European Football

[taz]

FT: Bayern Munich 2-0 Wolfsburg

Bayern Munich ensured that they remain top after battling to victory at home against Wolfsburg. 20 minutes in, Mario Gomez found himself in a brilliant position but he could not get control of the ball which allowed Diego Benaglio to come out and clear. Gomez made no mistake on the hour mark after sweeping the ball home from six yards after his initial header was blocked. With 10 to go, a quick counter saw Toni Kroos set up the returning Franck Ribery but his shot was diverted away be Benaglio. In the final minute, an Ivica Olic lob was cleared off the line by Felipe Lopes but it rebounded off Arjen Robben and into the net for 2-0.

[taz]

FT: Cologne 1-4 Schalke

Schalke came from behind to thump Cologne and rejoin Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund at the top. The result only leaves Cologne 3 points away from the drop zone. Cologne made a great start 4 minutes in when Lukas Podolski powered home a drive from 25 yards past Lars Unnerstall. On the hour mark, Christian Fuchs whipped in a cross which Ciprian Marica headed past Michael Rensing for the equaliser. With 18 minutes to go, Klaas Jan Huntelaar saw his header hit the post but Marica was in the right place to convert the rebound home. With 12 minutes to go, things got worse for Cologne when Miso Brecko was shown a red card for bringing down Julian Draxler in the box. Huntelaar stepped up to convert the penalty and with 8 minutes to go, Marco Hoger made it 4-1 slotting into the empty net after unselfish play from Huntelaar.

[taz]

FT: Real Madrid 3-1 Real Zaragoza

Real Madrid bounced back from their midweek Copa del Rey exit by beating basement boys Real Zaragoza and open up a 7 point lead at the top. Real Zaragoza took the shock lead 10 minutes in when a quick Luis Garcia freekick found Carlos Aranda who squared the ball for Angel Lafita to score. On 25 minutes, a Mesut Ozil freekick was flicked on by Kaka and went agonisingly wide. However, 5 minutes later, Ricardo Carvalho played Kaka and the Brazilian sidefooted the equaliser past Roberto. 10 minutes before the break, Cristiano Ronaldo flashed a freekick wide. 5 minutes into the 2nd half, Ronaldo tapped home an Ozil cross. Before the hour, some good interplay from Esteban Granero and Kaka resulted in Ozil lashing the ball past Roberto for 3-1. Zaragoza had their chances late on with Helder Postiga bursting through but his shot could only go straight at Iker Casillas.

[taz]

FT: Villarreal 0-0 Barcelona

Barcelona could only draw at El Madrigal opening up a 7 point gap to make up on Real Madrid. On 17 minutes, Lionel Messi found himself through on goal but his lob over Diego Lopez went narrowly wide. On the half hour, Dani Alves went close with a freekick. The big chance came 12 minutes from a time when a deflected Cesc Fabregas strike had to be touched onto the crossbar by Diego Lopez after good work from Cristian Tello.

[taz]

FT: Juventus 2-1 Udinese

Juventus have provisionally opened up a 4 point gap at the top after victory over 3rd placed Udinese in snowy conditions. At the midway point of the second half, Alessandro Matri was through twice on goal but denied both times by Samir Handanovic. Pablo Armero forced Gianluigi Buffon into a great one handed save. 10 minutes before the break, Stephan Lichtsteiner found himself in a great position but wasted his chance to shoot but 3 minutes before the break, a Marcelo Estigarribia cross was headed towards goal by Fabio Quagliarella, Handanovic got a hand to it but Matri was there to open the scoring. 5 minutes into the 2nd half, Antonio Di Natale went close for the away side and minutes later, it was 1-1. A quick counter saw Mauricio Isla pick out Antonio Floro Flores who drove the equaliser past Buffon. 5 minutes later, Juve were back in front. Claudio Marchisio touched the ball on for Matri to hold off the defender before picking his spot past Handanovic.

[taz]

FT: Lille 3-0 St Etienne

Lille sealed victory against 8th placed St Etienne. The win puts Lille 8 points behind leaders Paris St Germain. The deadlock was broken on 50 minutes when Eden Hazard was brought down by Sylvain Marchal for a penalty which Hazard himself converted. With 4 minutes to go, Dimitri Payet saw his shot fumbled by Stephane Ruffier and new signing Nolan Roux pounced to make it 2-0. A minute later, Hazard picked out Roux whose cross-shot found its way past Ruffier.

[taz]

FT: Feyenoord 4-2 Ajax

John Guidetti scored a hat trick as Feyenoord dispatched Ajax at De Kuip. Christian Eriksen put Ajax ahead on 19 minutes when he turned Ron Vlaar and fired the ball home from 25 yards. On the half hour mark, Guidetti was brought down by Jan Vertonghen and Guidetti stepped up to convert the penalty. 4 minutes before the break, a Jordy Clasie freekick was headed towards goal by Otman Bakkal but Kenneth Vermeer could only get a hand to it and Guidetti lashed home the rebound to make it 2-1 Feyenoord. Bakkal made it 3-1 on 50 minutes after picking his spot from the edge of the area. With 10 minutes to go, an error from Erwin Mulder allowed Dmitry Bulykin to pull a goal back for Ajax but with 7 minutes to go, Ruben Schaken played through Guidetti to complete his hat trick.

[taz]

FT: Fiorentina 2-1 Siena

Fiorentina claimed their first home win since December in the Tuscan derby. Stevan Jovetic opened the scoring 4 minutes in with an effort from outside the box past Gianluca Pegolo. 10 minutes into the 2nd half, a Manuel Pasqual cross was headed towards goal by Amauri but Pegolo saved. Just past the hour, Fiorentina made it 2-0 when a Riccardo Montolivo freekick was headed home by Cesare Natali. With 20 to go, Cristiano del Grosso went close with a 30 yard effort for Siena but Artur Boruc was able to palm it away. With a minute to go, Siena were awarded a penalty which Emanuele Calaio converted but Fiorentina were able to hold on for the 3 points.

[taz]

FT: Lecce 1-0 Inter

Inter's unbeaten run has come to an end after defeat at Lecce. The result leaves Inter 9 points behind leaders Juventus. The winning goal came on 40 minutes when Guillermo Giacomazzi fired home a Massimo Oddo cross.

[taz]

FT: Mainz 3-1 Freiburg

Mainz scored 3 times in 17 minutes to end their 5 game winless streak against struggling Freiburg. They opened the scoring 3 minutes in when Eugen Polanski played Eric Maxim Choupo Moting through to finish from 15 yards. On 6 minutes, Fallou Diagne was shown a straight red for bringing down Adam Szalai in the box. Polanski stepped up to convert the penalty. On 17 minutes, Marco Caligiuri played Choupo-Moting through on goal again to beat Oliver Baumann for the second time. Midway through the 2nd half, Freiburg scored when Pavel Krmas slotted home a Michael Lumb cross. 2 minutes later, Choupo Moting went close to completing his hat trick but he was denied by a wonderful save by Baumann.

[taz]

FT: Stuttgart 0-3 Borussia Monchengladbach

Stuttgart suffered their 4th straight defeat in the Bundesliga at the hands of the impressive Gladbach who are keeping in touch with the top 3. The result leaves Stuttgart just 4 points clear of the drop zone. The deadlock was broken on the half hour mark when Marco Reus whipped in a freekick which Mike Hanke glanced past Sven Ulreich. With 10 minutes to go, Patrick Herrmann played a nice through ball for Marco Reus to latch onto and he coolly slotted the ball past Ulreich. 2 minutes later, Reus played Herrmann through down the right and his low cross was turned home by Igor De Camargo.

German Bundesliga

Matchday 19 of 34

Friday 27 January

Hannover 1-0 Nuremberg

Saturday 28 January

Borussia Dortmund 3-1 Hoffenheim
Bayern Munich 2-0 Wolfsburg
Werder Bremen 1-1 Bayer Leverkusen
Augsburg 2-2 Kaiserslautern
Hertha Berlin 1-2 Hamburg
Cologne 1-4 Schalke

Sunday 29 January

Mainz 3-1 Freiburg
Stuttgart 0-3 Borussia Monchengladbach

Matchday 19 Roundup

Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Schalke (all 40) remain the top 3 after their respective victories. Borussia Monchengladbach (39) are on their tails after thrashing Stuttgart. Werder Bremen (31) & Bayer Leverkusen (30) are 5th and 6th respectively after their respective draw.

At the bottom, Freiburg (16) have slipped to the foot of the table after their defeat anf Augsburg's (16) draw which puts them in 17th on GD. Kaiserslautern (18) are in the relegation playoff spot after their draw with Augsburg putting them two points behind Hertha Berlin.

[taz]

FT: Milan 3-0 Cagliari

Milan thumped Cagliari to stay within a point of leaders Juventus. Cagliari remain 13th. Zlatan Ibrahimovic opened the scoring 32 minutes in with a delighful 25 yard freekick. 7 minutes later, Ibrahimovic chested the ball down for Antonio Nocerino to make it 2-0 with a powerful low shot from the edge of the area. Massimo Ambrosini made it 3-0 with 15 minutes to go when he curled the ball home from 15 yards with the outside of his boot.

Italian Serie A

Matchday 20 of 38

Saturday 28 January

Catania 1-1 Parma
Juventus 2-1 Udinese

Sunday 29 January

Fiorentina 2-1 Siena
Cesena 0-1 Atalanta
Roma 1-1 Bologna
Lecce 1-0 Inter
Chievo 0-3 Lazio
Genoa 3-2 Napoli
Palermo 2-0 Novara
Milan 3-0 Cagliari

Matchday 20 Roundup

Juventus (44) remain top after victory over 3rd placed Udinese (38). Milan (43) are keeping the pressure on Juve after victory over Cagliari. Lazio (36) have moved to within 2 points of Udinese after an impressive victory at Chievo. Inter (35) remain 5th after a shock defeat at Lecce.

Novara (12) are rooted at the bottom after defeat away to Palermo. Novara are 7 points from safety. Cesena (15) have slipped to 19th after defeat to Atalanta and Lecce (16) have moved upto 18th after the stunning victory over Inter. Lecce are 3 points behind Siena.

[taz]

FT: Malaga 2-1 Sevilla

Malaga earned the three points at home against Sevilla in the Andalusian derby. Malaga went ahead 7 minutes in when the unmarked Weligton headed home a Santi Cazorla freekick. Antonio Luna equalised when an ambitious Coke cross was dummied by Alvaro Negredo and the Malaga defence stood still allowing Luna to score at the 2nd time of asking after his initial effort was blocked by Willy Caballero. The winning goal came on 19 minutes when Salomon Rondon beat the the offside trap to advance into the box and squared the ball for Sebastian Fernandez to scuff home the winner. Malaga were reduced to 10 men with 15 minutes to go when Isco was shown a straight red for nasty studs up challenge on Negredo.

[taz]

FT: Rennes 1-2 Marseille

Marseille came from behind to beat Rennes away from home. Rennes took the lead 14 minutes in when a Lucho Gonzalez pass was intercepted by Tongo Doumbia and his shot from 25 yards took a slight deflection beating Steve Mandanda. Midway through the half, Mathieu Valbuena and Benoit Cheyrou combined to set up Lucho but he scuffed his shot. On the stroke of half time, Marseille equalised when a Loic Remy cross was diverted in for an own goal by Onyekachi Apam. Cheyrou scored the winner 13 minutes from time with a powerful strike from the edge of the area.

French Ligue 1

Matchday 21 of 38

Saturday 28 January

Auxerre 1-3 Nancy
Brest 0-1 Paris St Germain
Lorient 1-1 Sochaux
Lyon 3-1 Dijon
Nice 0-1 Montpellier
Toulouse 1-0 Caen
Lille 3-0 St Etienne

Sunday 29 January

Evian 0-0 Bordeaux
Valenciennes 1-2 Ajaccio
Rennes 1-2 Marseille

Matchday 21 Roundup

The top 4 remains unchanged after Paris St Germain (46), Montpellier (43), Lille (39) and Lyon (38) were all victorious on Matchday 21.

The relegation battle is always changing every week. Ajaccio who were bottom going into this weekend are now upto 14th after their victory. Nice (18) are now bottom after their last gasp defeat to Montpellier. Auxerre & Sochaux (19) make up the bottom three a point behind both Caen and Valenciennes.

[taz]

Spanish Primera Division

Matchday 21 of 38

Saturday 28 January

Espanyol 1-0 Real Mallorca
Rayo Vallecano 2-3 Athletic Bilbao
Real Madrid 3-1 Real Zaragoza
Villarreal 0-0 Barcelona

Sunday 29 January

Real Betis 1-2 Granada
Levante 1-2 Getafe
Real Sociedad 5-1 Sporting Gijon
Racing Santander 2-2 Valencia
Malaga 2-1 Sevilla

Monday 30 January

Osasuna 0-1 Atletico Madrid

Matchday 21 Roundup

Real Madrid (52) have opened up a 7 point gap to 2nd placed Barcelona (45). Valencia (36) remain 3rd after their draw while Levante (31) are 4th level with 5th placed Espanyol but are 4th by virtue of GD. Athletic Bilbao (29) round off the top 6.

Real Zaragoza (12) remain rooted to the bottom 9 points from safety. Sporting Gijon (18) are 19th after their hammering in San Sebastian while Villarreal (20) are 18th a point behind Racing.

[taz]

Copa del Rey Semi Finals 1st legs

Mirandes 1-2 Athletic Bilbao
Valencia 1-1 Barcelona

Coupe de la Ligue Semifinals

Lorient 2-4 Lyon (AET)
Marseille 2-1 Nice

[taz]

FT: Lazio 2-0 Milan

Milan were denied the chance to go top of Serie A after losing to Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico. The result means Milan are a point behind Juventus but Juve do have a game in hand while Lazio are 4th with 39 points 4 behind Milan. The deadlock was broken on 76 minutes when Tommaso Rocchi fed the ball to Hernanes to slot the ball past Christian Abbiati. With 5 to go, a quick counter saw Senad Lulic cut the ball back for Rocchi to double the lead.

[taz]

FT: Novara 1-2 Chievo

Novara slumped to defeat at home against Chievo in Emiliano Mondonico's first game in charge of the home side. This is Novara's 5th straight defeat and leaves them seven points from safety. 10 minutes in, Samir Ujkani had to be alert to save a Sergio Pellissier low shot and the follow up from Luciano. Chievo should have been ahead on the half hour when a Gennaro Sardo header was blocked by his own teammate, Alberto Paloschi. Pellissier opened the scoring 10 minutes before the break when he turned home a superb Luciano cross. With 12 minutes to go, Paolo Sammarco played through Cyril Thereau to make it 2-0. A minute later, Giuseppe Mascara converted a Marco Rigoni cross but it was just a mere consolation for Novara.

Italian Serie A

Matchday 21 of 38

Wednesday 1 February

Napoli 0-0 Cesena
Udinese 2-1 Lecce
Lazio 2-0 Milan
Inter 4-4 Palermo
Cagliari 4-2 Roma

Thursday 2 February

Novara 1-2 Chievo

[taz]

FT: Nuremberg 0-2 Borussia Dortmund

Borussia Dortmund have provisionally moved 3 points clear at the top with an impressive away victory at Nuremberg. Nuremberg troubled Dortmund early on with set pieces and Dominik Maroh went close after 10 minutes. On 20 minutes, another corner was not cleared and Tomas Pekhart somehow shot the ball over the bar from 3 yards. 10 minutes before the break, Dortmund had started to creae chances and Raphael Schafer had to pull out a great save to deny Robert Lewandowski. 3 minutes into the 2nd half, the deadlock was broken. Lukasz Piszczek was put through and he pulled the ball back for Sebastian Kehl to sidefoot the ball home. Just past the hour, Kehl had a shot deflected by Lewandowski into the net but it was ruled out for a marginal offside call. With 8 minutes to go, Shinji Kagawa saw his shot blocked by Schafer but Lucas Barrios pounced to slot the loose ball home to register his 1st goal of the season.

[taz]

FT: Bayer Leverkusen 2-2 Stuttgart

Stuttgart claimed their first point of 2012 after claiming a last gasp draw at Leverkusen. The deadlock was broken 11 minutes in when a Vedran Corluka cross was headed towards goal by Simon Rolfes, Sven Ulreich parried the ball into the path of Stefan Kiessling to score for Bayer. Midway through the half, Stuttgart were awarded a freekick 30 yards from goal and it was played short to Julian Schieber who sent a poweful low shot past the wall into the bottom corner. 2 minutes into the 2nd half, Lars Bender was brought down in the box by Serdar Tasci for a penalty which Rolfes converted. Bayer Leverkusen had to play the last half hour with 10 men when Michal Kadlec was shown a needless second yellow. With a minute to go, a goalmouth scramble resulted in Martin Harnik scoring the equaliser for Stuttgart. In stoppage time, it was 10 v 10 when Cristian Molinaro was sent off for a dangerous foul on Andre Schurrle.