��������

BARCELONA: Lamine Yamal returned from injury to help Barcelona beat Real Sociedad 2-1 on Sunday and move top of La Liga by one point.
After Real Madrid were thrashed 5-2 by rivals Atletico Madrid in a derby on Saturday, Hansi Flick’s side had the chance to claim pole position above Xabi Alonso’s side.
Alvaro Odriozola gave Real Sociedad the lead against the run of play in the first half but Jules Kounde headed the Spanish champions level.
Yamal, who missed the last four games with a groin injury, created the winner for Robert Lewandowski just moments after coming on as a second-half substitute.
“I’m very happy for (Yamal), very pleased that he’s back on the pitch because we’re going to need him,” Kounde told Movistar.
Barcelona held the game at the Olympic stadium, where they have played for the last two seasons, after the city council refused them a permit to reopen their Camp Nou home earlier in the week.
Flick handed 17-year-old attacking midfielder Dro Fernandez his debut, also starting Roony Bardghji on the right wing and bringing in veteran Wojciech Szczesny for injured goalkeeper Joan Garcia.
Barcelona dominated the ball in the first half but found it hard to beat Real Sociedad goalkeeper Alex Remiro.
The Spain international made a fine save to deny Marcus Rashford in the early stages.
On loan from Manchester United, Rashford is finding his footing at Barca and played a superb through ball for Lewandowski, who fired across the face of goal from a tight angle.
Real Sociedad hit Barca with a sharp counter-attack to open the scoring after 31 minutes.
Former Real Madrid defender Odriozola applied the finishing touch to Ander Barrenetxea’s cross.
Barcelona stepped up a gear and found Remiro in their way again, with the goalkeeper superbly  palming away a Kounde cross which was deflected toward his goal.
Remiro also tipped a Bardghji effort away for a corner, which led to Barcelona’s equalizer.
Rashford, who provided an assist from a corner against Real Oviedo in midweek, whipped it to the near post, where Kounde powered home a header.

- Yamal’s return -

Flick replaced Dro with Dani Olmo at half-time and also brought on Yamal before the hour mark, after the teenager recovered from his groin issue.
Voted the second best player in the world at the Ballon d’Or gala on Monday, Yamal made an instant impact.
The 18-year-old burst into the box and crossed for Lewandowski to head home off the post, just over a minute after his introduction.
Szczesny made a good save from Oyarzabal as La Real gave Barcelona a couple of scares, while Remiro denied Rashford and Olmo with two more good saves.
The game grew increasingly chaotic and both sides hit the crossbar in quick succession.
Kounde, daydreaming in midfield, was robbed and Real Sociedad worked the ball to Takefusa Kubo, who crashed a shot against the woodwork.
Then Barcelona broke away and Ferran Torres teed up Lewandowski, who battered the crossbar when well placed to put the game to bed, but the hosts were not punished.
“It was a difficult game, I didn’t like our last 25 minutes, we suffered too much,” added Kounde.
“The first 70 minutes I think were quite good, we could have scored more than two... but I didn’t like how it ended.”
Barcelona host Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Wednesday, also at the Olympic stadium.
Real Sociedad have had a tough start to the season, sitting 17th, but have been improving and will take heart from the pressure they put Barca under.
“Despite the defeat I’m proud of the team’s work,” said Odriozola. “It’s been a tough start and today we showed up.”

CAGLIARI, Italy: Inter Milan earned a 2-0 away win over Cagliari on Saturday thanks to an early goal from Lautaro Martinez and a late strike by substitute Francesco Pio Esposito, and moved up to fifth in the Serie A standings.

Cristian Chivu’s Inter desperately needed a win to avoid losing touch at the top at this early stage of the season, having suffered two losses in their opening four games, and a second successive victory keeps them in touch with their title rivals.

Inter are on nine points, three off leaders Napoli who are at AC Milan on Sunday, while Cagliari remain on seven points, dropping to 10th spot.

The visitors’ job was made easier with a ninth-minute lead when Alessandro Bastoni put a cross into the area and Martinez rose to send his header into the far corner from the edge of the six-yard box.

Cagliari are the Inter striker’s favorite opponents, with Martinez netting his 12th goal against the hosts, who failed to live up to expectations having lost just once previously this season, that defeat coming against champions Napoli.

The opening half was a scrappy, physical affair, constantly interrupted by the referee’s whistle, where Cagliari never threatened Inter’s early lead, with not a single shot, on or off target, registered before the break.

With Inter unable to create any real chances to increase their lead however, the game remained delicately poised going into the second half.

Inter began to turn the screw after the break, Hakan Calhanoglu’s strike from outside the area crashing off the upright, and Marcus Thuram drove through on goal but his effort was saved by keeper Elia Caprile.

Esposito was brought on by Inter, the 20-year-old striker coming up against his older brother Sebastiano.

Sebastiano, on loan at Cagliari from Inter, had a rare chance for the hosts from a corner but his volley attempt at the back post was well off target.

Inter were given a warning about their fragile lead when Michael Folorunsho smashed a header off the post from Esposito’s corner and the visitors duly responded.

Davide Frattesi had a goalbound shot cleared off the line by Cagliari defender Riyad Idrissi and minutes later substitute Esposito scored his first Serie A goal.

Federico Dimarco pulled back the ball from the byline in the area and the unmarked Esposito was there to steer his shot into the back of the net and wrap up the win with eight minutes remaining.