeeper at a corner. He added the second 18 minutes later with a powerful low volley off a misplaced headed clearance.

Elvis Rexhbeçaj extended Cologne's lead in the 63rd, finishing off an incisive team move, before Sergio Córdova reduced the deficit for Bielefeld.

Wolfsburg can move up to third with a win over Freiburg in Sunday's late game.

Suárez stays hot, helps Atlético increase its lead in Spain

Luis Suárez continued his stellar form with Atlético Madrid on Sunday, scoring twice in a 4-2 win over Cádiz to help Diego Simeone's team open a 10-point lead in the Spanish league.

Suárez scored a goal in each half to reach 14 league goals this season, marking his best-ever league start in Spain and becoming the league's leading scorer. The Uruguay striker, who was let go by Barcelona at the end of last season, has scored nine goals in his last eight matches with Atlético. He has also been decisive by setting up his teammates a few times.

It was the eighth league win in a row for Atlético, which reaches the halfway mark of the season 10 points ahead of second-place Real Madrid with a game in hand.

"Every match is an important step toward reaching our goal," Simeone said. "To continue like this we have to keep focused on match after match."

Simeone's team has 50 points from 19 matches, remaining on pace for a 100-point season for the first time.

Suárez opened the scoring with a well-placed curling free kick in the 28th minute and added his second from the penalty spot in the 50th. Saúl Ñíguez netted before halftime and Koke Resurrección got on the board near the end of the match to complete the scoring for Atlético, which is seeking its first league title since 2014.

Cádiz, winless in its last three league matches and sitting 13th in the standings, got goals from Álvaro Negredo in the 35th and 71st minutes. Barcelona can move to second place with a home win against Athletic Bilbao later Sunday. Struggling Real Madrid lost 21 to Levante at home on Saturday.

Earlier on Sunday, 12th-place Getafe was held to a 0-0 draw against Alavés, which had lost four in a row in all competitions and is just inside in the relegation zone.

Neymar goals not enough as PSG slumps to shock 3-2 loss

Neymar's two penalties were not enough as Paris Saint-Germain slumped to a shock 3-2 defeat at struggling Lorient, opening the door for Lille to move three points clear at the top of the French league if it wins later Sunday.

After pulling a silly face to celebrate his second penalty, Neymar cut a different figure at the final whistle, throwing his arms up in exasperation as he looked at the defense. An equally frustrated Kylian Mbappe did the same.

Defending champion PSG has lost five league games already this season, and this was coach Mauricio Pochettino's first defeat since replacing Thomas Tuchel, who was fired in December.

But the manner of this loss, with two goals conceded late, will raise concerns with PSG facing Lionel Messi's Barcelona in the Champions League on Feb. 16.

Lorient is languishing in 18th place but took the lead in the 35th minute through captain Laurent Abergel after PSG's Danilo Pereira was closed down on the edge of the penalty area.

Neymar's first penalty came on the stroke of halftime when Houboulang Mendes fouled him and the Brazil star sent goalkeeper Matthieu Dreyer the wrong way.

PSG appealed for another penalty in the 55th for a handball by Mendes, but the referee ruled it out after a video review. Moments later, he awarded one when Mendes fouled striker Mauro Icardi. Neymar again wrongfooted Dreyer from the spot.

But PSG's complacency cost it again as substitute forward Yoane Wissa equalized with 10 minutes left, firing home after playing a near one-two with Terem Moffi.

Moffi then hit the winner in the first minute of injury time after Abergel picked him out on a swift counterattack, and he held off defender Presnel Kimpembe before shooting past goalkeeper Sergio Rico. Lille was hosting 19th-place Dijon later Sunday.

A victory would push it two points ahead of Lyon and drop PSG down to third place.

The day after 250 fans of struggling Saint-Etienne interrupted the club's training session, the players responded to their demands with a 1-0 win at Nice.

Striker Charles Abi got the winner with just three minutes left as coach Claude Puel secured a much-needed victory against his former side. Saint-Etienne is in 16th place.

Elsewhere, Angers beat Nimes 31, Metz topped Brest 4-2, and Reims beat Strasbourg 1-0.

Fourth-place Monaco was at Nantes in the late game.