MADRID-- Kevin De Bruyne netted a stunning equaliser with a rasping low strike to give Manchester City a 1-1 draw against Real Madrid in their Champions League semi-final first leg on Tuesday on a night of glorious goals in the Spanish capital. The City midfielder powered home from distance in 67th minute after Vinicius Jr had opened the scoring in the first half with an equally sumptuous strike.
City dominated the match in the early stages but it was Real who took the lead as Vinicius netted a brilliant curling effort from the edge of the area that flew into the top-right corner with Real's first shot on target in the 36th minute. The holders got back on top in the second half and took control, but it was City who scored after they won possession high up the pitch and worked the ball to De Bruyne who drilled in with the outside of his boot to leave the tie poised ahead of next Wednesday's second leg. It was a frantic encounter at a sold-out Santiago Bernabeu with the home fans spending the first half hour of the match on the edge of their seats as City started strongly. Real struggled with City’s relentless pressure and the visitors dominated proceedings early and maintained control as the first half progressed. Pep Guardiola's team enjoyed a staggering 75% ball possession for a large part of the first half and by the halfway point of the opening period City had recorded six attempts, with four on target, compared to none from Real. But the hosts slowly started to get a foothold in midfield and started to test City on the counter, with Vinicius moving to a more central position, luring markers away from touchline and creating space for Eduardo Camavinga. After Camavinga and Vinicius combined to create two half-chances, they nailed a textbook counter attack.
Camavinga burst down the left touchline and passed to Vinicius, who let fly with a missile from outside the area that shot into the corner of the net. Real got on top in the second half and almost scored early on when Karim Benzema fired wide. The France striker seemed off the pace, making uncharacteristic errors and misfiring with several attempts on goal. It was after a poor pass from Benzema that Man City stopped another Real counter and, after recovering the ball high up the pitch after a poor attempt at a clearance by Camavinga, that De Bruyne netted the equaliser. City keeper Ederson made two critical saves to keep the scores level ahead of next week's return encounter.
"The tie remains open... we played a good game. They had possession early, yes, but no real chances... Too bad about the goal, we had more chances than they had," Luka Modric told Movistar Plus. "I don't think anyone goes to the second leg with a mental edge. It's an open tie, we already knew that this wasn't going to end here at Santiago Bernabeu, that nobody was going to take an advantage to kill it today. "The tie, before this game, was 50-50. And now, it's still the same."
LONDON-- Willian and Tom Cairney both scored twice to help Fulham beat Leicester City 5-3 at home on Monday, ending the visitors' three-game unbeaten Premier League run and leaving them in the relegation zone after the day's other results.
BRIGHTON, England-- Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder Alexis MacAllister fired the winner from the penalty spot deep into stoppage time to snatch a 1-0 win for his side over Manchester United in a pulsating Premier League clash on Thursday.
The defeat leaves Erik ten Hag's side in fourth place on 63 points, four ahead of fifth-placed Liverpool but with a game in hand over their Merseyside rivals, while Brighton move up to sixth on 55 points. The victory was some measure of revenge for Brighton, who lost to Manchester United on penalties in their FA Cup semi-final 11 days ago. The home side dominated possession and could have gone ahead as early as the fourth minute when Japanese winger Kaoru Mitoma snapped up a loose pass from Victor Lindelof, but he fired his shot straight into the face of David De Gea. Mitoma was a threat throughout, creating several chances for himself before teeing up Danny Welbeck to fire high and wide from the edge of the box early in the second half as United struggled to pass the ball out of defence. After getting booked in the first half, United midfielder Casemiro was lucky not to pick up his second yellow card as he hacked down MacAllister on the edge of the box in the in the second half.
Tempers flared in the 68th minute as United winger Antony, angry at not being awarded a free kick, was penalised for a tackle on MacAllister before getting into a confrontation with Lewis Dunk that earned both players a yellow card. Brighton continued to press forward looking for a winner, with substitute Solly March and MacAllister both forcing superb saves from De Gea as the clock ticked towards 90 minutes. United looked set to secure a draw, but there was late drama when Luke Shaw was found to have handled the ball in the box after a VAR review, and MacAllister blasted home the spot kick nine minutes into stoppage time to secure the win. "Really happy and delighted for the performance and result," Brighton coach Roberto de Zerbi told Sky Sports.
"There is a God of football - we deserved to win the (FA Cup) semi-final but lost on penalties, but today we won with a penalty." United defender Shaw took responsilibity for his mistake, calling it a "silly error that cost us a point", but said his side were still on course to qualify for next season's Champions League. "Teams around us are picking up points, (but) we still have a game in hand and it is in our hands," he told Sky Sports.
PHILADELPHIA --James Harden drained a 3-pointer with 19 seconds remaining in overtime to fuel the host Philadelphia 76ers to a back-and-forth 116-115 victory over the Boston Celtics on Sunday, leveling their Eastern Conference semifinal series at two wins apiece. Harden collected 42 points, nine assists and eight rebounds while Joel Embiid recorded 34 points and 13 boards for the third-seeded 76ers, who snapped a two-game skid. Game 5 is Tuesday in Boston.
Harden made 16 of 23 shots from the floor -- including 6 of 9 from 3-point range -- to bounce back from a pair of disastrous shooting performances in Games 2 and 3. He sank just 5 of 28 shots from the floor and 2 of 13 from beyond the arc in the previous two games. Boston's Jayson Tatum overcame missing his first eight shots from the floor to finish with 24 points, 18 rebounds and six assists. Jaylen Brown had 23 points, Marcus Smart added 21 points and seven assists and Malcolm Brogdon contributed 19 with eight rebounds off the bench for the second-seeded Celtics. Embiid sank a pair of free throws to give Philadelphia a 113-112 lead with 56 second left in overtime before Tatum answered by sinking a 3-pointer with 38 seconds remaining.
Harden countered by converting from the corner with 19 seconds left before Smart's 3-pointer was deemed to be released after the buzzer. Smart converted a three-point play to give Boston a 112-109 lead with 3:31 remaining in overtime. Embiid sank a mid-range jumper, however the potential go-ahead basket was negated after he was whistled for a charge against Smart with 1:49 left, which the Sixers unsuccessfully challenged. Earlier P.J. Tucker converted a three-point play to forge a tie at 105-105 before being whistled for a foul on Smart, who made both free-throw attempts with 51.3 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.
Harden sank a mid-range floater to level the contest with 16.1 seconds to play, and Smart's open 3-point attempt at the buzzer bounced off the front rim. The 76ers led by as much as 16 late in the third quarter, and Embiid converted a slick pass from Harden to give Philadelphia a 96-88 lead with 7:15 remaining in the fourth quarter. Boston made a stand, however, as Smart drained two 3-pointers to highlight his team's 17-4 run before Harden made a basket and Tucker converted a three-point play to forge a tie.
MANCHESTER- - Manchester City's Erling Haaland scored his record-breaking 35th Premier League goal of the season to help secure a 3-0 victory against West Ham United that sent his side back to the top of the table on Wednesday. The Norwegian killed off a stubborn West Ham resistance when he dinked a delicate chip into the net after 70 minutes to break the record for the amount of goals in a single season in the Premier League. Treble-chasing City, who began the night in second place after Arsenal's defeat of Chelsea on Tuesday, had twice been denied by the woodwork as they were frustrated by relegation-threatened West Ham in the first half. But Nathan Ake made the breakthrough five minutes after the interval with a header from a free kick. Haaland then eased the tension around the Etihad Stadium as he latched on to Jack Grealish's through ball to beat Lukasz Fabianski and move past the 34 goals of Andy Cole and Alan Shearer with five games still to play. With the points secured, substitute Phil Foden then made it 3-0 with a superbly-struck volley in the 85th minute. City, chasing a fifth title in six seasons under Pep Guardiola, have 79 points from 33 games with Arsenal on 78, having played a game more. They will move four clear if they beat Leeds United at home on Saturday. West Ham remain in trouble in 15th place, four points above the relegation zone. David Moyes's side would have expected a siege and were not disappointed as they spent virtually the entire first half deep in their own half repelling wave after wave of City attacks. City swarmed forward with Julian Alvarez and Riyad Mahrez forcing routine early saves by Fabianski and Haaland heading a Grealish cross over the bar at full stretch. West Ham, hampered by the absence of England midfielder Declan Rice because of sickness, defended valiantly with Angelo Ogbonna a colossus as he headed away numerous crosses. City might have feared the worst when they were twice being denied by the woodwork, first when Grealish's snap shot hit the outside of the upright and minutes later when Rodri's shot hit the post and span agonisingly across the face of goal. Guardiola was left scratching his bald head as City failed to turn their 80% possession into a goal and things could have been worse had Jarrod Bowen's shot not been blocked by Ederson after a rare West Ham forward foray. West Ham finally cracked four minutes after the interval, conceding a goal that would have infuriated Moyes. Having resisted so well, they were undone by a simple old routine -- a Mahrez free kick delivered towards the far post and Dutch defender Ake rising unchallenged to head past Fabianski. West Ham still looked capable of adding a twist to the script until Grealish released Haaland to nonchalantly take his haul in a stupendous first season to 51 in all competitions. Foden then put the icing on the cake with the 1,000th goal in Guardiola's City reign.
