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Espanyol rally to beat Real

Espanyol turned up the heat in the second half to secure a 4-1 victory over Real Sociedad that boosts their hopes of qualifying for Europe next season.

Espanyol went ahead three minutes before the break courtesy of an Estrada own goal, the Real Sociedad defender turning Alvaro Vazquez’s shot past his own goalkeeper.

But Estrada quickly made amends by conjuring up an equaliser on the stroke of half-time.

Espanyol regained the initiative nine minutes into the second half when Sergio Garcia made it 2-1 after Joan Verdu had supplied an inviting cross from the right.

Jose Callejon looked to have put the match beyond Sociedad’s reach with a third nine minutes from time after latching onto a pass from Pedro Rui Fonte. And Javi Marquez put the seal on the home side’s win with a fourth on the stroke of full-time curling home a 30-yard freekick.

Real Sociedad had been the first to settle but Antoine Griezmann was off target with his fifth-minute effort and Estrada was wide with another shot on 22 minutes.

The visitors did produce the first genuine threat with David Zurutuza seeing his shot tipped round the post by Espanyol goalkeeper Carlos Kameni in the 26th minute.

Estrada’s unfortunate own goal halted their momentum and although he levelled before the break it was all Espanyol after the break.

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Chelsea defender Ashley Cole has allegedly shot and wounded a work experience boy at the club after “larking” around with an air rifle, according to the News of the World.

The incident happened last Sunday at the Chelsea’s Cobham training ground when Cole took the .22 gun from a box, not realising it was loaded, and accidentially fired at Tom Cowan, 21, from just five feet away.

A source told the News of the World: “It’s truly inconceivable that a Premier League footballer could bring a gun to the training ground.

“But Ashley pulled the rifle from a box and started larking about with it in the changing room, not realising it was loaded. It ended up pointed at Tom just five feet away.

“The gun went off with a loud pop and Tom screamed as this lead pellet hit him in the side. It went through his clothing and into his flesh.”

Cowan received treatment from the Chelsea medical staff and was given two days to rest after the ordeal, which was witnessed by a dozen staff members of the club.

Police were not called and the source went on to say that Chelsea officials were concerned that “it would be a PR disaster if this became public knowledge, so the club has closed ranks over it”.

At present there has been no word from Chelsea about the alleged incident.

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Di Vaio double sinks Juventus

Marco Di Vaio returned to haunt his former club Juventus by scoring both goals in an impressive Serie A win for Bologna at the Stadio Olimpico.

He struck in the 49th and 66th minutes to inflict the eighth defeat on Juve this season and increase the pressure on their coach Luigi Delneri while taking the Emilian side into a comfortable mid-table position.

Juve’s second loss in a row, coming after a defeat by the same scoreline at Lecce last weekend, leaves the Bianconeri three points adrift of the top five and struggling for a place in Europe next season.

The first 45 minutes were largely uneventful with the only moment of danger arriving in the 43rd minute when Vincenzo Iaquinta hit the post as the ball bounced around the penalty area.

Both sides struggled to make their mark on the game and Delneri’s reaction at half-time was a bold one.

He brought Alessandro Del Piero and Luca Toni on for the second half, playing with four forwards in a bid to open the game up.

The move worked, but not exactly how he had planned it.

Di Vaio put the visitors in front in the 49th minute when he beat the offside trap to latch onto Mutarelli’s finely-weighted pass and lift the ball over Marco Storari just before Giorgio Chiellini could recover.

Juve did create a good chance to level in the 65th minute when Leonardo Bonucci met Del Piero’s free-kick at the far post, but he could not get enough on the ball, despite beating Bologna goalkeeper Emiliano Viviano, to nudge it across the line, and Miguel Britos cleared the danger.

Within a minute, Di Vaio added the second.

He picked up the ball to the left of the penalty area and dribbled in past both Bonucci and Zdenek Grygera before beating Storari inside his near post.

The fans vented their frustration and Delneri gambled again with Simone Pepe coming on as a fifth forward instead of the full-back Grygera.

However, it was a defender, Bonucci, who came the closest to scoring when his header went just inches wide of the post from a corner.

A goal-line clearance from Daniele Portanova in the 84th minute summed up Juve’s day as he prevented Toni from grabbing a consolation for the hosts.

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Borussia Dortmund took another giant stride towards their first Bundesliga title in nine years with a 3-1 victory over Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena which all but ended the hosts’ hopes of defending their crown.

Dortmund’s first win in Munich since 1991 gave them a 13-point lead over second-placed Bayern Leverkusen, who play tomorrow, and moved them 16 clear of Bayern.

Lucas Barrios put Jurgen Klopp’s side ahead in the ninth minute before Luis Gustavo brought Bayern level in the 16th minute. Nuri Sahin put Dortmund back in front within two minutes and Mats Hummels sealed the three points after an hour to leave Bayern languishing in fourth.

Hannover and Mainz kept up their challenge for Champions League qualification following late wins away from home in the Bundesliga.

Christian Schulz’s 89th minute goal gave Hannover a hard-earned 1-0 win at St Pauli and their club record 14th victory of the Bundesliga season.

Schulz scored the only goal of the game for Mirko Slomka’s team. Hannover have collected three wins and a draw in their last four games to move to 44 points, in third place ahead of Bayern.

Mainz secured a 2-1 victory away to Hoffenheim, thanks to Elkin Soto’s 86th minute winner, that keeps them in fifth place.

Eugen Polanski hit the post for Mainz on 21 minutes and the visitors were ahead two minutes later through Andreas Ivanschitz. Hoffenheim appeared set to claim a point when David Alaba equalised on 83 minutes, but Soto struck decisively just three minutes later.

Schalke‘s fans were unable to hide their frustration after another abject performance from their side ended in a 1-1 draw at home to Nurnberg. Jens Hegeler put the visitors in front against the run of play in the 37th minute and both sides left the field to a chorus of disapproval from the home fans.

Raul earned Schalke a point with his goal in the 52nd minute, but Schalke’s wastefulness prevented them from finding a winner and the fans made their feelings known towards coach Felix Magath at the final whistle.

Lukas Podolski’s late goal secured Cologne an entertaining 1-0 victory over Freiburg for their fifth home win in a row. Podolski scored in the 88th minute for his sixth goal of the second half of the season.

Cologne are undefeated in their last four games and have just one loss in the last seven for 29 points and 11th place – five points from the relegation zone.

Kaiserslautern held on for a 1-1 draw at home to Hamburg to move out of the Bundesliga relegation zone. Adam Hlousek gave the hosts the lead in the 18th minute but Marcell Jansen equalised nine minutes after the break.

Kaiserslautern had collected just two points since the winter break going into the game, but this draw lifted them up to 15th place. Hamburg, who had won five of their previous seven games, moved up to sixth.

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Real Madrid’s title hopes suffered a damaging blow after they were held to a goalless draw by Deportivo La Coruna, a result that leaves Jose Mourinho’s men seven points adrift of leaders Barcelona.

Madrid dominated the match but a mixture of the woodwork, good goalkeeping by Depor custodian Daniel Aranzubia and poor finishing meant the capital club endured another miserable trip to the Riazor.

Madrid had gone 18 years without a win at Depor’s home prior to last season’s 3-1 victory, and tonight’s slip-up means Barca are a step closer to winning their third successive Primera Division crown.

Lionel Messi, David Villa and Pedro Rodriguez were all on the scoresheet as Barcelona saw off Real Mallorca 3-0 to power on at the top of the Primera Division standings.

Messi gave Barca a first-half lead with his 26th league goal of the season before second-half strikes from Villa and Pedro helped Barca move clear of second-placed Real Madrid.

Barca were without key quartet Xavi, Carles Puyol, Victor Valdes and Dani Alves through a mixture of injury and suspension and they looked set for a testing night at the Iberostar Stadium as Michael Laudrup’s Mallorca started brightly.

Jose Antonio Reyes netted a late equaliser against former club Sevilla to earn Atletico Madrid a share of the spoils with a 2-2 draw in a hugely entertaining clash between two of La Liga’s struggling big guns at the Vicente Calderon.

Sevilla, who this week were knocked out of the Europa League, twice took the lead through goals from Alvaro Negredo and Ivan Rakitic but Atletico hit back both times to deservedly claim a point.

Teenager Jorge Koke cancelled out Negredo’s strike with his first league goal for the club, while Reyes, who came up through the youth ranks at Sevilla, netted Atletico’s second equaliser with 14 minutes to go.

Both clubs will be pleased to have avoided defeat against one of their main rivals for a Europa League place, but they could find themselves even further adrift of the top six if Athletic Bilbao beat Valencia on Sunday.

Espanyol turned up the heat in the second half to secure a 4-1 victory over Real Sociedad that boosts their hopes of qualifying for Europe next season.

Espanyol went ahead three minutes before the break courtesy of an Estrada own goal, the Real Sociedad defender turning Alvaro Vazquez’s shot past his own goalkeeper. But Estrada quickly made amends by conjuring up an equaliser on the stroke of half-time.

Espanyol regained the initiative nine minutes into the second half when Sergio Garcia made it 2-1 after Joan Verdu had supplied an inviting cross from the right.

Jose Callejon looked to have put the match beyond Sociedad’s reach with a third nine minutes from time after latching onto a pass from Pedro Rui Fonte. And Javi Marquez put the seal on the home side’s win with a fourth on the stroke of full-time curling home a 30-yard freekick.

Sporting Gijon were left to rue a host of missed chances as they were held to a goalless draw by fellow Primera Division strugglers Real Zaragoza.

Carmelo had a goal disallowed late on but Sporting only had themselves to blame after spurning a host of decent opportunities in registering their third straight draw.

Real Zaragoza offered little after a promising opening but did at least get a point after suffering back-to-back defeats.

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