ENGLAND: Led by two goals, Liverpool ended up eliminating Leicester and Youri Tielemans
Youri Tielemans and Leicester City were knocked out by Liverpool at Anfield on Wednesday night for the English League Cup quarter-finals. The Foxes led twice with two goals, before finally coming out on penalties (3-3, 5-4 tab).
Without Timothy Castagne positive for Covid-19, Leicester aligned his master to play Youri Tielemans. On the side of the Reds, Jürgen Klopp had to compose without Divock Origi, injured.
The start of the meeting was completely to the advantage of the Foxes who led 0-2 via a double from the inevitable Jamie Vardy (9th, 0-1 and 13th, 0-2). Barely time to breathe as Liverpool reduced the score through Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (19, 1-2). A reduction in the score that did not stop the inclinations of Tielemans teammates, since they took two goals ahead shortly after the half hour thanks to James Maddison (33rd, 1-3). The Reds would once again come back to the mark by Diogo Jota (68th, 2-3), before equalizing in the very last moments of the meeting thanks to Takumi Minamino (90 + 5). Qualification was contested on penalties, where Tielemans did not shake, unlike Luke Thomas and Ryan Bertrand. Only Minamino missed his shipment for Liverpool who returned from Devil Vauvert to qualify for the semi-finals.
At the same time, Chelsea, still without Romelu Lukaku, won 0-2 at Brentford. The goals were scored by Pontus Jansson against his camp (80th, 0-1) and Jorginho on penalty (85th, 0-2).
FRANCE: Monaco and Matazo win against Rennes deprived of Doku
AS Monaco won 2-1 Wednesday night against Stade Rennais in the 19th day of Ligue 1. Eliot Matazo played almost the entire match, unlike Jérémy Doku, injured and absent from the scoresheet. .
Led to the score by the goal of Martin Terrier (16th, 0-1), the Monegasques first returned to the score through Wissam Ben Yedder on a penalty (35th, 1-1), before finally taking the advantage via Kevin Volland (72nd, 2-1). Present at the kickoff, Eliot Matazo was replaced in the 89th minute. On the Rennes side, Jérémy Doku was absent from the scoresheet due to injury.
At the same time, Lille went on to win 2-3 on Bordeaux, thanks to former Ghent native Jonathan David who scored the winning goal for his team in the 84th minute. Amadou Onana entered at half-time for the Mastiffs.
Reims and Thomas Foket, present throughout the meeting, went to seek a point at the Vélodrome stadium thanks to their little prodigy Hugo Ekitike.
In the standings, despite its defeat, Rennes occupies 4th place with 31 points and has two lengths ahead of Monaco (6th) and three over Lille (8th). Reims is in 14th place with 23 units.
Spain: another setback for Atletico de Madrid and Carrasco, left behind in the title race
Nothing goes any more at Atletico de Madrid of Yannick Carrasco who chained a fourth consecutive defeat in the league. The Colchoneros lost 2-1 Wednesday on the lawn of Granada in their postponed meeting of the 9th day of La Liga. A new setback for the reigning champions who are in 5th place with 29 points, 14 lengths from their neighbor Real, leader.
Originally scheduled for October 16, the match was postponed to Wednesday, December 22 due to numerous absences caused by international meetings in Europe and South America. Before this meeting, the Colchoneros were in a negative spiral with three consecutive losses in La Liga, unlike their evening opponent who remained on four games without defeat (2 wins and 2 splits).
Everything had started well for the men of Diego Simeone who took the advantage from the start of the match thanks to Joao Felix. The Portuguese took advantage of a good pass from Thomas Lemar to deceive the porter of Granada (2nd, 0-1). An opening scoring which did not disturb the premises since they returned to the score 15 minutes later through Darwin Machis (17th, 1-1). They even pushed the defending champions a little more into the crisis by scoring the winning goal via Jorge Molina (61st, 2-1), inflicting a fourth consecutive setback to the Colchoneros. Yannick Carrasco remained on the lawn for 78 minutes.
ITALY: Praet on the bench, Saelemaekers on the assist
Alexis Saelemaekers, holder throughout the meeting, and AC Milan won 2-4 on the lawn of Empoli on behalf of the 19th day of Serie A. The former Anderlecthois was assisting for the second goal of his signed Franck Kessie. At the same time, Dries Mertens and Napoli were beaten 0-1 at home by La Spezia. In the standings, with 42 points, AC Milan is four units behind Inter. Naples is in 3rd place, 7 lengths behind the Nerazzurri.
Defeated by Naples last weekend, AC Milan recovered well, in particular thanks to Alexis Saelemaekers. While the score was 1-1, the Red Devil delivered an assist for the second goal of the evening from Franck Kessie who restored the lead to the Milanese (42nd, 1-2). Florenzi (63rd, 1-3) and Hernandez (69th, 1-4) would give their colors a more comfortable lead, before Pinamonti softened the score just before the end (84th, 2-4).
A victory which constitutes a good operation, since Naples lost on its own ground against Spezia. Juan Jesus was the executioner of his team, since he scored the only goal of the match against his side (37th, 0-1). Dries Mertens played in the first half before being substituted.
Present on the lawn for a quarter of an hour, Dennis Praet and his club Torino lost 1-0 at San Siro against Inter Milan on behalf of the 19th day of Serie A. A success that allows the Nerazzurri to prance in the lead with 46 points, against 39 for his first two pursuers. For its part, Torino is in 12th place with 25 points.
Holder in the 1-0 victory against Hellas Verona on December 19, Dennis Praet took his place on the bench for this trip to the leader of the competition. A leader who provided the minimum service by disposing of the Turin club thanks to the only goal from Denzel Dumfries at the half-hour mark. Despite the rise to the game of the former Anderlecht with 15 minutes from time, the score n ‘progressed more and the Interists pocketed their 7th success in a row in the league.
MOROCCO: Marc Wilmots’ Raja Casablanca beaten on penalties in the African Supercup
Moroccans Raja Casablanca, coached by Marc Wilmots, bowed on penalties (1-1, 6-5 tab) against Egyptian club Al Alhy, defending champion, in the African Supercup on Wednesday at Al Rayyan in Qatar. Al Ahly wins the trophy for the 8th time in its history.
After opening the scoring on a goal against his camp by Yasser Ibrahim (13th), Raja was joined in stoppage time via Taher Ibrahim (90th), entered in the 77th. On penalties, Raja side Abdelilah Madkour, the originator of the Moroccan goal, sent his penalty over the crossbar, sealing the opposing success.
This new coronation allows the Egyptian club to establish its domination on African football. He now has eight Super Cup titles, ten in the Champions League and one in the CAF Cup.
The competition, which pits the winner of the local Champions League (Al Alhy) against that of the CAF Cup (Raja Casablanca), was organized for the third time in Qatar, after 26 editions on the African continent.
