European overview: Gareth Bale scores but Real Madrid held by Levante in the epic, Tammy Abraham impresses with victory in Rome | Football news

Gareth Bale scores for Real Madrid in their 3-3 draw with Levante, while Tammy Abraham recorded two assists in a victory for Jose Mourinho’s Roma on a busy European Sunday.

La Liga: Bale scores but a real lousy thriller

Gareth Bale scored his first goal in almost two years for real Madrid in La Liga on Sunday, but substitute Vinicius Jr stole the show with two late strikes to snatch a 3-3 draw at Levante in a game that had it all.

Bale got Real off to a good start in the fifth minute and Carlo Ancelotti’s side dominated the remainder of the first half but ended up 2-1 down at the start of the second period.

Levante forward Roger Marti beat Thibaut Courtois to equalize in the first minute after the break before Jose Campana put the hosts ahead with a sensational volley in the 57th.

Ancelotti took out Bale, Eden Hazard and Isco moments after the goal and substitute Vinicius made a quick impact, equalizing in the 73rd minute with a cold finish after a through pass from Casemiro.

Levante restored their lead in the 79th thanks to Roger Pier after a free kick, but Vinicius again came to Real’s aid, equalizing in the 85th minute with a daring shot into the post from a tight angle.

More chaos was to come as Levante goalkeeper Aitor Fernandez was sent off for flying out of his zone and manipulating the ball to stop a Real counter, leaving defender Ruben Vezo to put on the gloves and protect the goal during the few minutes remaining.

Atletico Madrid striker Angel Correa has scored for the third time in two games to give the LaLiga champions an unconvincing 1-0 home win over Elche in a moving return for supporters at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium on Sunday.

Captain Koke paraded the La Liga trophy in front of the stadium’s 25,000 fans ahead of the kick-off of Atletico’s first home game with supporters since March 2020, although the party atmosphere has been mitigated because the hosts had a bad start to the match.

But Correa eventually gave Atletico the advantage in the 39th minute, calmly inserting himself into an unguarded net with the outside of his boot after Elche keeper Kiko Casilla failed to manage properly. a long balloon from Rodrigo de Paul.

Real Sociedad rebounded from a defeat on Matchday 1 at Barcelona, ​​beating promoted Rayo Vallecano 1-0 thanks to a 68th-minute penalty from Mikel Oyarzabal.

Serie A: Ronaldo off the bench, Jose’s victory in Rome

Juventus Coach Massimiliano Allegri said it was his decision to leave Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench at the start of Sunday’s 2-2 draw at Udinese.

Italian media have said Ronaldo has requested to be on the bench for Juve’s Serie A opener in Udine, potentially in order to preserve his fitness as he seeks to move away from the club.

The Portuguese striker came off the bench in the 60th minute to almost snatch a dramatic stoppage winner, only to have his header ruled out for offside after a lengthy VAR review.

Allegri said DAZN after the game: “Ronaldo is feeling good. I spoke to him before the game, telling him he would start on the bench. He made himself available, he did well when he entered the pitch.”

Jordan Veret’s double helped Rome to secure a 3-1 victory over his former club Fiorentina in their first game of the season on Sunday, as Jose Mourinho got off to a victorious start as Serie A coach in a game where both sides finished with 10 men.

Fiorentina goalkeeper Bartlomiej Dragowski received a red card for fouling new Roma boy Tammy Abraham in the 17th minute, much to the dismay of visiting coach Vincenzo Italiano.

Roma made the power play count at Stadio Olimpico when Henrikh Mkhitaryan opened the scoring in the 26th minute with an assist from Abraham, with the hosts entering the break in control.

The tide turned when Nicolo Zaniolo, starting his first Serie A game in more than a year after a long injury absence, received his second yellow card and was sacked just after the break, before Nikola Milenkovic equalized per hour of play.

With the numbers tied, Roma moved up a gear, with Abraham squared for Veretout to restore the hosts’ lead, before the Frenchman took the score to 3-1 with 11 minutes remaining.

In Sunday’s other late kick-off, goals from Lorenzo Insigne and Eljif Elmas gave Naples a 2-0 win over Venice in Napoli, even though the home side sent off Victor Osimhen in the first half

Bundesliga: Bayern overtake Cologne

Bayern Munich got his first win of the Bundesliga campaign with a 3-2 win over fights Cologne thanks to a double from Serge Gnabry and a strike from Robert Lewandowski.

Gnabry punched Cologne goalkeeper Timo Horn in the 71st minute of the game at the Allianz Arena to calm his side’s nerves, after the visitors punched Anthony Modeste and Mark Uth to make it 2-2.

The game started on a dark note after Bayern paid tribute to club hero Gerd Müller, who died aged 75 last week, and it was Lewandowski who started it five minutes after the break in kicking Jamal Musiala’s pass.

Gnabry doubled his advantage with a side-footed goal from a low cross from Thomas Müller, but Modeste pulled one out almost immediately in the 60th minute before Uth finished on a high to tie the game two minutes later.

Earlier, 10 men Union Berlin drew 2-2 with Hoffenheim, with Taiwo Awoniyi equalizing in the second half, after teammate Niko Giesselmann scored the first goal in the 10th minute.

Hoffenheim’s Kevin Akpoguma tied his side 1-1 in the 14th minute before Jacob Bruun Larsen believed he sealed the three points with a well-scored goal.

The game turned sour towards the end and Berlin defender Marvin Friedrich was sent off in added time when he knocked down Sargis Adamyan just outside the box for his second yellow card.

Ligue 1: Lyon refused by a return of two goals

The shock of Ligue 1 between Attractive and Marseilles was suspended in the second half due to serious crowd problems on Sunday after players from Marseille clashed with home fans who bombarded them with missiles and entered the pitch.

Kind supporters threw water bottles at Marseille striker Dimitri Payet as he was about to take a corner and, after the striker threw one back at them, a full-scale brawl ensued. ensued when some of the fans rushed onto the field.

The two teams withdrew into the tunnel and the game was interrupted for more than an hour before the President of Nice Jean-Pierre Rivere called the Nice supporters for calm and the local players returned to the pitch to s’ warm up.

But Marseille refused to join them, with the French daily The team reporting that visiting players Matteo Guendouzi and Luan Peres were injured in the fighting.

Nice were leading 1-0 when play was cut short in the 75th minute, Swedish striker Kasper Dolberg pulled them into the lead in the 49th after Marseille missed a series of chances in the first half.

Newcomers to Ligue 1 Clermont Foot fought two goals to save a 3-3 draw at Lyonnais after the substitute in the second half, Elbasan Rashani managed a superb double to continue his good start in the top flight.

In the other matches of the day, Montpellier celebrated a 3-1 home comeback against Lorient, Strasbourg were held to a 1-1 draw by visiting Troyes and Angers drew 1-1 at Bordeaux.

Metz were also held in check 1-1 at home by Reims, with home coach Frédéric Antonetti and his counterpart Oscar Garcia received red cards for dissenting from referee Florent Batta in the 87th minute of a foul-littered match.

Lyon appeared to be heading towards their first league win of the season after a brace from Moussa Dembele helped them take a 3-1 first-half lead, Lucas Paqueta adding the other to nullify a goal against his Sinaly Diomande camp.

The home side missed a series of chances after the break and were penalized after Swedish-born Kosovo winger Rashani pulled one off with a sandblast finish and then equalized in stoppage time with a superb header .

The result left Clermont, who had never played in the Premier League before, third in the standings with seven points in three games, behind Angers, second on goal difference.

PSG are in the lead with a maximum of nine points after Friday’s 4-2 victory in Brest. Angers also retained their unbeaten position after Romain Thomas’ 38th-minute goal at Bordeaux, whose striker Sekou Mara gave the locals the lead in the 10th minute.

Marshall Munetsi led Reims against the Mets in the lead in the seventh minute before Habib Maiga equalized with a raucous long-range shot in the top corner in the 14th.

An own goal from Dimitry Bertaud gave Lorient the advantage in Strasbourg, but the home side fought back through Teji Savanier, Stephy Mavididi and Andy Delort before the visitors sent off Houboulang Mendes in the final stages.