Harry Kane netted a penalty to give Bayern Munich a 1-0 victory at Borussia Mönchengladbach in their first Bundesliga match after the winter break, keeping them four points clear of second-placed Bayer Leverkusen.
The England captain sent Gladbach keeper Moritz Nicolas the wrong way in the 68th minute to break the deadlock and bag his 15th league goal this season to maintain his status as the Bundesliga’s top scorer.
The Bavarian side, who had several more chances to score after Kane’s penalty, are in top spot on 39 points, with champions Leverkusen in second place on 35 after Friday’s 3-2 win at Borussia Dortmund.
It was one-way traffic from the start. Gladbach were content to sit back and soak up the pressure, having no effort on or towards goal in the entire first half, and leaving Bayern keeper Manuel Neuer, making his comeback after a month-long injury absence, with little to do.
Thomas Müller and Leon Goretzka went close for Bayern, before Gladbach’s Tim Kleindienst almost struck four minutes after the restart with his header at the far post flying narrowly over the bar. But it was Kane who scored when he converted the spotkick after a foul on Michael Olise in the box.
Elsewhere, Omar Marmoush scored his 14th league goal of the season as third-placed Eintracht Frankfurt edged to a 1-0 win at St Pauli. Surprise package Mainz moved up to fourth after a 2-0 home win over bottom club Bochum, with Jonathan Burkardt getting both goals for the hosts.
Torino’s Nikola Vlasic celebrates his equaliser against Juventus. Photograph: Alessandro Di Marco/EPA
In Serie A, Juventus were held to a 1-1 draw at Torino after Nikola Vlasic cancelled out Juve’s early opener by Kenan Yildiz, while the two coaches, Paolo Vanoli and Thiago Motta, were sent off after the break in a heated derby.
Yildiz put Juventus in front in the eighth minute with a low shot from outside the box before Vlasic levelled for the hosts in first-half stoppage time with a powerful strike that went in after rattling the post.
Both benches protested early in the second off when the Juventus defender Nicolo Savona was deemed to have brought down Yann Karamoh just outside the penalty area. Both coaches were sent to the stands; the result is Juve’s 12th draw in 19 league games this term.
Earlier, Atalanta were held 0-0 at Udinese as they missed the chance to move level on points with Napoli at the top, but they were fortunate to escape with a draw thanks to the woodwork and alert goalkeeping of Marco Carnesecchi.
The hosts dominated most of the match and came agonisingly close just after the half-hour mark when Carnesecchi had to make a remarkable save to claw a header from Jaka Bijol off the line. Atalanta rode their luck again shortly before the break as Udinese’s Alexis Sánchez struck the woodwork with a header and rattled the crossbar from the rebound before Carnesecchi kept out Sandi Lovric’s effort
Atalanta nearly snatched victory in the dying moments when Lazar Samardzic had their second shot on target but Razvan Sava made a crucial save to ensure it ended goalless. Atalanta’s second draw in a row means they are second on 42 points, two behind Napoli, who have also played 19 games and host Hellas Verona on Sunday.
Sérgio Conceição’s first league match in charge of Milan ended in a 1-1 draw at home to struggling Cagliari. Álvaro Morata broke the deadlock in the 51st minute from close range. Cagliari stunned the hosts four minutes later from a counterattack, the defender Nadir Zortea scoring with a low shot from outside the penalty area.
Milan sit eighth in the table with 28 points, eight points behind fourth-placed Lazio, but with two games in hand. Cagliari drop into the bottom three despite the draw, after Lecce won 3-1 at Empoli to climb up to 14th in a crowded relegation battle.
“I expected much more at all levels,” Conceição told Sky Sport. “I’ve been a coach for 13 years, and comparing the quality of this group to what we did, it was the weakest first half since I’ve started coaching. We lacked rhythm, quality … and we weren’t that good or intelligent [for] this level.”
Geronimo Rulli, Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and Adrien Rabiot celebrate Marseille’s victory in Rennes. Photograph: Mathieu Pattier/AP
In Ligue 1, Marseille moved to within four points of Paris Saint-Germain with a 2-1 comeback win at Rennes. Arnaud Kalimuendo put the hosts in front after missing an early penalty, but goals from Mason Greenwood and Adrien Rabiot turned the game in the visitors’ favour.
Nice are in fourth after Gaëtan Laborde scored twice, including one from the penalty spot, in their 4-2 win at Reims. Lyon slipped to a 2-1 defeat at Brest, who took an early two-goal lead through Mahdi Camara and Ludovic Ajorque.
In La Liga, Carlos Corberán’s Valencia side were denied a precious victory at Sevilla as Adria Pedrosa found a 93rd-minute equaliser for the hosts. Luis Rioja had put Valencia in front just after the hour mark, but Valladolid’s 1-0 win over Real Betis leaves Los Che bottom of the table.
