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23 hours ago
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Real Madrid endured a shock 2-0 defeat and finished with nine men against Celta Vigo in La Liga on Sunday after Williot Swedberg scored an audacious goal with his heel and a second in stoppage time to leave the hosts four points off the leaders Barcelona.
Swedberg cleverly diverted a cross from Bryan Zaragoza past Thibaut Courtois in the 53rd minute to put Celta ahead and Real’s Fran García received a second yellow card 10 minutes later.
Álvaro Carrreras was dismissed for dissent in stoppage time before Swedberg had an easy finish three minutes into added time, going around the goalkeeper to wrap up the points.
Celta jumped from 14th to 10th, while the defeat ended Real’s 100% home league record this season after six successive wins.
Xabi Alonso’s stuttering Real team have now won only one of their past five league games as they await the midweek arrival of Manchester City in the Champions League.
The Napoli striker Rasmus Højlund stole the spotlight as his two goals secured a 2-1 home victory against Juventus, lifting the champions to the top of Serie A.
Napoli have 31 points, one ahead of Inter in second. Third-placed Milan, who are three points off the pace, visit Torino on Monday. Juventus remain seventh on 23.
Napoli opened the scoring after seven minutes when David Neres burst down the right, shook off Teun Koopmeiners and squared to Højlund, who slid in to steer the ball home.
The hosts dominated much of the first half and created the clearer chances, with Scott McTominay nearly scoring just before the interval when his header glanced past the near post. Napoli were given a fright as the Scot was forced to visit the touchline several times for treatment, seemingly struggling with a muscular issue, though he managed to play on.
Although the home side continued to press after the break, it was Juventus who hit back just before the hour with a counter-attack that found Kenan Yildiz inside the box and he drilled a low effort into the far corner to equalise.
Højlund was not finished, however, and in the 78th minute he scored a second goal, heading in from point-blank range after Weston McKennie diverted a header to the Dane as he tried to clear a cross. Despite a late Juventus push, Napoli held firm to claim all three points much to the relief of the home crowd.
Roma endured a 1-0 defeat at Cagliari, with a second-half red card for Mehmet Celik leaving them vulnerable before Gianluca Gaetano’s late winner. The loss leaves Roma fourth on 27 points.
Roma’s city neighbours, Lazio, held Bologna to a 1-1 draw despite playing the final 10 minutes with 10 men after Mario Gila’s red card, while Jamie Vardy did not find the net but his Cremonese side defeated Lecce 2-0.
Borussia Dortmund scored once in each half through Julian Brandt and Nico Schlotterbeck to ease past Hoffenheim 2-0 on Sunday and tighten their hold on third place in the Bundesliga.
Dortmund, who stretched their unbeaten league run to six matches, are third on 28 points, one behind second-placed RB Leipzig, 6-0 winners against Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday. The Bundesliga leaders, Bayern Munich, are on 37 points following their 5-0 demolition of Stuttgart. Hoffenheim, who endured their first defeat after their own six-game unbeaten run, are fifth on 23.
Dortmund, who face Norway’s Bodø/Glimt in the Champions League on Wednesday with the Ruhr valley club on track for a top-eight finish in the league phase, had to wait until the 43rd minute for their first good move in an even first half, with Brandt finishing with a tap-in.
As Hoffenheim pushed for an equaliser Dortmund struck again, with Schlotterbeck’s off-balance shot on the hour. The Dortmund forward Serhou Guirassy should have added another late on when he was sent through by Yan Couto but his shot came back off the crossbar.
