European Match Round-Up:Mourinho Wins His 1000th Game With Roma Late Goal

Benzema Hat Trick And Top European Match Updates

José Mourinho’s 1000th game as a manager ended with a trademark celebratory sprint down the touchline on Sunday after Roma’s Stephan El Shaarawy scored a stoppage-time winner to snatch a 2-1 win over Sassuolo that sent them top of Serie A.

The Italy winger sparked wild celebrations by curling a shot in off the post to clinch victory in a thrilling contest that saw both sides hit the post and Sassuolo denied a last-gasp equaliser by the offside flag.

Roma went in front after 37 minutes through a training ground free-kick routine as Bryan Cristante latched on to a clever pass to fire home. Sassuolo equalised in the 57th when Berardi spun past his marker to tee up Filip Djuricic for a close-range finish.

Zlatan Ibrahimović scored on his return from a four-month injury layoff as Milan beat Lazio 2-0 at San Siro to continue their perfect start. The 39-year-old, who had not featured since sustaining a knee injury against Juventus in May, tapped in Milan’s second after 67 minutes, seven minutes after he came off the bench.

It capped an impressive performance by Stefano Pioli’s side, who went in front through a Rafael Leão strike just before the interval. Tensions boiled over at the full-time whistle as opposing players and staff came together on the touchline, leading to a red card for Lazio’s coach, Maurizio Sarri.

Sampdoria twice fought back from behind to hold the champions Internazionale to a 2-2 draw, as Simone Inzaghi’s side dropped points for the first time.

Roma are top of the standings with a perfect nine points, ahead of Milan and Napoli on goal difference.

Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema netted a hat-trick as they capped their return to the refurbished Santiago Bernabéu with a thrilling 5-2 comeback win over Celta Vigo in La Liga.

Karim Benzema scores Real Madrid’s fifth goal from the penalty spot to complete his hat-trick.

Karim Benzema scores Real Madrid’s fifth goal from the penalty spot to complete his hat-trick. Photograph: Susana Vera/Reuters

The Frenchman was unplayable at times as Madrid were reunited with their fans for the first time since 1 March 2020. The crowd were, however, stunned when Santi Mina latched on to a defensive mistake to put the visitors ahead after four minutes.

Madrid recovered well, pinning Celta back, and the pressure told after 24 minutes as Benzema equalised with his first goal after a Federico Valverde cutback.

Franco Cervi put Celta back in front seven minutes later against the run of play from a counterattack as they went in ahead at the break. But Benzema headed Real level two minutes after the restart, and from there on in there was only going to be one winner.

The forward then teed up Vinícius Júnior who produced a composed finish to give Carlo Ancelotti’s side the lead for the first time. Eduardo Camavinga came off the bench to score on his debut as the France midfielder tucked the ball home from close range before Benzema completed his treble with a penalty three minutes from time.

Thomas Lemar scored in the ninth minute of added time to give Atlético Madrid a 2-1 victory at promoted Espanyol.

Yannick Carrasco levelled for the visitors 11 minutes from time after Raúl de Tomás had put Espanyol in front in the 40th minute with a sublime looping header. The result left Diego Simeone’s side with 10 points from four games. Antoine Griezmann produced a lacklustre performance in his first match back on loan from Barcelona and was substituted early in the second half.

“It was a really tough game, especially in the first half,” Carrasco said. “The boss made a number of changes which shows how deep our squad is and the substitutes made a difference.

“The added time was just, I thought. Espanyol wasted a lot of time, there were two VAR reviews and we were able to use that to our advantage and score.”

Edet Esah

A content writer - blogger and sports analyst