Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 17th league goal of the season and 22nd in all competitions to help Real Madrid take the Spanish league lead Saturday after Celta Vigo won at Barcelona’s home field for the first time in 72 years.
Other top European teams avoided upsets, with Bayern Munich and Chelsea both needing late penalty kicks for 2-1 home victories.
Juventus took advantage of Roma’s loss to open a three-point lead in the Serie A, while Paris Saint-Germain pulled within a point of leader Marseille in the French league.
Joaquin Larrivey’s 55th-minute goal gave Celta a 1-0 win against former coach Luis Enrique, its first victory at the power’s home field since 1942 at Les Corts Stadium. Lionel Messi and Neymar each hit the goal frame twice and goalkeeper Sergio Alvarez made two reflex saves to keep Messi at 250 league goals, one shy of Telmo Zarra’s record.
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Swansea City’s Ki Sung-yueng (center) and Everton’s Steven Naismith jostle for the ball on Saturday. (AFP-Yonhap) |
Ronaldo scored in his 12th straight game in all competitions, getting a second-minute goal in a 4-0 win at Granada.
James Rodriguez added goals in the 31st and 86th minutes, and Karim Benzema scored in the 54th.
Real Madrid (8-2) moved one point in front of Atletico Madrid (7-1-2), with Barcelona (7-2-1) another point back following its second straight loss. Antoine Griezmann scored his first two league goals this season in Atletico’s 4-2 win over visiting Cordoba. Mario Mandzukic and Raul Garcia also scored for the hosts.
Sevilla (7-1-1) would move into first with a win Sunday at Athletic Bilbao.
Eden Hazard converted a tiebreaking 75th-minute penalty kick to give Chelsea a 2-1 win at home over Queens Park Rangers that maintained the Blues’ four-point lead in the Premier League.
Oscar put Chelsea (8-0-2) ahead in the 32nd minute with a long-range shot, but Charlie Austin tied the score with a back-heeled flick in the 62nd. Hazard was fouled by Eduardo Vargas, setting up the penalty kick.
Second-place Southampton (7-2-1) won 1-0 at Hull on Victor Wanyama’s third-minute goal. Third-place Manchester City (5-2-2) hosts eighth-place Manchester United (3-2-4) on Sunday.
Arsenal, fourth at 4-1-5, won 3-0 at home against last-place Burnley as Alexis Sanchez scored in the 70th minute and in stoppage time, and Calum Chambers got a goal in the 72nd. Liverpool (4-4-2) is seventh after a 1-0 loss at Newcastle, which got a 74th-minute goal from Ayoze Perez for its fourth straight win in all competitions.
Arjen Robben’s 85th-minute penalty kick gave Bundesliga leader Bayern Munich a 2-1 win over Borussia Dortmund that left the visitors in the Bundesliga’s relegation zone.
Marco Reus gave Dortmund (2-7-1) a 31st-minute lead with a header from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s deep cross. Robert Lewandowski tied the score against his former team in the 72nd minute after a failed clearance by Neven Subotic.
Subotic also pulled Franck Ribery, who fell and earned the penalty kick for Bayern (7-0-3). Rafael van der Vaart’s penalty in the 26th minute earned Hamburg (2-5-3) a 1-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen to move out of the relegation zone. (AP)
