Euro roundup: Eta becomes first female coach to take charge in Bundesliga – The Guardian

Marie-Louise Eta made history on Sunday as she became the first female coach to take charge of a Bundesliga fixture, guiding Union Berlin to victory over Darmstadt.

The 32-year-old former Germany youth international was named as an assistant first-team coach for Die Eisernen earlier this season. She took charge of the Bundesliga strugglers for their home game against bottom club Darmstadt with Nenad Bjelica suspended.

Eta’s first experience leading a side in the division ended with a 1-0 victory courtesy of Benedict Hollerbach’s strike just after the hour as she also completed all of the pre and post-match media duties.

A Women’s Champions League winner with Turbine Potsdam in 2010, Eta had previously worked in the youth set-up at Union. She was brought in to work with the first-team squad last year and stepped up in the absence of the suspended Bjelica.

Bjelica was banned for three games after shoving the Bayern Munich forward Leroy Sané in the face during a 1-0 loss to the reigning champions on Wednesday. The German Football Association deemed the act – which saw the Croatian sent off – as “unsporting behaviour” and handed out a ban which left Eta at the helm for the first time.

Having finished fourth last season, Union have had a harder time of it this campaign but the Eta-inspired victory over Darmstadt moved the home side five points clear of the relegation spots.

Borussia Dortmund’s Niclas Füllkrug scored a hat-trick in a 3-1 home victory over VfL Bochum in their Ruhr valley derby on Sunday. The win lifts Dortmund into the top four with their third straight league win.

Germany striker Füllkrug opened his account with a seventh-minute penalty. Dortmund seemed in complete control until a series of defensive blunders on the stroke of halftime sent Bochum’s Patrick Osterhage through. His cutback was turned int by defender Nico Schlotterbeck for an own goal.

Dortmund’s Youssoufa Moukoko missed several golden chances after the break and it was Füllkrug who restored order, rising high above two defenders to head in a Marcel Sabitzer cross in the 72nd minute. Füllkrug then completed his hat-trick in stoppage time with a second well-taken penalty for his ninth league goal of the season.

In Spain, Girona reclaimed top spot in La Liga with a 1-0 win at Rafa Benítez’s Celta Vigo, thanks to a Portu strike early in the first half and to their former Tottenha goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga, who excelled for the surprise league leaders.

Girona sit alone at the summit with 55 points after 22 games, one ahead of second-placed Real Madrid, who have a game in hand and face Getafe on Thursday. Real and Girona will clash at Santiago Bernabeu in two weeks.

After being knocked out of the Copa del Rey in a 3-2 loss at Mallorca in midweek, Girona bounced back and played a solid match at Vigo against a Celta side who are struggling in 16th, just above the relegation zone.

Celta started the game on top and almost scored in the 18th minute with an Oscar Mingueza thunderous strike from range that Gazzaniga thwarted, palming it round the post to a corner. Girona hit back two minutes later, when Portu pounced on a Miguel Gutiérrez low cross to clear a defender with a quick cut before unleashing an unstoppable close-range strike past goalkeeper Vicente Guaita.

From then on, Gazzaniga worked his magic to produce a superb performance to keep out the home side and help secure the three points. He made an outstanding reflex save to palm a Jørgen Strand Larsen header from close range off the crossbar and denied two Anastasios Douvikas efforts in one-on-ones before the break.

In the second half, he held on to a Luca de la Torre strike from range, before Girona started to take control of the action, slowed down the pace and managed to protect their narrow win.

In the evening La Liga match, Atletico Madrid secured a comfortable 2-0 home win over Valencia which moved Diego Simeone’s side to third in the table.

Atletico could have won by a larger margin if it wasn’t for Valencia goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili who excelled for the visitors, keeping the game level until five minutes into first-half stoppage time, when Samuel Lino scored with a low shot.

The hosts kept dominating in the second half and extended their lead in the 57th minute with a diving header by Memphis Depay from a Nahuel Molina cross.
With the win, Atletico moved to third place on 44 points, ahead of Barcelona on goal difference. Barcelona endured a 5-3 home loss to Villarreal on Saturday before head coach Xavi Hernández announced he was stepping down at the end of the season.

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