European football roundup: Atletico Madrid make strong comeback, Romelu Lukaku lifts AS Roma

Atletico Madrid produced a fine comeback from two goals down to beat Cadiz 3-2 and climb to fourth in La Liga on Sunday.

Diego Simeone’s side were hit twice early on by the Andalucian minnows but dominated the game and triumphed thanks to an Angel Correa brace and Nahuel Molina’s strike.

“The comeback today makes me very happy because it was not easy after the two goals,” Simeone told DAZN.

“The team calmly found the path to victory.”

Correa missed Thursday’s win over Osasuna with a knee sprain he sustained in the Madrid derby triumph last weekend but said he came back as soon as possible to help Atletico.

“I wanted to force it, with a bit of pain, to help the team and it turned out well,” said Correa, who started in attack in place of the suspended Alvaro Morata.

“Today the coach told me that I should play as the number nine to give more freedom to (Antoine) Griezmann.”

Atletico were on top from the start, with Griezmann striking the post before Lucas Pires sent the visitors ahead at the Metropolitano.

The Brazilian winger finished off Chris Ramos’s excellent low cross to the far post, although Atletico were angry a foul was not given in the build-up.

Cadiz defender Fali came close to doubling his side’s lead with a cheeky lob from inside his own half, which flew over Jan Oblak but also narrowly wide, to the goalkeeper’s immense relief.

However Roger Marti produced a special chipped finish to beat Oblak and double Cadiz’s lead.

Correa headed home at the other end from Cesar Azpilicueta’s cross to start Atletico’s comeback after 32 minutes.

Molina then drilled home after a rebound fell into his path at the start of the second half to level the game.

“We wanted to hold on for those first minutes (of the second half), we knew they would throw everything at us, but it wasn’t to be,” said Cadiz forward Marti.

An Atletico winner seemed inevitable and eventually Argentina international Correa polished off a slick team move, turning home Saul Niguez’s cutback.

“(Saul’s form) is a prize for his humility, hard work, not giving up … for all the work he’s done in the last few years he deserves the moments he’s getting right now,” added Simeone.

Atletico have played one fewer game than the teams above them and are three points behind third-place Girona.

Leaders Real Madrid beat the Catalan minnows on Saturday and are five points clear of Atletico, with champions Barcelona second after their win over Sevilla on Friday.

Elsewhere Real Betis earned an impressive 3-0 win at home against Valencia to move seventh.

Youngster Assane Diao, 18, scored for the second match running in his second game in the Spanish top flight, with Marc Roca and Ez Abde rounding out the victory.

Five-minute hat-trick

Earlier bottom-of-the-table Almeria threw away a three-goal lead earned by a five-minute Luis Suarez hat-trick in an entertaining 3-3 draw with Granada.

The hosts, under interim coach Alberto Lasarte after Vicente Moreno was sacked in the week, took control thanks to the Colombian striker’s remarkable rapid-fire treble.

Suarez netted three goals all at the end of the first half, each set up by winger Largie Ramazani, in the space of five minutes and 24 seconds.

It was the third-fastest treble of the 21st century in La Liga — Kevin Gameiro holds the record after he scored a hat-trick for Atletico Madrid in four minutes 43 seconds against Sporting Gijon in 2017.

Later Suarez was taken off injured, with Spanish reports saying he has sustained a shin fracture which could keep him out for three months.

Granada hit back through Bryan Zaragoza with a penalty, after his team-mate Antonio Puertas missed a spot kick earlier in the second half.

Ricard Sanchez and Myrto Uzuni completed the comeback for Granada, 19th, two points above winless Almeria.

Romelu Lukaku helped Roma to only their second win of the Serie A season as the Belgian striker scored in a 2-0 victory over Frosinone on Sunday, while Juventus laboured to a goalless draw at Atalanta.

Lukaku grabbed his third goal in five league games for Roma after latching onto a clever pass from Paulo Dybala midway through the first half.

Dybala served up the delivery from which Roma wrapped up the points as Lorenzo Pellegrini volleyed in the Argentine’s free-kick at the far post in the 83rd minute.

“It’s an important win with lots of hard work and efficiency in front of goal,” said Lukaku, who returned for another spell in Italy on loan from Chelsea.

“We’re in a difficult situation, but the season is still long. We need to keep playing like that.”

Jose Mourinho’s embattled side moved up to 12th on eight points from seven matches after bouncing back from an embarrassing midweek thrashing at Genoa.

Mourinho on Saturday said he had no fears over his future despite overseeing the worst start of his coaching career.

Juventus had to settle for a 0-0 stalemate in Bergamo as the visitors struggled to create chances in the absence of Dusan Vlahovic.

Serbian striker Vlahovic was sidelined by recurring back issues and Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny made a brilliant save to tip Luis Muriel’s free-kick onto the bar to deny Atalanta victory.

Juventus slipped a spot to fourth behind reigning champions Napoli and are four points behind leaders Inter Milan, who are joined at the top by AC Milan.

Massimiliano Allegri’s Juventus have dropped points in two of their past three games but will have a chance to recharge their batteries this week while other teams compete in Europe.

In Sunday’s other games, Bologna defeated Empoli 3-0 while a stoppage-time own goal allowed Udinese to snatch a 2-2 draw at home to Genoa.

Premier League: Ten-man Forest battle back for Brenford draw

Brentford boss Thomas Frank bemoaned his side’s inability to hold onto the lead when a man up after a 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest on Sunday.

The Bees looked set for their first league win in five games after Moussa Niakhate was sent off and Christian Norgaard headed in the resulting free-kick.

But Forest fought back despite their numerical disadvantage thanks to Nicolas Dominguez’s looping header on his home debut.

A share of the spoils keeps Forest one point ahead of Brentford in 11th and 13th respectively in the Premier League table.

Brentford have now dropped eight points from winning positions in their opening seven games of the campaign.

“We are just in that spell where we can’t get over the line in terms of winning the games. It’s a game we clearly should have won,” said Frank.

“We can’t keep the ball out of the net when it’s 11 against 10. That’s an unbelievable finish that’ll happen one in 100.”

Forest nearly got off to a flying start when Taiwo Awoniyi turned home a corner at the back post, but he was rightly flagged offside.

Brentford have struggled in the absence of suspended striker Ivan Toney due to breaches of betting regulations.

But the visitors were nearly gifted the opening goal by Forest ‘keeper Matt Turner.

The former Arsenal stopper was caught in possession by Yoane Wissa and bailed out by a goal-line clearance by Willy Boly.

Forest’s luck looked like it had run out when Niakhate was shown a second yellow card for catching Wissa 11 minutes into the second half.

Norgaard then headed home Mathias Jensen’s cross to put Brentford in front.

The lead lasted just seven minutes as Dominguez headed in Harry Toffolo’s cross.

Forest then saw out 13 minutes of added time to cling on to what could be a vital point in securing another season of Premier League football.

“We didn’t start the second half well and there were lots of individual mistakes which led to the free-kick and the Brentford goal,” said Forest boss Steve Cooper.

“Then it’s a different game. You’re 1-0 down with 10 men but to think that we got back in the game, got the result and seen it out, it ends up being a much better point for us than for Brentford.”

Ligue 1: Lyon misery continues, Brest held at Nice

Ailing French giants Lyon remain rooted to the bottom of the Ligue 1 table after their miserable season continued with a 2-0 defeat at Reims on Sunday.

A fortnight after Italian Fabio Grosso’s arrival as manager Lyon are still looking for their first win.

Goals from Marshall Munetsi and Yunis Abdelhamid lifted Reims into third behind high-flying Brest, who held fourth-placed Nice to a goalless draw.

Monaco are top following their 3-2 defeat of Marseille on Saturday after fifth-placed champions Paris Saint-Germain were held to a 0-0 draw by struggling Clermont.

Like Clermont, seven-time former champions Lyon have only mustered two points from their first seven outings, with Sunday’s reverse deepening the sense of crisis at the club.

“I don’t know what to tell you, I’m upset, I’ve been a supporter of Lyon since I was a kid and I’ve never seen the club in this position,” said midfielder Corentin Tolisso.

Up at the other end modest Brest are enjoying their best ever start to a Ligue 1 campaign, with four wins, two draws and only one loss to sit on 14 points, second only on goal difference to Monaco.

Brest’s manager Eric Roy said: “There’s a small regret because we think we can do a bit better than that. But we’ve got another point, and with 14 it’s much more comfortable to go to work during the week.”

Their Sunday hosts, Nice, had a difficult build-up to the game with midfielder Alexis Beka Beka declared “safe and sound” by police after being discovered in a “state of distress” on Friday.

Beka Beka, who featured for France at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, joined the Ineos-owned Nice in August 2022 from Lokomotiv Moscow in Russia for 12 million euros.

Elsewhere on Sunday Lille beat Le Havre 2-0 and Toulouse downed Metz 3-0. Nigerian forward Akor Adams netted twice as Montpellier won 3-0 away to Lorient.

Later Sunday, Rennes ended a run of five successive draws to defeat Nantes 3-1 and move into sixth place, just a point behind PSG.

Benjamin Bourigeaud gave Rennes a sixth-minute lead from the penalty spot but Nantes were level on the stroke of half-time through captain Pedro Chirivella.

In a fiery second period, seven yellow cards were handed out before Desire Doue restored Rennes’ lead with Arnaud Kalimuendo converting a last-minute penalty for the third goal.