- Fabián Ruiz scores late winner against Lazio
- Sevilla six points behind Real Madrid after beating Real Betis 2-1
Napoli enjoy reaching the summit after their dramatic late win in Rome. Photograph: Giuseppe Maffia/NurPhoto/REX/Shutterstock
Agencies
A dramatic, last-gasp goal from Fabián Ruiz earned Napoli a 2-1 win at Lazio, a victory that sent Luciano Spalletti’s team top of Serie A.
Lorenzo Insigne arrowed a fierce strike into the net to give his side the lead in the 62nd minute. Insigne thought he had added a quickfire second goal only to see his close-range finish ruled out for offside after a VAR review.
That setback looked like it would prove costly when Pedro lashed home the equaliser two minutes from time. The drama was not finished there, however, as a fine finish from Ruiz four minutes into stoppage time snatched victory for Napoli, moving them top above Milan, who are level on points but have an inferior goal difference.
Second-placed Sevilla defeated their bitter rivals Real Betis 2-1 on Sunday to close the gap on La Liga leaders Real Madrid to six points. Julen Lopetegui’s team dominated the derby from the beginning and Ivan Rakitic opened the scoring in the 24th minute with a penalty after the goalkeeper Claudio Bravo had tripped the striker Youssef En Nesyri.
Four minutes before the break Munir El Haddadi, who had come on minutes earlier for the injured Papu Gomez, took advantage of a mistake from the Betis defence to win the ball and put a low cross-shot between Bravo and his left-hand post. Sergio Canales scored the consolation goal for Betis in stoppage time with a perfect free-kick from just outside the box.
Sevilla moved up to 54 points from 26 games, eight ahead of Betis in third but still behind Real Madrid, who lead with 60. After one win in their past five league games, Sevilla needed victory to keep alive their ambitions of winning the title for the first time since 1946. They stepped up with a convincing performance against the in-form Betis, who had been homing in on second place as their local rivals struggled.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored for the third game in a row and helped a much improved Barcelona earn a comfortable 4-0 home win against Athletic Bilbao.
The former Arsenal striker opened the scoring in the 37th minute, converting the rebound after Gerard Piqué’s header came back off the crossbar. The second goal came in the 73rd minute with a fantastic finish by substitute Ousmane Dembélé, who made peace with the Barça fans and received a standing ovation after almost leaving the club in January due to his reluctance to renew his contract.
The French winger received a long pass from Frenkie de Jong just outside the box, beat a defender and fired a fierce shot that flew into the top left-hand corner of the net. Dembélé provided assists for the third and fourth goals, in stoppage time. First, he crossed perfectly to De Jong, who scored with a header, then, in the final move of the game, to Memphis Depay, who stroked in a volley from close range.
In Madrid, with four goals from four shots Yéremy Pino became the first Villarreal player to score four times in a Spanish league game. Pino scored a hat-trick before half-time and added another goal in the second half of Villarreal’s 5-1 home rout of Espanyol.
The 19-year-old Spain forward had never before scored more than one goal in a game. He is the third youngest four-goal scorer in the history of the Spanish league.
It was the eighth win for Villarreal in their past 11 league games, with their only defeat coming at Elche in January. Unai Emery’s team were coming off a 1-1 draw at home against Juventus in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie. Keidi Baré scored Espanyol’s goal in the second half. Villarreal’s fifth goal was scored by Boulaye Dia near the end of the game at the La Cerámica Stadium.
The win moved Villarreal up to fifth place, three points behind fourth-placed Atlético Madrid, who won 2-0 at Celta Vigo on Saturday. The league leaders Real Madrid won 1-0 at Rayo Vallecano on the same day. Espanyol’s winless run reached eight matches in all competitions, with five defeats and three draws. They remain in 14th place.
Borussia Dortmund slipped up with a 1-1 draw at Augsburg on Sunday to drop eight points behind the Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich. The Ruhr valley club took the lead with a solo effort from Thorgan Hazard after 35 minutes but eased off, allowing Augsburg to snatch a 78th-minute equaliser through Noah Sarenren Bazee.
In Ligue 1, the substitute Yoann Touzghar scored an 89th-minute equaliser as struggling Troyes held second-placed Marseille to a 1-1 draw on Sunday. Dimitri Payet scored a first-half penalty for the visitors after Mama Baldé fouled Matteo Guendouzi.
But Touzghar slid in to score from close range in the final minute to leave Marseille on 47 points from 26 games, 15 points behind the runaway leaders Paris St-Germain and one ahead of Nice in third. Although the draw left Troyes 17th, they are one of four sides on 22 points at the foot of the table along with Bordeaux, Saint-Étienne and Metz.
Two late goals from Reims helped them to a 2-1 comeback victory against Monaco, who had taken the lead on 55 minutes through Ligue 1’s leading scorer Wissam Ben Yedder as he netted his 15th goal of the season.
That was the way it stayed until six minutes from the end when Monaco’s Kevin Volland headed the ball into his own net, but worse was to follow as teenager Nathanael Mbuku scored a winner from a quick Reims counterattack deep into injury time. The goal came after Monaco’s Brazilian midfielder Jean Lucas received a second yellow card minutes earlier.
Lens inflicted a fifth successive defeat on Angers and moved up to sixth in the table with their 2-1 away success. Bordeaux were held to a 1-1 draw at Clermont while Lorient did their survival hopes the world of good with a 1-0 victory at 10-man Brest. Metz drew 0-0 with Nantes.