European football: Freiburg move top of Bundesliga while Isco keeps Betis flying high
Keisuke Goto sealed a late 2-1 win over Schalke for 10-man Freiburg while Lazio joined Inter at the top of Serie A as Roma were held at Como
Ten-man Freiburg scored an 85th-minute winner through Keisuke Goto to snatch a 2-1 home victory over Schalke 04 on Sunday and move top of the Bundesliga.
Freiburg, who had already made a club-record start with 10 points from their opening four matches, climbed to 13 points, ahead of Borussia Dortmund on goal difference. The champions, Bayern Munich, who drew 2-2 against Augsburg on Saturday, are third on 11.
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With Freiburg in control, Maximilian Eggestein put the hosts in front after 10 minutes, but Schalke hit back through Adrian Gantenbein on the half-hour. Freiburg were reduced to 10 men when Yuito Suzuki received a second yellow card in the 64th minute, seemingly handing Schalke the initiative.
But the visitors were far too passive and toothless in attack to make the extra man count and Freiburg punished them five minutes before the end with the Japan international Goto snatching the winner with a glancing header.
Borussia Mönchengladbach remained rock bottom of the Bundesliga after a 2-1 defeat to local rivals Cologne on Sunday, in a match overshadowed by ugly scenes on the terraces.
The game was suspended for several minutes and riot police surrounded the away block after Gladbach fans appeared to fire fireworks into the home sections after Said El Mala’s superb second-half winner. That maintained pointless Gladbach’s miserable start to the season as the new coach, Alexander Blessin, failed to prevent the club falling to their fifth defeat in as many games.
The Real Betis playmaker Isco scored in each half as his side breezed to a 5-2 home win over Osasuna on Sunday that lifts them to third place in La Liga, five points behind the leaders, Barcelona, and one ahead of Real Madrid.
Isco fired home from the penalty spot in the 10th minute to open the scoring, and Abde Ezzalzouli added a second before the break after Betis won the ball high up the pitch and countered quickly.
Betis looked to be set for a comfortable afternoon when Diego Llorente added a third three minutes after half-time, but two quick goals for the visitors from Ante Budimir and Raúl García reduced the deficit to 3-2 in the 56th minute.
However, Isco eased their nerves again when he snapped up a loose ball in the box and rifled it home, and José Antonio Morante came off the bench in the 90th minute before scoring deep into stoppage time to leave Betis on 19 points after eight games.
Earlier on Sunday, Real Sociedad held off a spirited comeback from Deportivo La Coruña to emerge with a 3-2 win at home, while struggling Elche grabbed a much-needed point by holding visitors Celta Vigo to a scoreless draw.
Lazio moved level on points with Inter at the top of Serie A with a 3-1 win over Monza on Sunday as 10-man Roma played out the first goalless draw of the Italian season at Como.
Under Gennaro Gattuso, who has bounced back after his failure in charge of the Italian national side that missed out on the 2026 World Cup, Lazio continued their strong start to the season. Still unbeaten, the Roman side secured a fifth victory in six matches to pull level on 16 points with Inter, who beat Parma 3-0 at San Siro on Saturday.
Nuno Tavares gave Lazio a third-minute lead and Gustav Isaksen doubled it midway through the first half. Monza had Lorenzo Lucchesi sent off on 35 minutes for hauling down Tijjani Noslin as he broke through on goal, but the 16th-placed visitors rattled Lazio after the break, pulling a goal back and coming close to equalising before conceding a third goal in the closing stages.
Roma left Como frustrated. The dismissal of league top scorer Donyell Malen for a dangerous tackle early in the second half forced them to scale back their ambitions. Neither team could find the breakthrough in a clash between two sides widely regarded as dark horses for the title, leaving Inter and Lazio two points clear of Roma after their respective wins over Parma and Monza.
Bologna picked up their first win of the season by beating Lecce 2-1. Milan remain unbeaten in Serie A after drawing 1-1 with Sassuolo. Adrien Rabiot’s opener was cancelled out by Cas Odenthal as Milan settled for their third draw of the campaign and stay fifth in the table. Juventus are one point behind Milan after an 81st minute equaliser from Randal Kolo Muani salvaged a 1-1 draw with fourth-placed Cagliari.
Marseille put an end to their four-game losing run in Ligue 1 as Amine Harit and Himad Abdelli scored in a 2-0 win at Troyes. Struggling Marseille began the weekend in the relegation zone after suffering five losses in a row in all competitions, but a pair of second-half goals lifted them to 13th place.
Harit steered in a cross from Emerson Palmieri shortly after half-time before Abdelli converted a late penalty as Marseille avoided matching their worst losing streak over the past 40 years. Troyes had gone close to an equaliser just before Abdelli made the points safe for Marseille, but Renaud Ripart’s stoppage-time volley crashed against the post.
Rennes moved up to third earlier in the day with a 4-1 win against Auxerre, while Nice came from behind to beat Strasbourg 2-1.
