Relegation-threatened Holsten Kiel on Friday scored a late equalizer to draw 2-2 against VfL Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga and snap a run of five consecutive away defeats.
The home side came into the game having scored a club record 40 goals in their first 18 games, but they had a frustrating first half and went in a goal down thanks to a 13th-minute header from David Zec.
Wolfsburg coach Ralph Hasenhuttl introduced Patrick Wimmer at the break and it took the Austrian winger just five minutes to make his mark, slotting under the advancing goalkeeper after he was put through on goal by Jonas Wind.
Photo: AP
Three minutes later, Wind put Wolfsburg ahead when he headed home from a corner.
However, Hasenhuttl’s counterpart Marcel Rapp was also busy, making five changes in the second half, including giving a debut to recent American signing John Tolkin.
It was another of the replacements who grabbed the equalizer in the 80th minute against the run of play.
Photo: EPA-EF
Steven Skrzybski squeezed a low shot between the goalkeeper and the post to give Kiel a share of the points.
Kiel remained second from bottom, but two points ahead of last-placed VfL Bochum 1848, while Wolfsburg rose one spot to sixth.
Before kick-off, both sides lined up with a banner declaring “WeRemember” to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp on Jan. 27, 1945.
Photo: A
German clubs mark the occasion every January to commemorate those murdered by the Nazis.
LA LIGA
AP, LAS PALMAS, Spain
Former Manchester United winger Adnan Januzaj on Friday scored a sensational injury-time free-kick as 10-man UD Las Palmas came from behind to draw with CA Osasuna 1-1.
Januzaj’s goal in the eighth minute of added-time robbed visiting Osasuna of their first league win since early November.
Aimar Oroz fired home in a crowded penalty box eight minutes into the second half to give Osasuna the lead, but Januzaj, the Belgian winger on loan from Sevilla, delighted the home fans when his late free-kick took a deflection and rolled into the empty net.
The comeback was all the more surprising given that Las Palmas played the last quarter of the game with 10 men after midfielder Dario Essugo was sent off.
Essugo was given a harsh yellow card for an innocuous challenge in the 72nd minute and shown another seconds later for protesting.
He was restrained by his teammates and escorted off the field by club officials.
A point apiece means Osasuna, who have not won a league match since Nov. 2, climbed one place to ninth, while Las Palmas remained 14th.
LIGUE 1
AP, AUXERRE, France
On-loan AFC Bournemouth striker Hamed Traore’s eighth goal of the season for AJ Auxerre on Friday was not enough as lowly AS Saint-Etienne grabbed a first-half equalizer and shared the spoils.
Traore broke the deadlock in the 26th minute when he took a superb long ball from Elisha Owusu before cutting in from the right and curling a low shot past the despairing Saint-Etienne goalkeeper.
Lucas Stassin leveled in first-half stoppage-time for Saint-Etienne when he was on hand to nod home on the goal-line after a rebound fell kindly to him following two point-blank saves by Donovan Leon.
Auxerre have not won a league match since Nov. 24, but their fine early-season form means they stayed in mid-table at 11th.
The point lifted Saint-Etienne two places to 14th.
SERIE A
AP, TURIN, Italy
Scotland striker Che Adams on Friday scored a decisive double for Torino to beat Cagliari 2-0 to record only their second league win since October.
Adams scored the only goal last month when Torino won their last match, 1-0 over Empoli, and he turned in a match-winning performance on a chilly night in northern Italy.
The former Southampton and Birmingham marksman got a lovely opener after six minutes when he spun on the penalty spot and fired a cutback high into the net.
His second goal after 61 minutes was more fortunate. Yann Karamoah’s shot came back off the bar and Adams’ shot was deflected past the goalkeeper.
Adams could have had another as Torino overwhelmed the visitors in the second half, but Valentio Lazaro’s goal was disallowed after a video review.
Torino moved to 26 points, equal with the team above them, 10th-placed Udinese.
Cagliari were three places and five points behind.
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