European football: Liverpool into League Cup semis, Barcelona struggle to beat Almeria

Liverpool destroyed West Ham 5-1 on Wednesday to set up a League Cup semi-final against Fulham, easing the frustration of their weekend Premier League stalemate against Manchester United. Curtis Jones scored twice and Dominik Szoboszlai, Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah were also on the scoresheet for Jurgen Klopp’s dominant team, who were trophyless last season. No team have won more League Cups than Liverpool, who lifted the trophy for the ninth time in the 2021/22 season. The Reds had 34 shots against United in Sunday’s Premier League match without finding the net, failing to win at home for the first time this season to their intense frustration. Manager Jurgen Klopp said he was delighted with his team’s “joyful football” as they once again clicked in front of goal against West Ham. “We were brave in our positioning, our second ball game was exceptional,” he said. “It was a really, really good performance from start to finish. “It is really tough for all of us, there’s a lot of games and the boys played a lot of football already.” The much-changed home side, with Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold on the bench and Alisson Becker rested completely, launched wave after wave of attacks, with West Ham struggling to lay a glove on their opponents. Harvey Elliott blasted over the bar in the 14th minute and Szoboszlai fired wide but the Hungary midfielder gave Liverpool the lead they deserved shortly before the half-hour mark. It came after Said Benrahma lost the ball carelessly in midfield, squandering a chance for a rare West Ham break. Dominant Liverpool

This angle of Szobo's stunning strike 😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/RnyjYzEaBZ

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) December 21, 2023

Jarell Quansah fed Szoboszlai on the right of the Liverpool attack and he let fly with powerful shot from outside the area that flew into the far corner, giving goalkeeper Alphonse Areola no chance. The game continued in the same pattern, with West Ham forced to feed off scraps – a familiar feeling for a team who have won just once at Anfield since 1963. The home side could have doubled their lead in the final moments of the opening period but Gakpo headed narrowly wide following a fine cross from Elliott. Liverpool had 11 shots in the first 45 minutes to West Ham’s zero. The London side also had a clutch of star names on the substitutes’ bench, with the impressive Lucas Paqueta and James Ward-Prowse omitted from the starting line-up. The second half unfolded in a similar way to the first, with Liverpool probing and David Moyes’ men looking toothless. Darwin Nunez, who started the game without a goal in his past 10 games for Liverpool, got a shot away after wriggling clear in the box but Areola was equal to the task. However, Jones gave Liverpool a buffer in the 56th minute, firing the ball through Areola’s legs at the near post. Moyes threw on Paqueta but Klopp countered by bringing on Salah, Alexander-Arnold and Ibrahima Konate. Liverpool made it 3-0 when Gakpo fired low inside Areola’s right-hand post from the edge of the area following Konate’s charge forward. Jarrod Bowen pulled one back, cutting inside Quansah and producing a fine curling finish around Caoimhin Kelleher but worse was to come for the hapless visitors. Salah netted a breakaway goal from Alexander-Arnold’s pass and Jones capped a fine night with his second after dancing through the Hammers defence. Liverpool, who host Premier League leaders Arsenal on Saturday with a chance to leapfrog the London side, will face Fulham in the first leg of the two-legged League Cup semi-final in the week beginning January 8. Middlesbrough will take on Chelsea in the other last-four tie. La Liga: Sergi Roberto fires struggling Barca to victory [caption id=“attachment_13529132” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Sergi Roberto was on the scoresheet in Barcelona’s win against Almeria in La Liga. AP[/caption] Barcelona ground out an unconvincing 3-2 home win against basement club Almeria on Wednesday thanks to a late Sergi Roberto goal, moving them up to third in La Liga. Xavi Hernandez’s side ended 2023 with a win thanks to Sergi Roberto’s double and a first-half goal from Raphinha. Twice the 20th-placed visitors pegged back the Catalan giants courtesy of goals from Leo Baptistao and Edgar Gonzalez but it was eventually the home team who held out to claim the spoils. The opening 45 minutes threw up several good chances for both sides as Barcelona set about methodically trying to break down the visitors. It was nearly an early set-piece that did the trick for the Catalans when captain Sergi Roberto was left all alone in the centre of the box but ‘keeper Luis Maximiano did exceptionally well to keep out his headed effort. The hosts then got a warning shot at the other end after Ronald Araujo missed a cross and Joao Cancelo desperately had to intervene to block Largie Ramazani’s effort in the 13th minute. Raphinha opened the scoring on 33 minutes when weak Almeria defending, again from a corner, allowed Araujo to get a header goalwards, Maximiano made another fine stop but was unable to do anything about Raphinha’s lashed rebound. Now in the lead, Xavi’s charges took their foot off the pedal, yet they almost got a second when Robert Lewandowski was gifted the ball in the box by a defender and only another excellent Maximiano save denied him. This drop in intensity did then prove to be their undoing as just eight minutes later, Leo Baptistao shocked them with an equaliser. A defensive error by Araujo let Sergio Arribas slip the Brazilian striker through and his dinked finish over Inaki Pena quickly resulted in the assistant’s flag being raised. Initially off-side earlier in the move, VAR replays showed he had got back onside by the time Arribas played him the ball. Xavi rang the changes at half-time and sent on Ferran Torres and Jules Kounde in place of Joao Felix and Andreas Christensen. Torres had an instant impact, working the Portuguese stopper with a firm strike three minutes after half-time. Despite this injection of pace, the home side still looked sluggish. Poor set-piece defending gave Barca the chance they needed to get back in front on the hour mark, Sergi Roberto meeting a corner at the near post and lofting a header over the goalkeeper’s dive into the far corner. The second goal appeared to have knocked the stuffing out of the 20th-placed side but a gift from Pena got them back in it, when he dropped a lofted free-kick at Edgar’s feet and the defender gleefully rolled the ball into the unguarded net. Barca had a golden chance to win the game with just over 10 minutes remaining, but first Lewandowski then Ilkay Gundogan were unable to make sufficient contact with their headers when the goal was gaping before them. But it was Sergi Roberto, in just his fifth appearance of the season, that provided the winning goal for the Spanish champions when he burst onto Lewandowski’s lofted pass in the 83rd minute and slotted past Maximiano. Five minutes later, Pena atoned for his earlier error by making a great reflex save from an Iddrisu Baba header as his side stumbled over the line in a topsy-turvy encounter. Later, Athletic Bilbao went level on points with fourth-place Atletico Madrid after beating Las Palmas 1-0 and near the foot of the table, Rafael Benitez’s Celta Vigo lost 3-2 at Villarreal. Bundesliga: Leverkusen remain four points clear of Bayern

Thank You Fans. 🫶⚫️🔴#B04BOC | #Bayer04 #Werkself pic.twitter.com/43ttzJgD0J

— Bayer 04 Leverkusen (@bayer04_en) December 20, 2023

Patrik Schick scored a first-half hat-trick as Bayer Leverkusen thumped Bochum 4-0 at home to stay four points clear of Bayern Munich, who won 2-1 at Wolfsburg on Wednesday. Harry Kane’s 21st league goal was the difference in Bayern’s victory but Leverkusen continued their stellar record to claim the three points and keep the German champions at bay. With January’s Africa Cup of Nations in mind, Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso rested several first teamers, including Nigeria striker Victor Boniface. Schick, handed his first league start in 14 months, repayed his manager’s faith, winning and converting a penalty after half an hour. The Czech forward doubled up two minutes later, slamming in a Jeremie Frimpong cross to make it 2-0. He scored again, this time heading in a corner, just before the break. Alonso took Schick off to a standing ovation midway through the second-half for Boniface, who scored two minutes after coming on. “We’re happy about that, but it’s even more important that we keep doing it into the new year” Leverkusen sporting director Simon Rolfes told Sky.

Thanks for all your incredible support, not just tonight, but all year long 😍

We go again in 2024 👊 #MiaSanMia pic.twitter.com/eTeI25OOgi

— FC Bayern (@FCBayernEN) December 20, 2023

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An undermanned Bayern were made to work to keep pace with Leverkusen, Kane and Jamal Musiala scoring first-half goals to victory at Wolfsburg. “We were in the red zone” coach Thomas Tuchel said. “Compliments to the players. That was a real tour de force in the second-half.” Playing a second straight time without the flu-hit midfield duo of Leon Goretzka and Joshua Kimmich, Bayern rushed out to a 2-0 lead but were pegged back before half-time by a Max Arnold stunner. The German champions dug in throughout the second-half against a dogged Wolfsburg side coached by former Bayern mentor Niko Kovac, but held on to claim a valuable three points in what is emerging as a true two-horse title race. “They’re a great team, they’ve got a great coach” Kane said of Leverkusen after the game, but told reporters “we can’t control their game, all we can do is keep pushing them.” “We’re not even half-way through the season yet, so we can’t focus on them too much.” Elsewhere, Stuttgart rebounded from Sunday’s 3-0 loss at Bayern, beating Augsburg at home by the same scoreline to leapfrog RB Leipzig into third spot. Stuttgart’s star striker Serhou Guirassy scored again, his 17th of the campaign, while Denis Undav and Chris Fuehrich also got on the scoresheet for the home side. Promoted Heidenheim continued their impressive debut Bundesliga season, coming from behind twice to win 3-2 at home with Freiburg. Eintracht Frankfurt scored two goals in injury time to come from behind and win 2-1 at home against Borussia Moenchengladbach. Gladbach were on course for victory thanks to a first-half goal from Max Woeber, but the goalscorer was sent from the field with two minutes remaining. Frankfurt’s Aurelio Buta and Robin Koch made the most of the numerical advantage, scoring to turn the game. Union beat Cologne Struggling Union Berlin won 2-0 at home to Cologne to move out of the German Bundesliga’s relegation zone. Second-half goals to Benedict Hollerbach and David Fofana took Union to their fourth win of their season and only their second dating back to August. Hollerbach scored with a superb solo effort, blasting into the top of the net while Chelsea loanee Fofana produced a mirror image goal with 12 minutes remaining to seal the result. Union, who signed off from their debut Champions League campaign in the German capital last Wednesday with a 3-2 loss to Real Madrid, have now won two home league matches in a row under new manager Nenad Bjelica. The loss leaves Cologne stuck in second-last spot on the table, with just two wins from 16 games so far this season. “It’s clear that in this situation everything is called into question – including the coach” said Cologne manager Steffen Baumgart, telling Sky “it doesn’t look good for us.” Ligue 1: Mbappe scores birthday brace as PSG end year on top

📺 HIGHLIGHTS

All the highlights from our win 🆚 Metz at the Parc des Princes (3-1)!

⚽️ Vitinha
⚽️⚽️ Kylian Mbappé

See you in 2024 ❤️💙#PSGFCM - #MatchDeLaSolidarité pic.twitter.com/V1sk1N1GBL

— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) December 20, 2023

Kylian Mbappe marked his 25th birthday with a brace as Paris Saint-Germain beat Metz 3-1 in Ligue 1 on Wednesday to reach the halfway stage of the season five points clear at the top of the table. PSG, who had been held 1-1 at Lille at the weekend, laboured in the first half before Vitinha opened the scoring early in the second half by turning in a cross from Lee Kang-in. Mbappe then took centre stage by making it 2-0 with a superb strike in off the underside of the crossbar from the edge of the area. Matthieu Udol pulled one back for the struggling visitors but Mbappe pounced on a short backpass to round the goalkeeper and make it 3-1 towards the end for his 18th league goal of the campaign. His birthday was made even more memorable when his 16-year-old brother Ethan came on for his senior debut in stoppage time. PSG end the year with a comfortable five-point cushion over nearest challengers Nice, who defeated Lens 2-0 on Wednesday thanks to two late goals from Nigerian striker Terem Moffi. Monaco are seven points behind the leaders in third place after coming from behind to win 2-1 at Toulouse, with Wissam Ben Yedder scoring both of their goals. The principality side held on to take all three points despite having Aleksandr Golovin sent off early in the second half. Malian international Kamory Doumbia produced the individual performance of the evening by scoring four goals, all in the first half, as Brest beat Brittany rivals Lorient 4-0. That result lifted Brest up into fourth, a Champions League qualifying berth, above a Lille side who were beaten 2-1 away at Patrick Vieira’s Strasbourg. Fireworks Marseille are sixth after coming from behind to draw 1-1 at Montpellier, with Jordan Veretout scoring their goal in a game that was held up for five minutes in the second half after fireworks were set off at one end of the stadium. Montpellier had a point deducted following an incident in their home match against Clermont earlier this season, when the away side’s goalkeeper was hit by a firecracker thrown from the same stand. “These guys are idiots, it’s incredible,” complained Montpellier coach Michel Der Zakarian on Wednesday. “I don’t understand it. You are supposed to come to the stadium to support your team, not to set off fireworks.” Japanese international Keito Nakamura got the only goal as Will Still’s Reims defeated Le Havre 1-0, while Rennes struck twice late on to claim a 3-1 victory at bottom club Clermont. Meanwhile, Lyon climbed out of the bottom three as they beat Nantes 1-0 thanks to an Alexandre Lacazette goal. It was a third consecutive victory for a team who had previously won just once all season, and the result lifted them two points above Toulouse, who now occupy the relegation play-off position. Italian Cup: Extra-time goals help Bologna stun Inter in last 16 Two-time holders Inter Milan were knocked out of the Italian Cup last 16 on Wednesday after a last-gasp 2-1 loss to Bologna. Defender Sam Beukema and attacker Dan Ndoye scored in the second half of extra time at the San Siro to set up a quarter-final tie with Fiorentina after Carlos Augusto had opened the scoring for the Serie A leaders. Bologna, managed by ex-Inter midfielder Thiago Motta, join Fiorentina, Lazio and Frosinone, who beat league champions Napoli 4-0 on Tuesday, in the last eight. The remaining four last-16 ties will be held early next month with the only Serie B side left in the competition Cremonese heading to Roma on January 3. Inter coach Simone Inzaghi made plenty of changes for the game during a busy festive period, keeping the likes of playmaker Hakan Calhanoglu as well as in-form attacker Marcus Thuram out of the starting 11. Despite Inter’s first-half dominance, Bologna, fourth in Serie A, came closest to opening the scoring as Giovanni Fabbian tested Inter’s Emil Audero in the goal with a volley in the 13th minute. The best of Inter’s nine first-half shots on goal fell to Davide Frattesi but Federico Ravaglia parried the shot wide after half an hour. Inter thought they had the breakthrough with 25 minutes to play but Serie A’s top scorer Lautaro Martinez had his penalty saved by Ravaglia after Bologna’s teenage defender Tommaso Corazza was penalised for handball. Martinez came close to opening the scoring again three minutes later but his effort skimmed over the crossbar after a smart dummy outside the box. With 16 minutes to play Inzaghi brought Thuram onto the field, looking for the France attacker’s third goal in four games. Bologna showed why they had lost just twice this season, conceding just 12 times in 16 matches, with some impressive last-gasp defending and a few impressive saves from Ravaglia in just his third appearance of the season, late on in normal time. The long-awaited Inter breakthrough came after 145 seconds of the first half of extra time as Augusto headed home from Federico Dimarco’s corner for Inter. With 112 minutes gone, Motta’s outfit drew level with Beukema’s side-footed effort, superbly assisted by fellow Dutchman Joshua Zirkzee, who ended up off the field in his attempts to keep the ball in play. Bologna’s surprise victory was secured with five minutes of extra time remaining as Zirkzee provided a second assist, setting up Switzerland winger Ndoye for the winner on the counter-attack. Inter’s next game is Saturday’s home match against Lecce after Bologna host Atalanta earlier in the day.