FOOTBALL – YOANE Wissa scored his first Champions League goal as Newcastle United eased to a 3-0 home win over PSV Eindhoven at St James’ Park last night, though the visitors were architects of their own downfall in a poor defensive display.
Newcastle move up to seventh in the table with 13 points from their seven games and on course for automatic qualification for the last 16. PSV are in 22nd place with eight points and work to do to advance to the knockout stages.
PSV’s hesitancy at the back handed Newcastle two goals before halftime, the first converted by Wissa on eight minutes before Anthony Gordon was the beneficiary from another error by the visitors to make it 2-0 on the half-hour mark.
Newcastle suffered a blow when captain Bruno Guimaraes limped off just before the break with an ankle injury, but they added a third goal on 65 minutes via Harvey Barnes in a dominant display against the Dutch champions that seals a place in the knockout stages.
Meanwhile, Liverpool extended their unbeaten run to 13 matches in all competitions and moved a step closer to direct qualification for the last 16 with a 3-0 victory at Olympique de Marseille.
Goals from Dominik Szoboszlai and Cody Gakpo either side of a Geronimo Rulli own goal lifted Arne Slot’s team to 15 points, leaving them well placed in the top eight ahead of the final round of matches. Marseille remain in the hunt for a playoff spot on nine points despite the defeat.
The Ligue 1 side travel to Club Brugge in their final group match needing a positive result to keep their European campaign alive, while Liverpool will host Qarabag knowing another win would secure their place in the last 16.
Chelsea boosted their chances of a top-eight finish when Moises Caicedo headed home from a corner in the 78th minute to finally break down a stubborn Pafos defence.
The London side moved up to eighth in the table on goal difference with one match to go – a tough away game at Napoli.
Barcelona came from behind to defeat Slavia Prague 4-2, with Fermin Lopez scoring twice and Dani Olmo and Robert Lewandowski adding second-half goals to secure the victory.
The win lifts Barcelona to ninth place in the standings with one game remaining on 13 points, level with seven other teams vying for a top-eight finish and direct qualification for the round of 16. Slavia languish third from bottom with just three points.
Slavia stunned the visitors with a Vasil Kusej goal from a cleverly worked corner in the 10th minute but Barca equalised with a Lopez strike from close-range in the 34th.
Lopez doubled his tally and gave Barcelona the lead in the 42nd minute with a fine effort from the edge of the box but their advantage lasted two minutes as Slavia equalised thanks to a defensive mishap, with Lewandowski deflecting a corner into his own goal.
But Barcelona took back control in the second half and strikes by Olmo in the 63rd minute and Lewandowski eight minutes later sealed a deserved win.
Bayern Munich top scorer Harry Kane struck twice in three minutes to carry his team to a 2-0 victory over Belgium’s Union Saint-Gilloise and book their ticket for the knockout stage with a game to spare.
Kane headed in at the near post from a Michael Olise corner in the 52nd and added another goal from a 55th-minute penalty after he was brought down. The England captain could have sealed his hat-trick in the 80th minute but hammered his second penalty on to the crossbar.
The hosts were down to 10 men from the 64th minute after defender Kim Min-jae was sent off with a second booking.
Bayern are in second spot in the league phase on 18 points with one game left to play, and are guaranteed a top-eight finish that leads to the knockout stage. The top eight teams advance to the Round of 16 automatically while the next 16 teams go into a playoff.
&uuid=(email))