Barcelona took another step towards retaining their La Liga title when goals from Bojan Krkic, Pedro and Yaya Toure fired them to a 3-0 home win over Deportivo Coruna on Wednesday.
Saturday’s 2-0 victory over Real Madrid had put Pep Guardiola’s side three points clear at the top and their latest crushing triumph extended their advantage to six ahead of Real’s match at Almeria yesterday.
At a jubilant Nou Camp Depor became the latest of Barca’s opponents to spend long periods chasing the ball as the peerless Xavi again ran the show in midfield.
PHOTO: REUTERS
With striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic and midfielder Andres Iniesta injured, Guardiola fielded an unfamiliar 4-2-3-1 starting lineup, with Bojan leading the line in front of Lionel Messi, Pedro and Jeffren.
Xavi cracked open the visitors’ defense to release Bojan to score from close range in the 16th minute before a spectacular overhead kick from Daniel Alves came back off the crossbar. Messi and Rafael Marquez also had efforts cleared off the line by defenders.
Pedro’s goal in the 69th minute was easily the pick of the three.
An attempted clearance from Daniel Aranzubia went straight to the 22-year-old and he lifted a spectacular first-time effort over the Depor goalkeeper and into the empty net from just inside the visitors’ half.
Aranzubia had earlier kept Depor in the match with saves from Messi, Xavi and Jeffren, but was beaten again three minutes later when Toure’s powerful strike crashed in off a defender.
“This team fights hard and also tries to put on a spectacle which we have to be grateful for,” Barca president Joan Laporta said in a television interview. “They look hungry and eager for matches and I have the same feeling as last season.”
Real Mallorca climbed above Sevilla into Spain’s fourth Champions League qualification berth earlier on Wednesday when they drew 1-1 at struggling Real Zaragoza.
The Balearic Islanders have 52 points to Sevilla’s 51 after the Andalucians’ 2-1 defeat at Real Valladolid on Tuesday.
Atletico Madrid suffered a shock 2-1 loss to bottom side Xerez.
A sixth win of the campaign for tiny Xerez, who are making their La Liga debut and have a budget about a 10th the size of Atletico’s, puts them on 26 points with six matches left, still six from safety.
Racing Santander pulled away from the relegation places with a 3-1 comeback win at home to Espanyol, who had goalkeeper Carlos Kameni sent off in the 46th minute, and Osasuna twice surrendered the lead to draw 2-2 with visiting Malaga.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care