Liverpool beat a hapless 10-man Newcastle 2-0 to fuel its hope for a top-four finish in the English Premier League on Saturday.
The result ended Newcastle’s 17-game unbeaten streak in the league and handed Eddie Howe’s team just the second loss of the season. Incidentally, both of these losses have come against Liverpool.
Darwin Nunez opened the scoring with an emphatic finish in the 10th minute after which Mohamed Salah found Cody Gakpo in the box who produced a clinical finish to double the lead.
Things only got worse for Newcastle when goalkeeper Nick Pope was sent off. However, Liverpool missed chances to increase the lead in the second half and the score remained at 2-0. Pope’s red card means he will be suspended for the League Cup final against Manchester United next weekend
Real Madrid Win
Vinicius Junior was back at his best to set up a late breakthrough and help Real Madrid win at Osasuna 2-0 in the Spanish La Liga on Saturday. Vinicius, who was suspended for a match, led Madrid’s attack while Karim Benzema was rested ahead of Tuesday’s UCL tie against Liverpool in the Champions League round of 16. While Vinicus did have three one-on-one situations to find the goal, it was his assist to Federico Valverde in the 78th minute that caught the eye.
Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti heaped praise on his player and said, “Vinícius is a player who always makes the difference. When we started playing more in open space in the second half that was when he took charge. He is a fantastic player, he doesn’t stop attacking, doesn’t stop dribbling at rivals, he is an incredible talent. This was an important win to keep us in the league race.”
Gladbach stun Bayern
Bayern Munich’s rocky start to 2023 continued as Borussia Monchengladbach defeated 10-man Bayern 3-2 on Saturday.
Marcus Thuram scored a late goal to seal the win after goals from Lars Stindl and Jonas Hofmann stretched Bayern’s winless run against Gladbach to five games across all competitions. Gladbach defeated the Munich 5-0 in the German Cup last season.
It was the fourth time in six league games this year that defending champion Bayern has dropped points and it means Union Berlin can take over the lead on Sunday by beating last-placed Schalke.