D' view Auto

21/12/2025

Raphinha and Yamal score as Spanish leader Barcelona beats Villarreal

MADRID (AP) — Raphinha and Lamine Yamal celebrated each other’s goals with a raised arm and hands linked as Barcelona won 2-0 at 10-man Villarreal on Sunday to stay four points clear of Real Madrid at the top of La Liga.

Raphinha won a penalty after being fouled when cutting inside. He took a slow run-up and sent goalkeeper Luiz Junior the wrong way in the 12th minute for his seventh league goal of the season and Barca’s 50th.

Yamal also grabbed his seventh this season, striking from close range in the 63rd after being set up by midfielder Frenkie de Jong following a goalmouth scramble.

It was a seventh straight win in all competitions for coach Hansi Flick’s side.

Barcelona was without central defender Andreas Christensen, who tore the ACL in his left knee in training on Saturday.

Villarreal defender Renato Veiga was shown a straight red card late in the first half for a heavy tackle from behind on Yamal, who briefly had treatment on the ground.

Villarreal’s defeat allowed Atletico Madrid to move into third place with a 3-0 win at Girona, albeit having played two games more.

21/12/2025

Lamine Yamal Survives Horror Tackle, Produces Masterclass in Barcelona’s Win Over 10-Man Villarreal

Barcelona sensation Lamine Yamal delivered a second-half goal after surviving a horror challenge from Renato Veiga as the defending champions comfortably beat Villarreal 2-0 to restore their four-point lead over Real Madrid at the top of La Liga. Raphinha had handed the visitors the lead from the penalty spot before Yamal scored the clincher.

Barcelona Pile Misery on 10-Man Villarreal

Villarreal went toe-to-toe with the reigning La Liga champions in an entertaining first half, treating the home fans to an end-to-end contest from the opening whistle. Despite the hosts’ bright start, it was Barcelona who struck first.

In the 12th minute, Villarreal conceded a needless foul inside the box when Santi Comesaña clumsily brought down Raphinha. The Brazilian winger calmly stepped up and converted the resulting penalty with a clinical finish to give Barcelona the lead.

Just five minutes later, Villarreal thought they had found an equaliser when Jules Koundé inadvertently turned Sergi Cardona’s low cross into his own net. However, the goal was ruled out after the assistant referee flagged Cardona for offside in the build-up.

Encouraged by the disallowed goal, the Yellow Submarine continued to push forward and created several chances to restore parity, but they failed to make their opportunities count. Their task became even more difficult in the 39th minute when they were reduced to 10 men. Former Chelsea defender Eric Bailly Veiga was shown a straight red card after a reckless challenge that caught Lamine Yamal on the back of the foot, leaving the referee with no hesitation in sending him off.

Barcelona manager Hansi Flick responded with tactical changes in the second half, introducing Marcus Rashford and Robert Lewandowski to inject more attacking threat. The substitutions quickly paid off, as the Catalan giants began to dominate proceedings after the hour mark.

Shortly after, Lamine Yamal capped an impressive performance by doubling Barcelona’s advantage with a powerful strike from inside the penalty area. Although Barcelona continued to look dangerous following the goal, they were unable to further extend their lead.

Nonetheless, the champions saw out the match comfortably, sealing a deserved victory and piling further misery on a 10-man Villarreal side that showed early promise but ultimately fell short.

21/12/2025

Game is over and the final score is Villarreal 0-2 Barcelona. Here is the match report.

21/12/2025

Arsenal regained top spot in the Premier League courtesy of a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Everton at the Hill Dickson Stadium. The slender win was decided in the first-half after Viktor Gyokeres fired home from the penalty spot after Jake O’Brien handled in the box. Everton had two massive penalty appeals turned away in the second-half, but the Gunners held on for the three points.

The Gunners took the lead courtesy of Viktor Gyokere’s 27th minute penalty following a comedy handball from O’Brien, who connected both hands with the ball high above his head in the box. Jordan Pickford did his best to slow down the taking of the spot-kick, remonstrating with the referee, but the Sweden international stepped-up confidently and thrashed the ball past home to hand the north Londoners a deserved lead.

In truth the Toffees weren’t at their best and failed to muster a single shot on target in the first 45 minutes, but will feel hard done by that they weren’t awarded a penalty in the early stages of the second-half when Martin Zubimendi tripped Thierno Barry right on the edge of the box. Everton boss David Moyes was fuming as referee Samuel Barrott waved the appeals away. And there was a long review after Barry appeared to be caught by William Saliba, but again the match officials and VAR said no foul had been committed.

The victory means the Gunners leap-frogged Manchester City to top the table at Christmas with key Premier League clashes against Brighton, Aston Villa and Bournemouth to come over the festive period after they play Crystal Palace in the delayed Carabao Cup quarter-final clash on Tuesday.

14/12/2025

14/12/2025

Celebrating my 4th year on Facebook. Thank you for your continuing support. I could never have made it without you. 🙏🤗🎉

14/12/2025

Follow and I will follow you back in 10 seconds