City lose and Bayern held as Spanish duo win
Sunday, May 1, 2016
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Manchester City went down 4-2 at Southampton on Sunday after Bayern München were forced to keep the champagne on ice in Germany and both Madrid clubs posted narrow wins.
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Southampton 4-2 Manchester City (Long 25, Mané 28 57 68; Iheanacho 44 78)
Sergio Agüero remained on the substitutes' bench as fourth-placed Manchester City's hopes of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League next season suffered a blow on the south coast. Shane Long struck the opener and Sadio Mané doubled the lead from close range before Kelechi Iheanacho netted before the break. Mane then pounced twice after the interval to complete his hat-trick, while Iheanacho found the top-right corner late on – his fourth strike in two Premier League outings. Yaya Touré, Kevin De Bruyne and captain Vincent Kompany were rested with Manuel Pellegrini making eight changes from the side which drew against Real Madrid in midweek.
Bayern München 1-1 Mönchengladbach(Müller 6; Hahn 72)
Bayern must wait until next weekend to seal their fourth successive Bundesliga title after this draw and Borussia Dortmund's 5-1 victory against Wolfsburg cut their advantage to five points with two games left. Thomas Müller gave Josep Guardiola's side the lead with a header from Joshua Kimmich's right-wing corner, as Serdar Tasci did his bit to distract keeper Yann Sommer. Gladbach equalised, however, when André Hahn fired past Manuel Neuer at his near post. Recovered from a groin injury, centre-back Jérôme Boateng made his first appearance for Bayern since 22 January, replacing the rested Javi Martínez.
Atlético Madrid 1-0 Rayo Vallecano(Griezmann 55)
Antoine Griezmann scored less than 60 seconds after stepping off the bench as Atlético narrowly overcame their Madrid neighbours to record a seventh straight win in all competitions. The France forward was sent on alongside Fernando Torres nine minutes into the second half and wasted little time in making his presence felt as he rifled in his 21st Liga goal of the season, finding the net with a left-footed strike from the edge of the penalty area. Diego Simeone's team, level on 85 points with leaders Barcelona, go into their semi-final second leg against Bayern having kept a clean sheet in each of their last six games.
Real Sociedad 0-1 Real Madrid(Bale 80)
Third-placed Madrid registered their tenth consecutive Liga victory, their best run since 12 in a row from 20 September to 12 December 2014, despite the continued absence of Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema. Gareth Bale earned the Merengues maximum points, heading in Lucas Vázquez's cross with ten minutes left. Shorn of Benzema, Zinédine Zidane gave a third Liga start to 19-year-old forward Borja Mayoral, the joint all-time leading scorer in the UEFA Youth League.