Mali international Seydou Keita scored a first ever hat-trick as champions Barcelona got back to their best, crushing Real Zaragoza 6-1 at the Camp Nou on Sunday to move three points clear of Real Madrid at the top of the table.
Barca had experienced a blip with a Champions League home defeat to Rubin Kazan in midweek, but responded with a soccer masterclass to punish Real’s 0-0 draw at Sporting Gijon on Saturday.
Keita scored a memorable hat-trick (24, 41 and 86 minutes) to take his season’s tally to five, while Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored twice and also had two goals ruled out for offside.
“Doubts? I don’t think we had any doubts to be honest,” Keita said. “We showed today that we are a great team and go out to win. On a personal level, I am happy with my first hat-trick, although I am not really a goal-scorer.”
Ibrahimovic joins Valencia’s David Villa at the top of the scoring charts on seven goals, while Lionel Messi has six goals after scoring a fine chip.
Barca were three goals up after a destructive first half, but that was not enough as they tore Zaragoza to shreds in the second half and it could have been double figures.
On 24 minutes, Barca made the breakthrough with Messi showing quick thinking from a corner to clip a ball in and Keita got in front of his man to score with a diving header.
Five minutes later, Ibrahimovic thundered in a ferocious free-kick from 25m, although goalkeeper Juan Carrizo will be disappointed.
Barca scored a third on 41 minutes with Xavi producing a sublime pass to release Ibrahimovic and the Swede crossed for Keita to smash home his fourth goal of the season, crashing into the back of the net as he did so.
In a spot of role reversal Keita turned provider for Ibrahimovic, zipping in a low cross which the Swede deftly flicked in off his boot on 56 minutes.
Messi produced a cheeky chip in the 80th minute and Keita completed his hat-trick four minutes from time as Zaragoza prayed for the final whistle.
Earlier, Spanish international Villa returned with a bang, scoring his seventh goal of the season as Valencia defeated 10-man Almeria 3-0 to move into the top four.
Villa missed the 0-0 draw with Barcelona because of a thigh injury, but started against Almeria and headed in on 54 minutes, before Pablo Hernandez scored a sensational 35m chip and Juan Mata completed the scoring.
Almeria’s cause was not helped by the dismissal of goalkeeper Diego Alves after an hour for fouling Pablo.
Valencia supplant Deportivo La Coruna in fourth on goal difference, with Sevilla just a point ahead in third place in the standings.
“This was an important game for us and three points that could make the difference between Champions League football at the end of the season,” Valencia coach Unai Emery said.
Deportivo La Coruna saw a four-game winning run come to an end in emphatic fashion, crashing to a 4-0 defeat at Valladolid.
“Nobody in the dressing room is talking about the Champions League,” Depor coach Miguel Lotina said.
Earlier, Villarreal finally recorded their first win of the season with a first goal from Brazilian club record signing Nilmar and a free-kick from Spanish international Joan Capdevilla sealing a much-needed 2-1 home win over Malaga.
“Perhaps we sat a bit too far back, but the points were too important and we couldn’t slip up,” coach Ernesto Valverde said. “It was our first win and you always hope a good run can start from here.”
It was Valverde’s first league win since taking over in the summer and lifts the club off the foot of the table, with Malaga replacing them.
Nilmar arrived at Villarreal with a big reputation and his 11 million euros (US$16.5 million) fee made him the most expensive player in the club’s history.
It had been a slow start for the Brazilian forward, but in the 27th minute he got his first goal in Villarreal’s colors.
Malaga responded close to halftime through Albert Luque, but Capdevila’s free-kick on 54 minutes restored Villarreal’s lead and for once they held on.
Spanish La Liga
Team | P | GD | PTS | |
1 | Barcelona | 8 | 19 | 22 |
2 | Real Madrid | 8 | 15 | 19 |
3 | Sevilla | 8 | 9 | 16 |
4 | Valencia | 8 | 6 | 15 |
5 | Deportivo La Coruna | 8 | 1 | 15 |
6 | Real Mallorca | 8 | 6 | 14 |
7 | Sporting Gijon | 8 | 1 | 12 |
8 | Getafe | 8 | 0 | 12 |
9 | Espanyol | 8 | -1 | 12 |
10 | Osasuna | 8 | 1 | 11 |
11 | Athletic Bilbao | 8 | -5 | 10 |
12 | Almeria | 8 | -3 | 9 |
13 | Tenerife | 8 | -7 | 9 |
14 | Valladolid | 8 | -3 | 8 |
15 | Real Zaragoza | 8 | -6 | 8 |
16 | Racing Santander | 8 | -6 | 7 |
17 | Atletico Madrid | 8 | -8 | 7 |
18 | Villarreal | 8 | -4 | 6 |
19 | Xerez | 8 | -11 | 5 |
20 | Malaga | 8 | -4 | 4 |
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
RSS