James Rodriguez scored a stunning goal to lead Real Madrid to a 3-0 win over UD Almeria on Wednesday that kept his side two points behind leaders Barcelona in the final stretch of the Spanish title race.
Rodriguez snapped Madrid out of their lethargic first-half performance by volleying home a long-range strike seconds before the break at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Almeria defender Mauro dos Santos deflected a pass meant for Cristiano Ronaldo into his own goal in the 49th minute and defender Alvaro Arbeloa sealed the win from Javier Hernandez’s pass six minutes from time.
Photo: AFP
With four matches left, Madrid next face a tough visit to Sevilla tomorrow, while Barcelona play at last-placed Cordoba. Then both title rivals will turn to first-leg semi-finals in the UEFA Champions League when Madrid visit Juventus and Barcelona host Bayern Munich next week.
“We are now in a very important period of the season and each game is important,” Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said. “I will field the best lineup I can at Sevilla, even though we will then play at Juventus because it will be the match that matters the most.”
Sevilla extended their undefeated streak to 10 matches after Carlos Bacca and Jose Antonio Reyes shone in their 3-1 win at Sociedad Deportiva Eibar on Wednesday.
Photo: Reuters
An audacious solo effort by Fernando Torres gave Atletico Madrid a 1-0 win at Villarreal as the soon-to-be dethroned titleholders kept their hold on third place.
RC Celta de Vigo needed Manuel “Nolito” Agudo’s 89th-minute winner to edge Malaga 1-0 at home, while Elche’s fans enjoyed a convincing 4-0 victory over struggling RC Deportivo de La Coruna.
Playing without the injured Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Luka Modric, Ancelotti said that Bale could return to training yesterday and he hopes Benzema would be ready for Juventus.
Madrid looked set to take the stalemate into halftime when Rodriguez rushed forward to pounce on a clearance that fell outside the penalty area and smashed a blistering strike over goalkeeper Ruben Martinez.
It was the Colombia midfielder’s 16th goal in his first season with the defending European champions.
Madrid’s dip in form early this year which cost them the league lead to Barcelona came when Rodriguez was sidelined with a fractured right foot. Without him, Ancelotti’s team had four wins, one draw and four losses. Since his return, they have won seven games and drawn one, with Rodriguez scoring four times in the past five matches.
At Villarreal, Torres went on as a second-half substitute and showed a flash of his younger self in the 74th minute when he stole possession from Eric Bailly, surged into the penalty area, rounded goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo, and left both Bailly and Victor Ruiz on the turf before firing home.
Asenjo later had an injury scare when his right leg buckled, but he managed to walk off when substituted.
Reyes set Sevilla on their way in the seventh minute at Eibar with a superb pass that left Bacca alone to dribble past goalkeeper Xabi Irureta before tapping the ball home.
Bacca then added his 19th league goal of the season in the 15th minute.
Federico Piovaccari pulled one back for the Basque side in the 51st minute, only for Bacca to assist Reyes in the 64th.
Sevilla moved into fourth place and the last Champions League spot, one point ahead of Valencia, who were due to travel to Rayo Vallecano de Madrid yesterday.
Eibar, who have only one win in their past 16 games, was left level on points with Almeria, just above Deportivo in the relegation zone.
Elche took a big step to ensuring they stay up by climbing into 13th place after Jonathas, David Lomban, Mario Palasic and Garry Rodrigues scored against Deportivo.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB