Ousmane Dembele inspires Barcelona to big win over Athletic Bilbao
Barcelona brought the gap to LaLiga leaders Real Madrid back to three points as they thumped Athletic Bilbao 4-0 at the Nou Camp.
Ousmane Dembele headed a 12th-minute opener and subsequently set up goals for Sergi Roberto on 18 minutes and Robert Lewandowski four minutes later as Barca swiftly took control against a Bilbao outfit managed by their former boss Ernesto Valverde.
Substitute Ferran Torres then wrapped up the win for Xavi’s second-placed side with a 73rd-minute effort as Dembele completed a hat-trick of assists.
🔥🔥🔥🔥 Dembélé now has one goal and THREE assists on the night! #BarçaAthletic pic.twitter.com/iloW0TxeZI
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) October 23, 2022
Antoine Griezmann notched a brace as Atletico Madrid moved into third with a 2-1 victory at fifth-placed Real Betis.
Griezmann put Atletico ahead in the 54th minute by curling the ball in direct from a corner, and added a second strike in the 71st before Nabil Fekir pulled one back with six minutes to go.
Bottom side Elche secured a 2-2 draw at Espanyol thanks to an 82nd-minute equaliser from Gonzalu Verdu, and Girona moved out of the relegation zone as David Lopez’s leveller secured a 1-1 draw at home with Osasuna.
Villarreal pulled off a dramatic come-from-behind 2-1 win at home against Almeria despite being reduced to 10 men.
G⚽️⚽️d day. pic.twitter.com/TDCbhY4ut2
— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish) October 23, 2022
Alex Baena was sent off moments after drawing the hosts level with a 56th-minute header, receiving a second yellow card for celebrating by lifting his shirt to display a message underneath.
But the Yellow Submarine – whose unused substitute Manuel Morlanes was also red-carded – ended up with all three points via a stoppage-time goal from Nicolas Jackson.
Napoli are three points clear at the top of Serie A after winning 1-0 at Roma courtesy of a Victor Osimhen goal with 10 minutes remaining – a seventh successive league victory for Luciano Spalletti’s team.
AC Milan are second, with Lazio and Atalanta two points behind in third and fourth respectively.
🛡️ 𝐕𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐌
💙 #ForzaNapoliSempre pic.twitter.com/WvUVAmKDfT
— Official SSC Napoli (@en_sscnapoli) October 23, 2022
Goals from Mattia Zaccagni and Felipe Anderson saw Lazio win 2-0 at Atalanta, who had had Luis Muriel dismissed late on.
Pietro Pellegri was the match-winner as Torino triumphed 2-1 at Udinese and Marko Arnautovic’s penalty and Lewis Ferguson’s first goal since joining from Aberdeen saw Bologna beat Lecce 2-0 at home.
There was a shock in the Bundesliga as Bochum moved off the foot of the table with a 2-1 home win over leaders Union Berlin, Philipp Hofmann and Gerrit Holtmann netting for the hosts before Milos Pantovic’s stoppage-time reply.
Replacing Bochum at the bottom are Schalke, who were condemned to a 2-1 defeat at Hertha Berlin by an 88th-minute Wilfried Kanga goal in their first match since parting ways with boss Frank Kramer.
A BIG win sees us climb off the bottom of the table. 💪💙
2-1 #BOCFCU #meinVfL pic.twitter.com/8DPIzwrHFw
— VfL Bochum 1848 (@VfLBochum1848EN) October 23, 2022
In Ligue 1, Lille came out on top of a seven-goal thriller against Monaco at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy.
The visitors went 3-2 up early in the second half through Wissam Ben Yedder, before Remy Cabella’s second goal of the game and a Jonathan Bamba finish turned things around for a 4-3 Lille win.
There was also drama at the Allianz Riviera, where Nicolas Pepe’s penalty deep into stoppage time earned Nice a 1-1 draw with Nantes, who had both goalkeeper Alban Lafont and unused substitute Kader Bamba sent off amid subsequent protests.
Third-placed Lorient drew 2-2 at Troyes, with Quentin Boisgard levelling for them late on, and Lovro Majer’s stoppage-time penalty gave Rennes a 2-1 win at now-bottom Angers.
Elsewhere, Strasbourg grabbed a 2-2 draw at 10-man Toulouse and moved out of the relegation zone, Auxerre dropped in as they lost 2-1 at Reims and Brest won 3-1 at Clermont.