Lionel Messi scored his 300th and 301st goals in La Liga on Wednesday as Barcelona defeated Real Sporting de Gijon 3-1 to open up a six-point lead atop the standings.
Luis Suarez also scored for Barcelona in Gijon in a game postponed from December last year because of the Club World Cup. The win gave Barcelona 60 points, six more than Atletico Madrid and seven more than third-place Real Madrid after 24 rounds.
Messi opened the scoring with a well-struck low shot in the 25th minute and added his second from close range in the 31st, four minutes after Sporting equalized with striker Carlos Castro in a breakaway at the El Molinon Stadium.
Photo: AP
Suarez missed a chance to add to his league-leading 24 goals when his 62nd-minute penalty was saved by Sporting goalkeeper Ivan Cuellar, but the Uruguay striker sealed the victory five minutes later after a nice move inside the area.
This time there was no controversy with the way the penalty was taken. Messi and Suarez attracted the world’s attention on Sunday when the Argentine star rolled the ball to the side for Suarez’s goal instead of taking the shot himself.
Messi is the Spanish league’s all-time scoring leader with 301 goals in 334 games. He has scored 15 this season.
“It’s a privilege to be able to count on Leo,” Barcelona coach Luis Enrique said. “We faced some difficulties against a team that knows how to defend well, but I think we played a very complete game.”
The win — Barcelona’s 12th in the last 13 games — extended the club’s record streak of 31 games without a loss. The Catalan club have not been defeated since a 2-1 result at Sevilla in the league’s seventh round in October last year.
Barcelona’s biggest league lead had been four points, in the 12th and 13th rounds in November last year. No other team has had more than a two-point advantage atop the standings this season.
“It’s not been easy because our opponents have been playing against us with extra motivation,” Barcelona defender Aleix Vidal said. “What matters in the end is regularity and we’ve been doing a very good job so far. We have to keep this going, we can’t afford a letdown.”
Wednesday’s game was postponed from the 16th round because Barcelona was playing at FIFA’s Club World Cup in Japan, a tournament it won.
Sporting remain 16th in the 20-team standings with 23 points, two above relegation zone.
Messi got on the board with a long-range shot that hit the far corner, then scored with a quick strike after a pass by Suarez.
Just after having his shot from the spot saved by Cuellar, Suarez scored his 24th league goal with a left-footed shot into the far corner after fending off a defender inside the area.
Sporting scored just two minutes after Barcelona opened the scoring, with Castro getting behind the defense to steer home a low cross by Alex Menendez.
Neymar struck the post with a remarkable curling shot in the 33rd.
The game was extra special for coach Luis Enrique, who is from Gijon and grew up together with Sporting coach Abelardo Fernandez. They later played together for Barcelona in the 1990s and remain good friends.
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