Atlético Madrid stayed in charge of La Liga’s four-way title race by grinding out a 1-0 win at struggling Elche on Saturday but rode their luck to the extreme when the hosts missed a penalty in stoppage time.
Marcos Llorente scored the only goal of the game with a deflected shot in the 23rd minute but gave away the penalty in the 90th for a handball as Atlético defended their slim lead. The Elche midfielder Fidel Chaves took the penalty and his shot went past Jan Oblak but came off a post, throwing Diego Simeone’s side a lifeline in the title race and leaving the hosts occupying the final place in the relegation zone in 18th.
The win took Atlético to 76 points with four games left, five clear of second-placed Real Madrid, who host Osasuna in Saturday’s late kick-off, and third-placed Barcelona, who visit Valencia on Sunday. Sevilla, on 70 points, host Athletic Bilbao on Monday.
In Serie A, Internazionale’s Christian Eriksen scored midway through the second half to set the runaway leaders on the way to a 2-0 win at Crotone that moved them within a point of clinching the title and confirmed their hosts’ relegation.
Inter are on 82 points, 14 clear of second-placed Atalanta, and need only one more point to guarantee a first league title since 2010 because of their superior head-to-head record over the Bergamo club. Inter will be crowned champions on Sunday if Atalanta fail to win at Sassuolo.
Eriksen’s deflected effort four minutes after coming off the bench found the bottom corner in the 69th minute to make the breakthrough and Achraf Hakimi finished a counterattack to double Inter’s lead in stoppage time.
In Ligue 1, Paris Saint-Germain went top of the standings, at least provisionally, after Neymar scored and set up another goal in a 2-1 home win against Lens.
Neymar netted in the first half and crossed for Marquinhos to score after the break to put PSG, who travel to Manchester City looking to overturn a 2-1 deficit in their Champions League semi-final tie on Tuesday, on 75 points with three games left.
Lille, who have 73 points, will reclaim top spot if they win their game in hand at home to Nice in Saturday’s late kick-off.
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With Kylian Mbappé rested and Marco Verratti on the bench, Neymar took charge and put PSG ahead after 33 minutes when he fired home from inside the box after being set up by Julian Draxler, who had dispossessed the snoozing Facundo Medina.
Just before the hour, PSG doubled the advantage as Marquinhos rose above Medina to head Neymar’s whipped cross home with the hosts seemingly heading towards a routine victory. Lens, however, made sure the reigning champions stayed on their toes as Ignatius Ganago found the back of the net with a half-volley from Jonathan Clauss’s cross.
from Football | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2SnlcVL
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