IMAGES from football matches played across Europe on Sunday
Napoli secured a 3-1 home victory over Inter Milan on Saturday in a heated Serie A clash as Kevin De Bruyne converted a penalty before going off injured before Scott McTominay and Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa completed the win.
Napoli moved top of the table on 18 points, one ahead of AC Milan, who were held to a draw by Pisa on Friday. Inter sit third, level on 15 points with fourth-placed AS Roma.
After a quiet start to the game, Inter’s Henrikh Mkhitaryan gave away a penalty after half an hour for tripping Giovanni Di Lorenzo.
De Bruyne calmly converted it before clutching the back of his right thigh. His teammates consoled him as he grimaced and left the pitch before returning to the substitutes' bench with crutches.
In the second half, the atmosphere at Stadio Diego Maradona heated up. McTominay doubled Napoli’s lead in the 54th minute with a precise finish, latching on to a perfectly delivered long ball from Leonardo Spinazzola.
Afterwards the Scot admitted he was not expecting such a delivery from Spinazzola.
"I lost the ball in the lights, so the pass took me by surprise, the lights are so bright I couldn’t see it. Then I just thought to shoot," he told DAZN.
"Leo (Spinazzola) is a top player, he put in some great passes this year, now we need to find that consistency so we can continue to push."
Hakan Calhanoglu pulled one back for Inter from the penalty spot in the 59th minute after Alessandro Buongiorno was penalised for handball.
Moments later, a heated scuffle broke out on the touchline, earning Napoli manager Antonio Conte a yellow card as he exchanged hand gestures with the Inter players.
In the 66th minute, Zambo Anguissa produced a moment of brilliance, driving forward on a counter-attack and holding off the Inter defence before calmly slotting home Napoli’s third.
De Bruyne's injury added to Napoli’s growing list of absentees, which includes Rasmus Hojlund, Stanislav Lobotka and goalkeeper Alex Meret.
"Perhaps someone has cursed us, but we keep going anyway," Conte said in regard to his side growing injury list.
"I live the game with my players, for good and bad, and we played against in my view the best squad in Italy."
Bayern cruise past Gladbach to extend perfect start
Bayern Munich needed more than an hour before breaking the resistance of 10-man Borussia Moenchengladbach, to earn a 3-0 victory in the Bundesliga on Saturday and notch their 13th successive win in all competitions this season.
Joshua Kimmich slotted in after 64 minutes and substitute Raphael Guerreiro added another before teenager Lennart Karl, who had scored in their Champions League win over Brugge on Wednesday, made it 3-0.
Bayern have a maximum 24 points from eight league matches, five ahead of RB Leipzig, 6-0 winners at Augsburg.
"We played against a Gladbach team who fought for every ball and kept our attacking players out of the game for more than half an hour," Bayern coach Vincent Kompany told a press conference.
"Even when the red card came you still felt the fans were behind the team, cheered every one-on-one challenge. What we did right at that stage was to keep calm."
"In the second half we changed sides more often, kept the tempo high and at some point they will get tired. We then had to use our chances and that is what we did," he said.
Bayern, who set a new league record with 30 goals from eight games, almost took the lead after 55 seconds when Harry Kane combined with Nicolas Jackson to send Luis Diaz through but the Colombian missed the target.
Gladbach put up a fight but their game plan went out of the window in the 18th minute following the dismissal of Jens Castrop, who received a straight red card for a studs-up challenge.
The hosts retreated but Bayern still did not get a single shot on or off target until Kane's weak effort just before halftime. It was one-way traffic after the break, with Michael Olise missing a double chance and Kane's effort ruled offside.
Kimmich broke the deadlock, finding enough space in the crowded box to stab in before Guerreiro doubled the lead and Karl curled a shot into the top corner for his first Bundesliga goal.
Kevin Stoeger had the chance to get Gladbach back in the game but sent his 75th-minute penalty on to the post. Bottom side Gladbach have gone 15 league games without a win, a new club record.
Villarreal strengthen grip on third with 2-0 win at Valencia
Villarreal consolidated third place in La Liga with a 2-0 win away to regional rivals Valencia on Saturday, as goals from Gerard Moreno and Santi Comesaña secured a comfortable victory.
Moreno put Villarreal ahead from the penalty spot shortly before halftime after being fouled by José Manuel Copete. Comesaña doubled the lead in the 57th minute, reacting quickest to a rebound after Julen Agirrezabala had parried a shot from Georges Mikautadze.
The win left Villarreal four points behind leaders Real Madrid and two adrift of Barcelona, who meet in Sunday’s Clasico in Madrid.
Moreno marked his 300th appearance for Villarreal by extending his club scoring record to 121 goals.
"I am proud to have played my 300th game with Villarreal and for it to be a win at such a hard ground," the 33-year-old said.
"The penalty opened up the game and we could have scored more in the second half."
Elsewhere, Espanyol climbed to fourth after a 1-0 home win over Elche, with Carlos Romero scoring two minutes after halftime as the club marked its 125th anniversary.
In other matches, a stoppage-time equaliser by David Carmo earned Real Oviedo a 3-3 draw at Girona in a clash between the league’s bottom two sides, while Getafe edged Athletic Bilbao 1-0 thanks to a second-half strike from Borja Mayoral.
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