LAST UPDATE | 2 Mar
IRELAND’S FESTY EBOSELE was sent off in Serie A this afternoon as his Udinese side drew 1-1 at home to Salernitana.
Ebosele started, but was given his marching orders in the 64th minute for a second yellow card offence. He was previously booked with 15 minutes on the clock.
Salernitana had taken the lead 10 minutes earlier through Loum Tchaouna, but Hassane Kamara drew Udinese level on the stroke of half time.
Elsewhere in the Italian top-flight, Roma continued their revival under Daniele De Rossi with a 4-1 win at Monza which boosted their hopes of Champions League football next season.
The three points came at the U-Power Stadium thanks to goals from Lorenzo Pellegrini and Romelu Lukaku towards the end of the first half before Paulo Dybala’s stunning free-kick in the 63rd minute and a late Leandro Paredes penalty.
Andrea Carboni netted a fine consolation goal for 11th-placed Monza with a long-range rocket in the 87th minute of Roma’s sixth win in seven league fixtures since De Rossi replaced Jose Mourinho in January.
Last night, Noah Okafor struck late to fire AC Milan to a 1-0 win at Lazio in a fiery clash in Rome which finished with the outraged hosts down to eight men.
Switzerland forward Okafor forced home his fifth league goal of the season with two minutes remaining, pushing Milan up to 56 points in third place and further strengthening his team’s position in Italy’s Champions League spots.
Stefano Pioli’s Milan are still 13 points behind league leaders Inter Milan, who host Genoa on Monday, but are just one behind second-placed Juventus. Juve are at Napoli in Sunday night’s big game and have Milan breathing down their necks after a poor recent run of form.
In La Liga, Jude Bellingham was sent off after the final whistle after being denied a late winner in Real Madrid’s 2-2 draw at Valencia.
The England midfielder, making his return from injury, thought he had headed home a cross deep into stoppage time at the Mestalla but the referee had already blown for full time.
Real players surrounded the official in a chaotic aftermath and Bellingham was shown the red card before the players left the field.
It made for a dramatic ending to a compelling LaLiga clash in which the leaders had fought back from 2-0 down with two Vinicius Junior goals.
Valencia defender Mouctar Diakhaby suffered a serious leg injury. He was stretchered off with a minute left of normal time after a collision with Madrid’s France defender Aurelien Tchouameni at the Mestalla. Players from both teams were visibly shaken, before an ending laden with controversy and chaos.
A reshuffled Real Sociedad went down to a fourth defeat in their last five matches with a 3-2 loss to Sevilla ahead of their Champions League second leg against Paris Saint-Germain.
Elsewhere, the Bundesliga race for Champions League places tightened as Borussia Dortmund won 2-0 at Union Berlin to stay fourth and RB Leipzig beat Bochum 4-1 to keep pace a point behind.
The unrelenting form of league leaders Bayer Leverkusen and surprising Stuttgart have left Champions League regulars Dortmund and Leipzig battling it out for fourth.
Karim Adeyemi’s 41st minute goal, his first of the season, put Dortmund on course for victory before Chelsea loanee Ian Maatsen added another in stoppage time to lock up three points that may ease pressure on under-fire manager Edin Terzic.
Hosts Union Berlin were unbeaten at home since early November, and their goalkeeper Frederik Ronnow kept Dortmund at bay until Adeyemi took two touches before unleashing a long-range effort which thundered in off the crossbar.
Leipzig, who visit Real Madrid away on Wednesday in their Champions League last-16 second leg, stayed on Dortmund’s heels, scoring three goals in four second-half minutes at Bochum.
And in Ligue 1, Jonathan David pounced on a defensive gift to score the sole goal as Lille beat Reims to jump into fourth spot, while Marseille continued their fine run with a win in Clermont.
– © AFP 2024, additional reporting from Press Association
