Japan forward Ayase Ueda hit a brace to take his season’s tally to 25 goals in the Dutch Eredivisie during Feyenoord’s 3-1 home win over Groningen on Saturday, while Kaishu Sano had an assist as Mainz lost 4-3 to Bayern Munich in Germany.
Ueda, Eredivisie’s leading goal scorer, buried a 22nd-minute penalty for a 2-0 lead at De Kuip before making a swift turn at the edge of the box and side-footing the ball into the right-bottom corner in the 67th minute to stretch their lead. “I’m always looking for a chance to create space in front of the goal and shoot. I think things clicked well,” said Ueda after helping second-placed Feyenoord end their three-game run of draws and stay in the hunt for automatic qualification to the Champions League. In the Bundesliga, Sano’s right-wing cross set up Dominik Kohr’s 15th-minute volley before the Japan midfielder also played key passes in two more goals for Mainz as the home team took a surprise 3-0 lead at home to Bayern. But the already-crowned champions, who had Hiroki Ito playing the full 90 minutes at center back, stormed back after the break, with Harry Kane eventually tucking in the rebound for their 83rd-minute winner. Ritsu Doan scored his fifth goal of the campaign for Eintracht Frankfurt with a 66th-minute leveler in a 1-1 draw away to Augsburg, his right-footed shot finding its way through a sea of defenders from the right and going in off the far post.
In England, Kuryu Matsuki came off the bench in the 76th minute and set up the opener three minutes later in a strong cameo as Southampton were beaten 2-1 in the FA Cup semifinals by Manchester City. Matsuki set up Finn Azaz’s curled opener from 20 meters out, and while Jeremy Doku’s deflected shot drew City level in the 82nd minute, Matsuki again caught the eye as his sharp drive was tipped over. Nicolas Gonzalez hit the 87th-minute winner from 25 meters out before Matsuki stopped City from getting their third late on via a counter as he sprinted back to make a goal-line clearance after Southampton keeper vacated his goal. Daizen Maeda had two goals and an assist as Celtic beat Falkirk 3-1 at home in the Scottish Premiership, the speedster ending his three-month goal drought to keep his side in a three-way title race.