Two blunders by the reserve goalkeeper 

The League Cup quarterfinal matches took place in England this week.

In the central meeting, the paths of Arsenal and Manchester City crossed.

However, Londoners, who are fighting for survival in the Premier League, actually decided to sacrifice the tournament, playing with the reserve squad.

As a result, the second goalkeeper of the Gunners Runar Runarsson became the main anti-hero.

Already in the third minute, he did not play at the exit after Oleksandr Zinchenko served from the left flank and allowed Gabriel Jesus to calmly send the ball into the goal.

After half an hour of the game, Alexander Lacazette equalized the score, but at the beginning of the second half, the Icelander made an even more gross mistake.

Runarsson was unable to fix the ball in his hands after a slight hit by Riyad Marez from the set and launched it into the net. 

Five minutes later, Phil Foden increased Manchester's advantage, and shortly before the final whistle, Emerick Laporte put an end to it - 4: 1.

So the townspeople managed not only to break into the League Cup semifinals, but also to become the first team since the 60s of the last century, which inflicted four home defeats in a row at Arsenal.

In 1960-1965 Chelsea succeeded. 

Mourinho's fifth advance to the League Cup semi-finals

Made their way to the semifinals of the League Cup and Tottenham with Manchester United.

At the same time, the Londoners, who put up a semi-reserve squad, experienced serious problems in the confrontation with Stoke City, which is currently playing in the Championship.

Gareth Bale opened the scoring in the middle of the first half.

However, the Welshman did not come out in the second half due to injury.

And in the 53rd minute, Jordan Thompson did manage to restore the status quo on the scoreboard. 

But “Tottenham” nevertheless hit the inferior opponent in the class.

First, someone else's gate was hit by Ben Davis, and then by Harry Kane.

For the England striker, this goal was already 16th this season in all competitions.

Jose Mourinho managed to lead his team to the League Cup semifinals for the fifth time.

On four occasions, he eventually won the trophy.

Meanwhile, the former Portuguese side Manchester United beat Everton on the road.

At the same time, up to the 88th minute on the scoreboard burned "zeros", while Edinson Cavani struck another goal.

And in the time added by the referee, Antoni Martial put an end to it - 2: 0.

Now in the semifinals the team of Ole-Gunnar Solskjaer in the Mancunian derby will meet with Manchester City.

The only team at this stage that does not play in the Premier League will be Brentford.

In the quarterfinals, the team representing the Championship beat Newcastle with a minimum score. 

18-shot penalty shootout

Much richer in unexpected results were the matches of the second round of the German Cup.

At this stage of the tournament, three teams from the elite division finished the fight at once.

The most offensive defeat was suffered by Hoffenheim, who lost on penalties to Greuther Furth representing the Second Bundesliga.

The main time of the meeting ended in a draw - 2: 2.

In the 94th minute, the guests earned a penalty, but Paul Zeguin failed to beat Oliver Bauman from the point.

However, in the penalty shootout, Greuther Furth took over.

In this case, the "lottery" stretched for 18 strokes.

Five of them were not implemented by the teams.

Only in one case did the goalkeeper make a save.

The decisive mistake was the miss of the Hoffenheim defender Kasim Nuhu.

The match between Mainz and Bochum developed according to a similar scenario.

The main time of the meeting here also ended with the score - 2: 2.

At the same time, Jan-Moritz Lichte's charges were leading - 2: 0, and the second goal was conceded in the 90th minute.

And in the penalty shootout, the Bundesliga team did not convert a single penalty - 0: 3.

In two cases the ball missed the target, and in one case, the goalkeeper saved Bochum.

Finally, the Berlin "Union" lost at home to "Paderborn" - 2: 3.

But the main sensation took place in the confrontation between Rot-Weiss Essen, which is in the country's fourth-strongest division, and Fortuna, which played in the elite last season.

Essen unexpectedly proved to be stronger than their opponents at home - 3: 2, and for the first time in 12 years made their way to the 1/16 finals of the German Cup.    

Messi's 644th goal for Barcelona

And in the Spanish championship, a truly unique record was set by Lionel Messi.

In the match with Valladolid (3: 0), the Argentine scored the 644th goal for Barcelona and beat Pele's achievement in the number of goals in one team.

The Brazilian has scored 643 times in the Santos shirt. 

Messi, in addition to the effective strike, gave the first assist in the current season Examples, although in the past he had 21 "assists" in his asset. 

Opener Clement Langle dedicated the goal to 22-year-old teammate Mousse Wagyo, who plays for PAOK on loan.

In a recent championship match in Greece, the Senegalese hit his knee on the barbell and was seriously injured. 

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Real Madrid's sixth win in a row

Meanwhile, “Real” and “Atlético” retained the lead in the standings.

Both teams won another victory in the 15th round of the Spanish Championship.

At the same time, Diego Simeone's charges have played two games less than their opponents so far.

On Tuesday, they scored three points with difficulty in the match against Real Sociedad, which was in first place in the fall - 2: 0.

The first half ended without goals scored, but after the break, Atletico scored twice.

Yannick Carrasco was first assisted by Mario Hermoso and then by Marcos Llorente. 

So Madrid managed to beat San Sebastians for the first time in three matches.

And Real Sociedad suffered a third consecutive defeat in the Example and extended the losing streak in the national championship to six meetings.    

The match "Real" - "Granada" developed according to a similar scenario.

In the first half of the meeting, the rivals did not manage to upset each other, and in the second the favorite scored two unanswered goals.

Opened the scoring in the 57th minute by Casemiro.

And in the time added by the referee, the final score was set by Karim Benzema.

For the Frenchman, the goal was the eighth in the current season Examples.

In the top scorer race of the tournament, he shares the lead with Iago Aspaz (Celta) and Gerard Moreno (Villarreal).

Madrid won their sixth consecutive victory in all tournaments.

Removal of Cuadrado in the 17th minute

The main sensation of the last playing days in European football took place in the match of the 14th round of Serie A between Juventus and Fiorentina.

The reigning champion approached this game in the rank of a clear favorite, as Cesare Prandelli's wards are in the bottom half of the standings this season and came to Turin with an eight-game losing streak in the passive. 

However, they unexpectedly managed to win with a large score - 3: 0.

The meeting began very badly for the hosts.

Already in the third minute, Dusan Vlahovic, after a perfect pass from Franck Ribery, came out one-on-one with Wojciech Szczęsny from the depths and carefully threw him over.

Thus, the Serb distinguished himself in the third championship match in a row.

And in the 18th minute referee Federico La Penna, after watching the replay, showed Juve midfielder Juan Cuadrado a straight red card for a dangerous joint with Gaetano Castrovilli.

At the same time, a little later, the referee did not appoint a penalty after the guests Cristiano Ronaldo and Federico Bernardeschi fell in the penalty area.

Fiorentina finished off a venerable opponent in the end.

First, Alex Sandro cut the ball into his own goal, and then Martin Caceres scored a shot from close range.

Thus, Turintsy lost in the Italian championship with a difference of three goals for the first time since January 2011. 

Three points to Chalhanoglu for performance 

The Milan teams, which occupy the first two places in the standings, managed to take advantage of Juventus's misfire.

Milan beat Lazio with great difficulty at home - 3: 2.

Moreover, the meeting for the owners could not be better.

At the very beginning of the game, Ante Rebic opened the scoring after a good serve from Hakan Chalhanoglu from a corner, and five minutes later he earned a penalty kick, which was converted by the Turk himself.

However, in the middle of the first half, the Romans got the right to a penalty kick.

Gianluigi Donnarumma coped with Ciro Immobile's shot from the “point”, but Luis Alberto was the first to finish.

After that, the psychological advantage passed to Lazio.

The guests carried out several promising attacks, but Donnarumma acted extremely reliably at the last line.

But after an hour of play and he could not save his team, when Immobile struck an accurate shot into the far corner from the left edge of the penalty area.

For the striker of the Italian national team, this goal was the ninth goal of the current Serie A.

In the remaining half hour, the guests were close to snatching three points, but in the 92nd minute they unexpectedly conceded.

After another perfect cross, Theo Hernandez sent the ball into the net from the flank of Chalhanogu.

The Turk, on the other hand, scored sixth assists in the current league season and fifth in the last four games. 

The first place was kept by “Inter”, which beat “Verona” (2: 1) away not without difficulty thanks to goals from Lautaro Martinez and Milan Shkrinjar.

This victory for the "Nerazzurri" is the seventh in a row in the national championship.  

29 passes of Miranchuk

But Atalanta, whose colors are protected by Aleksey Miranchuk, unexpectedly missed the victory over Bologna - 2: 2.

After the first half, nothing foreshadowed trouble for the Bergamos, because Luis Muriel managed to score twice in two minutes.

First, the Colombian converted the penalty kick earned by Josip Ilicic, and literally in the next attack scored a solid shot from outside the penalty area.

Immediately after the break, Miranchuk appeared on the field, but he failed to score points for performance.

At the same time, the Russian practically did not make mistakes in the programs.

He made 29 passes with 96.6% accuracy.

However, closer to the final whistle, Atalanta managed to concede twice.

First, Takehiro Tomiyasu threw Pierluigi Gollini, using the partner's clearing pass.

And then the substitute Neuen Paz struck an accurate header after a corner kick.

Pembele's debut goal at age 18

Meanwhile, in the standings of the French championship, the first place continues to be shared by Lille and Lyon.

On Wednesday, both teams won victories, which turned out to be different in content.

Rudy Garcia's charges sent three unanswered goals to the outsider Nantes in the first half.

Karl Toko Ekambi, Tino Kadevere and Lucas Paketa distinguished themselves in the team. 

In turn, "Lille" had to make great efforts to take away three points from Montpellier.

The guests were led first by Timothy Uea, and then by Nanitamo Ikone, but the hosts always found the strength to win back.

As a result, “Lille” managed to snatch the victory only in the 86th minute thanks to the precise blow of Burak Yilmaz.

Finally, the reigning champion PSG at home defeated another struggling team, Strasbourg, 4-0.

Kilian Mbappé, Moise Keene, Idrissa Gueye and 18-year-old defender Timote Pembele, for whom the goal became his debut in his adult career, were marked by goals scored.