European roundup: Gladbach stunned by Wolfsburg while Ronaldo hits two | Football

VfL Wolfsburg’s Maximilian Arnold fired in a stoppage-time winner as they beat Borussia Mönchengladbach 2-1 on Sunday to send them dropping to second place in the Bundesliga after leading the title race for the last two months. The Wolves, in eighth place, showed no respect for Gladbach, who have been having their best season since their last title victory in 1977, and a shot from João Victor hit the post after four minutes.

Two minutes after that Xaver Schlager fired them into the lead. Gladbach levelled with a Breel Embolo volley two minutes later and could have scored again early in the second half as Marcus Thuram and Alassane Pléa went close. Wolfsburg then hit the woodwork again before Arnold drilled in the winner in stoppage time.

Gladbach drop to second in the standings on 31 points, with RB Leipzig on 33 after Saturday’s 3-0 win at Fortuna Düsseldorf. The champions Bayern Munich crushed Werder Bremen 6-1 to climb to fourth on 27, two behind Borussia Dortmund.

In Serie A Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice to set yet another goalscoring landmark and help Juventus to a 3-1 home win over Udinese that briefly put them top of the table. The in-form Ronaldo, who has five goals in his last four games, took his tally for the season to 11 in 19 appearances, becoming the only player in Europe’s top five leagues to hit double figures in all competitions in each of the last 15 seasons.

The Portuguese forward struck twice in the first half before Leonardo Bonucci headed in Juve’s third on the stroke of half-time. Ignacio Pussetto scored a consolation for the visitors late in the game.

“The most important thing was to win,” Ronaldo told Sky Sport Italia. “This is how we should play, with confidence. Individual performances aren’t what matters but the collective effort.”

Internazionale later returned to the summit with a 1-1 draw at Fiorentina in which they were denied victory by a superb late Dusan Vlahovic equaliser. The former Fiorentina midfielder Borja Valero fired Inter in front after eight minutes but Vlahovic carried the ball from inside his own half in stoppage time before smashing in a powerful finish.

The result leaves Inter level with Juventus on 39 points at the top of the table but with a superior goal difference, while the late goal also eased the pressure on Fiorentina’s coach, Vincenzo Montella.

Paris St Germain’s serial goal-getters Kylian Mbappé and Mauro Icardi were at it again as the Ligue 1 leaders extended their advantage to seven points with a 4-0 victory at 10-man St Etienne.

Leandro Paredes struck early before Mbappé netted either side of the break and Icardi also scored to lift PSG to 42 points from 17 games, with St Etienne having had Jean-Eudes Aholou sent off midway through the first half. Neymar, who set up the France international Mbappé for his eighth and ninth league goals of the season, missed a penalty just after the hour.

Earlier in the day Lyon’s mediocre Ligue 1 season continued as they slumped to a 1-0 home defeat to Rennes. Eduardo Camavinga scored the only goal from just inside the box with a minute left to lift Rennes up to fourth on 30 points from 17 games.

Lyon, who have been at odds with some of their own fans recently despite qualifying for the Champions League last 16, slip down to eighth with 25 points from 18 matches.

A Spanish second division match between Rayo Vallecano and Albacete was abandoned at half-time after the Albacete forward Roman Zozulya was subjected to offensive chanting from the home supporters, who accused him of being a Nazi. A statement from the league’s organising body said it agreed with the referee José Antonio Lopez Toca’s decision to abandon the match, which it said was taken at the request of both teams, due to “grave insults and threats” made towards Zozulya.

The game was goalless at the time and the Albacete midfielder Eddy Silvestre had been sent off in the 45th minute. According to the Spanish radio station Cadena Ser, Rayo fans sang “Zozulya you are a Nazi” at the Ukrainian striker, 30, who had a short-lived spell on loan at the Madrid side in February 2017.

At his first and only training session with the club, Zozulya was given an angry reception by Rayo fans, who accused him of belonging to the far-right movement in his home country. Zozulya, who has denied ever belonging to far-right groups, immediately returned to his parent club Real Betis before signing for Albacete as a free agent in 2017.

“With the support of Rayo Vallecano, Albacete and La Liga, the referee has suspended the game in Vallecas,” Albacete said in a short statement. “This decision was taken with one objective, which is to safeguard the values of our competition and the sport which we all love.” Rayo issued a short statement on Twitter confirming the game had been called off due to the “chants and insults heard during the first half”.

Rayo’s president, Raúl Martín Presa, condemned the chants towards Zozulya.

“Tonight is a very sad night for Rayo and for sport. We want to categorically condemn the insults that a section of the fans directed towards an opposition player,” he said. “Football should be about unity not separation. I spoke to Zozulya and gave him a hug because he is a human being and he deserves respect.”

Elsewhere a late equaliser from Karim Benzema rescued a point for Real Madrid against Valencia after Carlos Soler had opened the scoring. The result meant Zinedine Zidane’s side missed the chance to go top of the table after Barcelona’s draw with Real Sociedad on Saturday, three days before they visit their arch-rivals in the rescheduled clasico on Wednesday.