x

International

Musiala Bayern’s Youngest-Ever CL Scorer in 4-1 Win at Lazio

February 24, 2021

ROME (AP) — Teenager Jamal Musiala became Bayern Munich’s youngest-ever goalscorer in the Champions League as he helped his team rout Lazio 4-1 in the first leg of the round of 16 on Tuesday.

Musiala also became the second-youngest player to score in the knockout stage of the competition when he netted Bayern’s second goal.

Bojan is the youngest, having netted for Barcelona aged 17 years and 217 days in 2008. Musiala, who is eligible to play for either Germany or England, is 17 years and 363 days.

Musiala posted pictures on Twitter of him celebrating his goal, with the caption: “A night to remember.”

Robert Lewandowski had earlier given Bayern the lead after a howler from Lazio and Leroy Sané put the defending champion firmly in control at the end of the first half.

Francesco Acerbi netted an own goal at the start of the second half as Lazio’s first appearance in the Champions League knockout stage for 20 years went from bad to worse. Joaquín Correa scored a consolation for the Italian side, which was woeful defensively.

“It was a fantastic night. If you score four goals in Rome it means you had a really great game and achieved something special,” said Lewandowski, who was named UEFA Player of the Match.

“The Champions League is something that you wait for for weeks and today we showed our best qualities," the Poland striker added. "But we know we can still do even better.”

The return match is March 17 in Munich. Chelsea defeated Atlético Madrid 1-0 in the other round-of-16 match on Tuesday.

“We were too tense from the start, we knew the quality of our opponent but we helped them,” Lazio coach Simone Inzaghi said. “They should have had to create the goals and instead … but it will be another step in our growth.

“Out of the four goals, we gifted them three and that’s the disappointment. We would have wanted a different result and performance for our return to the last 16.”

Bayern had made the trip to Rome without several players due to the coronavirus and injuries. That list included Thomas Müller, Douglas Costa, Benjamin Pavard, Serge Gnabry and Corentin Tolisso.

It was the first time Lazio had been in the knockout round since 2000-01 and its return got off to a nightmare start as a dreadful Mateo Musacchio back pass in the ninth minute was intercepted by Lewandowski, who slotted it into the empty net.

It was Lewandowski's 72nd career goal in the competition, moving him above Rául and into the top three of the goalscoring charts. Cristiano Ronaldo (134) and Lionel Messi (119) top the list.

Musiala had been handed a surprise start and he doubled Bayern’s lead in the 24th as the England under-21 international was left unmarked to fire into the bottom left corner after Leon Goretzka had flicked on Alphonso Davies’ pass from the left.

The game was all but over three minutes from halftime. Lazio goalkeeper Pepe Reina did well to parry Kingsley Coman’s attempt after a surging run from the France forward but Sané turned in the rebound.

And Lazio gifted Bayern another goal two minutes after the break when Acerbi turned Sané’s cross into his own net.

The only consolation for Lazio was Correa’s goal in the 49th. The Argentina midfielder scored a brilliant solo effort as he beat four Bayern players before firing past Manuel Neuer.

___

RELATED

NYON, Switzerland  — A three-goal spree in six second-half minutes lifted Olympiacos to a first European title for Greek soccer clubs on Monday after beating AC Milan 3-0 in the UEFA Youth League final.

Top Stories

Columnists

A pregnant woman was driving in the HOV lane near Dallas.

General News

NEW YORK – Meropi Kyriacou, the new Principal of The Cathedral School in Manhattan, was honored as The National Herald’s Educator of the Year.

Video

A Palestinian Baby in Gaza is Born an Orphan in an Urgent Cesarean Section after an Israeli Strike

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Sabreen Jouda came into the world seconds after her mother left it.

NEW YORK (AP) — A reluctant Donald Trump will be back in a New York City courtroom Thursday as his hush money trial resumes at the same time that the U.

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — A top European Union military officer said that a frigate that’s part of an EU mission in the Red Sea to protect merchant shipping destroyed a drone launched from an area in Yemen controlled by Houthi rebels on Thursday morning.

VENICE, Italy (AP) — Under the gaze of the world’s media, the fragile lagoon city of Venice launched a pilot program Thursday to charge day-trippers a 5-euro (around $5.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — With graduations looming, student protesters doubled down early Thursday on their discontent of the Israel-Hamas war on campuses across the country as universities, including ones in California and Texas, have become quick to call in the police to end the demonstrations and make arrests.

Enter your email address to subscribe

Provide your email address to subscribe. For e.g. [email protected]

You may unsubscribe at any time using the link in our newsletter.