Norwich hold Liverpool to surprise draw
BARCELONA (AP) ― Cristiano Ronaldo scored three times in a 15-minute span of the first half to help Real Madrid rout Malaga 4-0 on Saturday and moved into first place in the Spanish league,
Having set up Gonzalo Higuain for Madrid’s opener, Angel Di Maria assisted Ronaldo for his first goal. The Portuguese forward added two more to decide the match before halftime at La Rosaleda stadium. It was big-spending Malaga’s first home loss and second in a row overall this season.
Madrid moved one point ahead of Barcelona, which was held to a 0-0 tie by visiting Sevilla. Goalkeeper Javi Varas blocked a penalty kick by Lionel Messi in second-half injury time to cap his excellent performance of nine saves.
Ronaldo and Messi are tied for the league lead with 10 goals, and Ronaldo has 12 overall.
Levante travels to Villarreal on Sunday looking to extend its best ever start with a sixth consecutive win that would move it a point ahead of Madrid.
Elsewhere, Sporting Gijon beat Granada 2-0 for its first win of the season, while Sergio Garcia’s second-half goal dropped the winless Racing Santander into last place as Espanyol won 1-0 for its second straight away victory.
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Wolfsburg’s Koo Ja-cheol (front) and Hamburg’s Tomas Rincon vie for the ball on Saturday. (Penta-Yonhap News) |
England
Liverpool was given a reality check on Saturday as promoted Norwich drew 1-1 at Anfield while Newcastle extended its unbeaten start to the Premier League season with a 1-0 victory against Wigan.
Craig Bellamy marked his first league start since returning to Liverpool in August with a goal in first-half stoppage time, but substitute Grant Holt leveled for Norwich on the hour.
Fifth-place Liverpool is already four points adrift of fourth-place Newcastle which went a ninth match unbeaten.
Yohan Cabaye curled the ball into the net in the 81st minute to send Wigan bottom with a sixth successive loss.
Wigan is in the relegation zone with Bolton, which lost 2-0 at home to Sunderland after late goals from Stephane Sessegnon and Nicklas Bendtner.
But Wolverhampton Wanderers fought back from two goals down against Swansea to salvage a 2-2 draw and end a run of five consecutive league losses.
In a West Midlands derby, Paul Scharner secured a 2-1 victory for West Bromwich over Aston Villa.
Manchester rivals City and United are leading the way in the league and meet on Sunday at Old Trafford.
France
Montpellier beat Caen 3-1 to go level on points with leader Paris Saint-Germain on Saturday, while Marseille defeated Ajaccio 2-0 to move away from the relegation zone.
Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa nodded Montpellier in front from Younes Belhanda’s free kick and rounded off the victory after John Utaka’s strike.
Montpellier was down to 10 men in the 63rd when midfielder Joris Marveaux picked up a second yellow card for a violent challenge on Niang.
And Caen midfielder Benjamin Nivet pulled one back with a late penalty kick after Montpellier goalkeeper Geoffrey Jourdren had fouled M’Baye Niang.
But then Caen had a player sent off when forward Pierre-Alain Frau received a second yellow card for a late tackle.
Italy
Genoa striker Andrea Caracciolo scored a late equalizer to hold Serie A leader Juventus to a 2-2 draw Saturday.
Alessandro Matri had twice given Juventus the lead but Caracciolo found the target from a sharp angle in the 85th minute after reserve goalkeeper Marco Storari ― playing for the injured Gianluigi Buffon ― failed to intervene.
Marco Rossi had first equalized for Genoa in the 31st with a bouncing header.
With 13 points, Juve moved one point ahead of Udinese, which hosts newly promoted Novara on Sunday.
With three wins and four draws, Juventus remained unbeaten under new coach Antonio Conte.
Maxi Lopez scored a late equalizer as Catania drew 2-2 at Fiorentina to extend the Tuscan club’s winless streak to four matches and pile pressure on manager Sinisa Mihajlovic.
Germany
Borussia Dortmund got over its disappointing Champions League form by routing hapless Cologne 5-0 on Saturday to go second in the Bundesliga.
Shinji Kagawa put the defending champions ahead in the seventh minute before Marcel Schmelzer’s goal, a double from Robert Lewandowski and Sebastian Kehl’s header.
Dortmund is three points behind Bayern Munich, which plays at Hannover on Sunday.
Stuttgart drew 2-2 at Nuremberg to move third on goal difference, as Borussia Moenchengladbach lost 1-0 at Hoffenheim.
Also Saturday, Hertha Berlin drew 0-0 with Mainz and Kaiserslautern beat Freiburg 1-0 to leave the visiting side bottom of the table.
Hamburger SV is a point ahead of Freiburg after a 1-1 draw with Wolfsburg in the late game, Thorsten Fink’s first in charge of the home side.
Fabian Johnson returned from a neck injury for Hoffenheim in his first appearance since Sept. 10.
