Manchester City rally to beat Real Madrid 2-1 at Bernabeu
Nico O'Reilly's opportunistic strike and Erling Haaland's penalty helped Manchester City to fight back to beat Real Madrid 2-1 in a tense Champions League contest at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday, Reuters reported.
Rodrygo opened the scoring with a low shot from a counter in the 28th minute, with City looking exposed almost every time Madrid ventured forward for the first half an hour.
But Madrid pressed the self-destruct button, first when goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois spilled a relatively easy header from Josko Gvardiol, with O’Reilly converting the rebound in the 35th minute, according to Reuters.
Nepal Premier League: Lumbini into Qualifier 2, to face Biratnagar tomorrow
Lumbini Lions have entered the Qualifier 2 of the Nepal Premier League (NPL) 2025, defeating Kathmandu Gorkhas by four wickets.
In the eliminator match held at TU International Cricket Ground earlier today, Lumbini surpassed the victory target of 112 runs set by Kathmandu in 17.4 overs at the loss of six wickets.
For Lumbini's victory D'Arcy Short scored 33 runs off 34 balls, followed by Sundeep Jora who scored 23 runs off 23 balls. Likewise, Captain Rohit Paudel and Niroshan Dickwella scored 18 and 14 runs respectively.
For the bowling side, Santosh Yadav took two wickets, while Karan KC, Sunny Patel, Shahab Alam and Rashid Khan claimed one wicket each.
Earlier, batting first after winning the toss, Kathmandu Gorkhas were able to score only 111 runs in 19.1 overs, losing all their wickets.
Santosh Yadav top-scored with 23 runs off 17 balls while John Simpson and Mohammad Aadil Alam scored 18 runs each. Bhim Sharki contributed 14 runs off 16 balls.
In restricting Kathmandu to a meagre total, Sher Malla took three wickets in his full quota of four overs, giving away 22 runs. This feat also earned him the player-of-the-match award.
Captain Rohit Paudel also took three wickets while Ruben Trumpelmann took two wickets.
With the win today, Lumbini Lions will face Biratnagar Kings in the second qualifier to be held at the same ground tomorrow.
Biratnagar lost to Sudurpaschim Kings by 77 runs in the Qualifier 1 held on Tuesday.
After defeating Biratnagar in Qualifier 1, Sudurpaschim have booked a place in the final, and will play the winner of tomorrow's match.
The final is scheduled to take place at the same venue on Saturday.
Tottenham spot on against Slavia Prague to close in on top eight
Tottenham Hotspur maintained their strong Champions League home form with a 3-0 win against Slavia Prague thanks to an own goal and penalties for Mohammed Kudus and Xavi Simons on Tuesday, Reuters reported.
The London club were made to work hard by the visitors but eventually eased to a third win on their own turf in this year's competition to boost their hopes of a top-eight finish.
Thomas Frank's side got their noses in front in the 26th minute when a Pedro Porro corner was headed into his own net by David Zima under no real pressure, according to Reuters.
Kounde headers give Barcelona 2-1 win over Frankfurt
Jules Kounde's quickfire brace of headers helped Barcelona to fight back to edge past Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 in the Champions League at Camp Nou on Tuesday, marking a much-needed win for the Catalan side, Reuters reported.
After a draw against Club Brugge and a loss to Chelsea, Barcelona found their stride to climb to 14th in the standings, level on 10 points with several teams, as they aim for a top-eight finish to secure direct qualification for the last 16. Frankfurt are 30th with four points from six matches.
Frankfurt struck first in the 21st minute through Ansgar Knauff on the counter but Barca's persistence paid off when Kounde scored twice early in the second half, according to Reuters.



