SUNDAY, APRIL 7, 2019 16 Madrid recovers to beat Eibar

English bags• a brace as Zinedine Bournemouth 1 3 Burnley Zidane’s men come Huddersfield Town 1 4 Leicester City from behind to win Newcastle United 0 1 Crystal Palace

Bale struggles again FA Cup • Manchester City 1 0 Brighton Marc Cardona gave the• visitors the lead Italian Serie A Parma 0 0 Torino AFP | Madrid Juventus 1 1 Milan

arim Benzema is one German Bundesliga of the few Real Madrid Kplayers to have had his Bayer 04 Leverkusen 2 4 RB Leipzig future guaranteed by Zinedine FC Schalke 04 1 2 Eintracht Frankfurt Zidane and he repaid his coach’s Hertha BSC 1 2 Fortuna Düsseldorf faith yesterday by scoring twice in a 2-1 win over Eibar. VfB Stuttgart 1 1 1. FC Nurnberg Madrid had to come from be- VfL Wolfsburg 3 1 Hannover 96 hind at the Santiago Bernabeu FC Bayern Munich 4 0 Borussia Dortmund after a dismal first-half perfor- mance included Marc Cardona, Spanish playing after an injury to Pedro Real Madrid’s French forward Karim Benzema (R) challenges Eibar’s Serbian goalkeeper Marko Dmitrovic Leon during the warm-up, gave Girona 1 2 Espanyol Eibar a surprise lead. parted again to whistles with 14 Federico Valverde, and pose, as opponents were allowed Real Madrid 2 1 Eibar But Madrid improved, and minutes left, a conciliatory hand Bale. through unchecked and passes two excellent Benzema headers slap from Zidane offering little Bale’s half began badly as he went astray. Rayo Vallecano 1 0 Valencia CF ensured the groans and whistles consolation as he trudged off. failed to control Valverde’s over- In the 39th minute, as the that had soured the atmosphere Benzema’s trajectory has been hit pass and then got worse as fans’ frustration was reaching its French Ligue 1 for much of the opening hour the opposite, the Frenchman has he missed a one-on-one when peak, Eibar scored, a crisp move Lyon 1 3 Dijon turned to cheers and applause six goals in five La Liga games, his finish was saved by Marko down the left ending with a cute at the end. four of them since Zidane took Dmitrovic. pass from Gonzalo Escalante *Scores as of closing Much of the frustration was over. to Cardona, who chipped into again directed at Gareth Bale, Zidane has insisted his players Chorus of whistles the net. Bale might have been in but ball found the net. who started here after being are not on trial but his changing The scattering of whistles be- The second half started bet- Asensio’s pass struck the back Benzema should have com- dropped by Zidane for the de- line-ups at least suggest he is came a chorus after he dragged ter for Madrid, with Benzema of his heel and the Welshman pleted his hat-trick late on but feat to Valencia on Wednesday. examining his options before a shot wide from 25 yards and it scoring only to be called back for departed with 14 minutes left, one finish was palmed away by Bale’s below-par performanc- the summer. was no surprise his confidence offside before the Frenchman to disgruntled whistles. Dmitrovic and another, with es and a lack of support from This time was drained away, a poor touch fol- headed in the equaliser just be- Madrid scored the winner the goal gaping, looped over. He either coach or fans seem so in- rested, while , Toni lowing shortly after. fore the hour. did without him. Kroos’ whipped even hit the post with a bending ter-linked now, it is difficult to Kroos and Lucas Vazquez also Bale was not the only one. Ma- brilliantly to weave into space cross was again met by the fore- effort in injury-time. The treble know what comes first. He de- dropped out. In came Nacho, drid lacked precision or pur- and dig out the cross. head of Benzema and, again, the was not to be.

Cunha seals comeback Barnes hits back to boost Burnley’s survival bid win to keep Leipzig on AFP | London shley Barnes went from Champions League zero to hero as Burnley AFP | Berlin forward Marcel Sabitzer. Aboosted their bid for Pre- Kai Havertz gave Leverkus- mier League survival with a cru- B Leipzig remain on track en the lead from 12 yards after cial 3-1 win against Bournemout Rfor a top-four finish in the Willi Orban tripped Kevin Vol- yesterday. Bundesliga after Matheus land in the box early on. ’s side made the Cunha’s delightful chip sealed Leipzig replied almost worst possible start at Dean a 4-2 win over top half rivals immediately when Sabitzer Court when Barnes headed Bayer Leverkusen yesterday. curled in a free-kick from the into his own net as he tried Leipzig twice came from edge of the box, but Havertz to clear under pressure from behind to claim a fourth con- quickly restored the lead with Bournemouth’s Nathan Ake in secutive victory in all com- a superb half-volley. the fourth minute. petitions and cement their Leverkusen looked com- However, Burnley were gifted claim for a Champions League fortable until Timo Werner an equaliser in the 18th minute place. suddenly smashed in Leip - as Bournemouth keeper Asmir “We fought back well today zig’s second just after the hour Begovic let Ashley Westwood’s after a tough week. It mark. corner go straight through his was an important three Emil Forsberg then put hands and Chris Wood nodded points in terms of the Leipzig in front from the in at the far post. Champions League,” penalty spot before Cunha Inspired by the New Zealand said Leipzig secured the three points forward’s 11th goal this season, with a splendid lob seven the Clarets struck again two minutes from time. minutes later, with Westwood Burnley’s English striker headers the ball Leipzig are three firing home after Chris Mepham points ahead of failed to clear Dwight McNeil’s joining on loan from Monaco. minute penalty after the Eng- fourth-placed Ein- cross. The Belgian netted land striker was brought down tracht Frankfurt, Burnley were well on top and with a deflected strike from the by Terrence Kongolo. who snatched a late Barnes struck at the right end edge of the area after Hudders- Luka Milivojevic extended his 2-1 win at Schalke. in the 57th minute. Once again field were unable to clear Jamie superb penalty record as Crystal Ante Rebic round- Begovic was guilty of poor han- Vardy’s miscued shot in the 24th KNOW WHAT Palace won 1-0 at Newcastle ed Schalke goalkeep- dling, allowing the ball to slip minute. to climb 11 points clear of the er Alexander Nuebel to Wood, who laid it back for Vardy doubled Leicester’s bottom three. on 13 minutes to put Barnes to slot into empty net. lead three minutes after half- Bottom of the table Newcastle defender Flori- Frankfurt ahead, but Burnley are eight points clear time, collecting Ricardo Perei- Huddersfield, playing an Lejeune was stretchered Suat Serdar levelled the scores of the relegation zone, and al- ra’s cross and slotting home af- their first home match off with his left knee heavily with his second goal in two though third bottom Cardiff ter rounding keeper Ben Hamer. strapped after a nasty second games. have a game in hand, Dyche’s Huddersfield midfielder Aar- since relegation was half collision with Andros Yet Frankfurt were awarded men have taken a major step on Mooy reduced the deficit confirmed, endured Townsend that left him needing an injury-time penalty by VAR towards staying up. with a 52nd minute penalty con- one last blow when a hospital scan. and Luka Jovic fired in the Leicester powered to a 4-1 troversially awarded for Caglar Vardy stroked in an Roy Hodgson’s team took the winner. rout of relegated Huddersfield Soyuncu’s challenge on Karlan 84th minute penalty points in the 81st minute when Schalke remain five points as Brendan Rodgers’ side moved Grant. Wilfried Zaha was clipped by Matheus clear of the bottom three af- into seventh. James Maddison put the re- field, playing their first home DeAndre Yedlin and Serbian Cunha ter Nuremberg and Stuttgart Youri Tielemans put Leicester sult beyond doubt with a fine match since relegation was con- midfielder Milivojevic slammed shared the points in a relega- ahead at the John Smith’s Stadi- free-kick in the 79th minute. firmed, endured one last blow in his 10th successful spot-kick tion showdown. um with his second goal since Bottom of the table Hudders- when Vardy stroked in an 84th this term.