Record-chasing Lionel Messi and Neymar scored as Spanish league leader Barcelona eased to a 2-0 win at nine-man Rayo Vallecano on Saturday.
Messi chipped goalkeeper Antonio “Tono” Rodriguez in the 35th minute for his 249th league goal, leaving him two behind the all-time scoring record held by Telmo Zarra since 1955.
A minute later Neymar added his seventh league goal in as many rounds.
While Messi will have to wait for his own landmark, Barcelona goalkeeper Claudio Bravo broke a league record that had stood since 1977 for not conceding a goal through the first seven rounds.
Barcelona’s sixth win, to go with one draw, left it two points ahead of Valencia after it beat Atletico Madrid 3-1.
Atletico’s first league loss this season left the defending champion five points adrift of Barcelona and provisionally in third. Sevilla, Real Madrid and Celta Vigo can all pass it with wins on Sunday.
England
Manchester City kept the pressure on Premier League leader Chelsea by scoring late goals in a 2-0 win over Aston Villa, while Liverpool revived its faltering campaign by beating West Bromwich Albion 2-1.
Yaya Toure and Sergio Aguero produced moments of brilliance in the final eight minutes to break Villa’s stubborn resistance and provisionally move second-placed City to within two points of Chelsea, which hosts Arsenal on Sunday.
Jordan Henderson set up Liverpool’s opening goal by Adam Lallana and then grabbed the winner against West Brom, lifting the anxiety around Anfield after the club’s run of three league games without victory.
Liverpool’s problems are nothing compared to those of Newcastle, which remained winless this season after a 2-2 draw at Swansea.
The pressure on Newcastle manager Alan Pardew would have been fierce with another defeat but he was helped out by two equalizers from Papiss Cisse, who also scored twice to snatch a draw against Hull two weeks ago.
Sunderland beat Stoke 3-1, Hull defeated Crystal Palace 2-0 and Burnley scored through a 90th-minute free kick to draw 2-2 at fellow promoted side Leicester.
Germany
Borussia Dortmund’s alarming Bundesliga form continued with a 1-0 loss at home to previously winless Hamburger SV, while leader Bayern Munich enjoyed a 4-0 rout of Hannover.
Pierre-Michel Lasogga’s 35th-minute goal was enough for Hamburg to claim its first win at the seventh attempt.
Dortmund fans whistled their side at halftime and saw their team slip to a third defeat in four league games without a victory.
Former Dortmund striker Robert Lewandowski and Dutch winger Arjen Robben both scored twice as Bayern stayed four points clear of unbeaten Hoffenheim, which defeated Schalke 2-1.
Karim Bellarabi rescued a 2-2 draw for Bayer Leverkusen against Paderborn, and Werder Bremen drew 1-1 with Freiburg.
Eintracht Frankfurt was hosting Cologne later.
Italy
Keisuke Honda scored his fourth goal in six matches and AC Milan ended a three-game winless streak in Serie A with a 2-0 victory over visiting Chievo Verona.
Sulley Muntari celebrated his 250th match in Serie A by giving Milan the lead in the 55th minute with a looping volley from beyond the area after a cross from Honda was headed away.
Honda then secured the points with a precise free kick over a Chievo wall in the 78th.
Having scored only goal in the Italian league last season after joining Milan in January, Honda is thriving in the more attacking system under new coach Filippo Inzaghi.
Milan moved level fourth with Sampdoria and Hellas Verona, which beat Cagliari 1-0 earlier with a late goal from Panagiotis Tachtsidis. The trio are four points behind leaders Juventus and Roma, which meet Sunday. Udinese is three points back in third.
France
Andre-Pierre Gignac scored in the last minute of stoppage time at Caen to help Marseille secure a seventh consecutive win in the French league.
Gignac, who has scored nine goals this season, kept his composure and slotted home the winner after being set up by Benjamin Mendy for Marseille to win 2-1.
In slight drizzle, Marseille struggled to break down Caen’s resistance before Alaixys Romao opened the scoring 15 minutes from time. Caen defender Yrondu Musavu-King put the teams level in the 84th minute with a superb header that wrong-footed keeper Steve Mandanda from a free kick.
Marseille leads second-place Bordeaux by five points after nine rounds.
On Sunday fourth-place Paris Saint-Germain will attempt to carry its Champions League form into the domestic league when it hosts Monaco on the back of a 3-2 win over Barcelona midweek. (AP)
