26/01/2026

SPORTS MONDAY | JAN 26, 2026

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Mbappe scores twice … as Real sink Yellow Submarine to move to top of La Liga K YLIAN MBAPPE netted twice to earn Real Madrid a 2-0 win at Villarreal yes terday and take his side to the top of La Liga. this season than French superstar Mbappe, who has netted 34 times across all competitions. blow for the hosts, who created a good chance for Pape Gueye just before the break. The Senegal midfielder, a champion at the Africa Cup of Nations last weekend, powered narrowly wide of the post.

who missed a similar attempted Panenka penalty for Morocco in the Africa Cup of Nations final, was on the pitch to see it as he returned to action for his club. “For you,” Mbappe appeared to say to Diaz during the celebration, indicating it was a gesture of support. “For me, the most important thing is that (the players) are united, we saw it last Wednesday with Vinicius’s goal (against Monaco) and we saw it again today, with Brahim,” Arbeloa told reporters. The Yellow Submarine are now 10 points behind leaders Madrid, having played one fewer match than Arbeloa’s side. “We have to be a bit more accurate in attack against these kinds of teams,” admitted Villarreal midfielder Alberto Moleiro. Elsewhere, fifth-placed Espanyol fell to a 3-2 defeat at Valencia that left them seven points behind Villarreal. – AFP Nwaneri scores on Marseille ETHAN NWANERI struck 13 minutes into his Marseille debut after joining on loan from Arsenal to help his new club to a 3-1 win over high-flying Lens in Ligue 1 yester day. Amine Gouiri’s deflected effort put Marseille ahead early at the Velodrome and 18-year-old Nwaneri soon doubled the lead. The England under-21 international gathered the ball just inside his own half and advanced unchallenged towards the edge of the Lens box, shifting inside onto his left foot and sweeping home from 20 yards. Gouiri netted again on 75 minutes to all but seal victory, tapping in a cross from Timothy Weah, before Lens grabbed a con solation through substitute Rayan Fofana. “It’s a really great night,” Gouiri told broadcaster Ligue 1+ . “The new signings have settled in well – you could feel it. We wanted to climb back up the table and put in a good perform ance, and that’s what we did.” Nwaneri joined Marseille on Friday until the end of the season after struggling for minutes for the Premier League leaders this term following a breakthrough 2024/25 campaign, in which he scored nine times and earned a new five-year deal with the Gunners. Roberto De Zerbi left out the league’s top scorer Mason Greenwood for the visit of Lens, in a bid to keep him fresh for Thursday’s vital Champions League trip to Club Brugge. Lens had managed to maintain their one-point lead in recent weeks but reign ing French and European champions PSG climbed above them on Saturday after a 1 0 win at Auxerre. “We want to push for a European spot. Losing tonight doesn’t call that or our good start to the season into question,” said Lens coach Pierre Sage. “I’m almost certain we’ll lose other matches, and when that happens we’ll have to get back to performing.” Monaco’s problems showed few signs of abating as they drew 0-0 at Le Havre to leave the principality club with just one vic tory in nine outings, dropping them down into 10th place. Lorient extended their unbeaten run in the league to eight games with a 2-0 win at Rennes, who passed up the opportunity to move into Champions League places. – AFP debut as Lens lose top spot

Mbappe and Vinicius Junior “are the best players in the world, they are players who can really unbalance teams, we try to get the ball to them as much as possible,” Arbeloa told Real Madrid TV . “They’re two players who … I’m really happy to have in this state of form and above all, because of the great work they are doing. “They are really committed to the team, they are the first who are pressing … they’re giving this effort and solidarity that we need from them, so I’m very happy that their reward comes in the form of goals.” It was a lively but imprecise start at Villarreal’s Estadio de la Ceramica, as the game glowed but neither side was able to seriously threaten. Villarreal’s Juan Foyth limped off hurt in a

Alvaro Arbeloa’s team moved two points clear ahead of arch-rivals Barcelona’s match against bottom-of-the-table Real Oviedo overnight. La Liga’s top scorer Mbappe reached 21 goals for the season in the competition to help Madrid see off a spirited Villarreal side, who are now fourth. Arbeloa’s side have won three consecutive matches across all competitions and victory at Villarreal could be a vital step in the revival of their season. After the shock Copa del Rey defeat at second-tier Albacete in Arbeloa’s first match at the helm just 10 days ago after replacing Xabi Alonso, his Madrid have started to take shape. The coach has made clear how important his star players are and none has been more crucial Boro boost Premier League push, Wrexham into playoff places MIDDLESBROUGH thrashed Preston 4-0 on Saturday to pull clear in the race to reach the Premier League, while Hollywood-backed Wrexham climbed into the leaders Coventry after a fourth consecu tive win saw them open up a five-point lead over the chasing pack. Alan Browne opened the scoring against his former club before Tommy Conway and Morgan Whittaker put the home side 3-0 up by halftime. Preston’s Jordan Storey was red-carded shortly after the resumption before Conway rounded off the scoring. “Of course I watch the table but we need to keep our performance up,” said Middlesbrough boss Kim Hellberg. “It’s not for me to focus too much on the table because I need to prepare my team and develop them.” Coventry’s lead at the top is now down to three points prior to their trip to Norwich tomorrow. Third-placed Ipswich failed to keep pace with Middlesbrough after their seven-game unbeaten run was ended by a 3-1 defeat at Sheffield United. Callum O’Hare, Andre Brooks and Patrick Bamford netted for the Blades to pull Chris Wilder’s side six points clear of the relegation zone. Wrexham are making a charge for a remarkable fourth consecutive promotion as the Welsh side moved into the top six. Hull moved level on points with Ipswich with a 2-1 win over Swansea to maintain their unexpected promotion push. Millwall are just one point further back after they thrashed Charlton 4-0 in a south London derby. Oxford remain second-from-bottom but are just two points adrift of safety thanks to a 2-1 win over Leicester at the King Power stadium. Bristol City are just one point outside the play-off places after a 2-0 win over bot tom-of-the-table Sheffield Wednesday. – AFP Championship play off places with a dra matic late win at QPR. Second-placed Boro are breathing down the necks of

Vinicius also came close with a rasping effort that sailed across Luiz Junior’s goal and wide. The 25-year-old Brazil forward went a 13th straight La Liga match without scoring, but was involved as Mbappe found the net two minutes into the second half. “They are a nightmare for defences,” said Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. “I hope they can keep bringing joy.” In stoppage time, Mbappe was felled clumsily by Alfonso Pedraza in the box and the French forward cheekily dinked home the resulting penalty to seal Madrid’s victory. Mbappe’s teammate Brahim Diaz,

Bayern’s Harry Kane (left) battles for the ball with Augsburg’s Fabian Rieder during yesterday’s Bundesliga match at the Allianz Arena. – REUTERSPIC

Augsburg end Bayern unbeaten league run

AUGSBURG stunned Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich 2-1 yesterday to end a 27-match unbeaten league run for their Bavarian rivals dat ing back to March. Second-placed Borussia Dortmund made the most of the slip with a 3-0 win at Union Berlin to cut their deficit to eight points, keeping alive their slim hopes of challenging Bayern this season. Hiroki Ito’s opener gave the defending cham pions an early lead but Augsburg fought back with two goals in six second half minutes from Arthur Chaves and Han-Noah Massengo. “We have to accept it – it wasn’t undeserved. It wasn’t like Augsburg dominated us, but a win for us would not have been deserved either,” Bayern’s Joshua Kimmich told Sky Germany . “Augsburg were more aggressive towards the end. It wasn’t the top level we wanted to deliver, but what’s most crucial is how we react to it.” Bayern have been unstoppable this season. They had recorded the best opening half of a sea son in Bundesliga history and dropped just four out of a possible 54 points in 18 games. The hosts looked set for a routine victory when Ito headed in a Michael Olise corner after 23 min utes. Unfancied Augsburg last won a match in early December but fought back when Chaves made the most of a mistake from Bayern’s back-up goal

keeper Jonas Urbig to level on 76 minutes. Massengo then finished off a superb team move to put Augsburg in front and on track for their first win in Munich since 2015. Meanwhile, Emre Can converted an early pen alty, Nico Schlotterbeck headed in against his for mer club and Maximilian Beier scored late on as Dortmund won at Union to stay on the fringes of the title race. “Bayern are almost unbeatable. When they make mistakes, we need to be there,” Schlotterbeck told Sky Germany . “I don’t want the title to be decided in March. That means we need to keep it up for as long as possible.” Over 400 kilometres away from Munich, Bayer Leverkusen fans celebrated Bayern’s loss, chant ing“the only unbeaten champions”, celebrating as their record of being the only undefeated Bundesliga title-winners, which they managed in 2023/24, remained intact. Leverkusen beat Werder Bremen 1-0 and climbed to sixth in the table. Elsewhere, surprise package Hoffenheim tightened their grip on a top-four spot with a come-from-behind 3-1 win at struggling Eintracht Frankfurt. RB Leipzig cruised past Heidenheim 3-0 to move up to fourth and Mainz beat Wolfsburg 3-1 to continue their recent resurgence. – AFP