Sergio Busquets scored deep in stoppage-time to give Barcelona a 1-0 win at Valencia that was overshadowed by a fan’s death following a violent clash between supporters of Atletico Madrid and RC Deportivo de La Coruna on Sunday.
Busquets blasted in a rebound to secure the victory at the Estadio Mestalla that kept Barcelona two points behind La Liga leaders Real Madrid.
Third-placed Atletico prevailed 2-0 over Deportivo shortly before Madrid’s Clinico San Carlos hospital said a man had died of injuries sustained after a fight erupted between rival groups early on Sunday morning near the Estadio Vicente Calderon. The man was identified only as a 43-year-old Deportivo fan.
Photo: Reuters
Sevilla moved ahead of Valencia into fourth place and Spain’s last UEFA Champions League spot after routing visitors Granada 5-1, with striker Carlos Bacca leading the way with two goals.
Lionel Messi started Barcelona’s game-clinching move with a lobbed pass which Neymar headed powerfully at goalkeeper Diego Alves, who did well to turn back the ball, only for Busquets to drill it right back past him.
“We were lucky in the last minute to grab the three points,” Busquets said.
Photo: EPA
“A draw is never enough and we had to try until the very end,” he said.
Messi appeared to be hit on the head by a water bottle thrown from the stands, while his teammates piled on top of one another to celebrate the winning goal. The Argentine rubbed his head following the incident, but appeared to be unhurt.
Barcelona would never have been in position to press for the victory were it not for Gerard Pique clearing Rodrigo Moreno’s shot from the goal-line before goalkeeper Claudio Bravo saved one-on-one situations against Sofiane Feghouli and Alvaro Negredo in the second half.
In the capital, authorities said the man who later died in hospital was initially retrieved from Madrid’s Manzanares River, where the street fight between fans started at 9am. The game started as scheduled three hours later.
Police said they had made 24 arrests among four radical groups linked to soccer clubs.
The man died in hospital shortly after the match ended, and the public announcer asked Deportivo’s traveling fans to remain seated after the final whistle.
“Today is one of the saddest for Spanish football in recent years. It has been despicable,” Deportivo coach Victor Fernandez said.
Atletico said in a statement that the club condemned the violence.
“We want to make clear that we had nothing at all to do with these events,” Atletico president Enrique Cerezo said.
“We always seek peace [between clubs],” he added.
In the match, Saul Niguez headed Atletico in front in the 43rd minute, turning in a free-kick flicked on by striker Mario Mandzukic, who had hit the post earlier.
Midfielder Arda Turan sealed the points in the 55th minute with a long-distance strike that glanced off a defender and went into the net.
Sevilla had little trouble keeping Granada winless for nine straight matches.
Bacca scrambled in a ball which Granada goalkeeper Roberto Fernandez had spilled under duress to put Sevilla on their way in the 24th minute.
Granada’s Youssef El Arabi leveled from the penalty spot in the 42nd minute after Stephane Mbia had handled the ball, but Ever Banega scored seconds after hitting the bar to restore the hosts’ advantage in the 60th, before Bacca got his double in the 79th.
Mbia hit two minutes from time, before Kevin Gameiro polished off the rout in stoppage-time.
Granada were left just one point above relegation-threatened Deportivo.
Villarreal also kept Cordoba winless and stuck at the foot of the table with an easy 2-0 victory on the road as they rose to sixth place.
Striker Luciano Vietto scored in the 24th minute and substitute Ikechuwku Uche added a second in the 71st.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was