A hat-trick from Radamel Falcao helped Atletico Madrid to their first away win of the La Liga season as they beat Real Sociedad 4-0 on Saturday.
Coach Diego Simeone has seen his side pick up seven points from a possible nine since his arrival at the Vicente Calderon and they are now on the fringes of the European places, behind sixth-placed Athletic Bilbao only on goal-difference.
Colombia international Falcao put Atletico ahead after just three minutes from the penalty spot following a handball by Vadim Demidov.
Photo: Reuters
After the break, Adrian Lopez extended the lead at the second attempt after the goalkeeper blocked his header.
Falcao lobbed the goalkeeper after spotting him off his line with eight minutes to go and then fired in his third in the final minute, taking his season’s league tally to 14 goals, just five behind Lionel Messi.
An Alvaro Negredo header before halftime earned 10-man Sevilla a 1-1 draw with Real Betis Balompie in a typically highly-charged derby played at a frenetic pace.
Neither side gave an inch for the full 90 minutes in their first meeting in three years and in the end Sevilla went away the happier after they were forced into some last-ditch defending in the second half.
Negredo saw a shot well saved by goalkeeper Casto Espinosa after just three minutes as Sevilla aimed for a victory in their fight for a place in Europe.
Sevilla had the better of the opening stages and Betis were reduced to counterattacking, but they still took the lead with a well struck free-kick from Benat Etxebarria after 26 minutes.
Sevilla pressed Betis back and Antonio Luna, through on goal, was denied by Casto, before Negredo headed in a Jesus Navas cross after 41 minutes.
In the second half it was all Betis, but they were unable to capitalize on seeing their opponents reduced to 10 men with 20 minutes left when Federico Fazio was given his second yellow card.
“The first half was a shame because we showed that we had come for the win and I think we deserved to go in with a lead at the break. When we had 10 men we found it hard, but managed to get the draw,” Sevilla coach Marcelino Garcia said.
His opposite number at Betis, Pepe Mel, felt the result was fair.
“When we had the extra player, we created a lot of chances, and so Sevilla had the better of the first half and we were on top in the second,” Mel said.
RCD Espanyol moved up to fifth as they stretched their unbeaten run to five games with a 3-0 victory over struggling Granada.
The Catalan side maintained their good form since Christmas with draws against Barcelona and Sevilla, before the win over a sorry Granada, who suffered a third successive defeat.
Espanyol dominated possession in the early stages and after a succession of corners they finally got their reward when Jose Baena headed home a set-piece at the near post.
Dani Benitez had the chance to draw Granada level, but he shot straight at the goalkeeper and then Espanyol doubled their lead when Joan Verdu slotted home from the penalty spot after Vladimir Weiss was felled by Allan Nyom.
Espanyol eased off in the second half, but Granada failed to make the most of their openings and substitute Rui Fonte wrapped up the points for the hosts with 10 minutes to go.
Getafe came from behind to beat Real Racing Club de Santander 2-1, with Jaime Gavilan and Nicolas Miku scoring after Christian Stuani had given the hosts the lead.
Taiwan’s top male badminton player, Chou Tien-chen, on Saturday bowed out in the men’s singles semi-finals at the Thailand Open after losing in straight games to Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn. The world No. 6 Chou, seeded fourth at the Super 500 tournament, lost to the world No. 2 Thai 21-7, 21-19 in 53 minutes. The victory improved Vitidsarn’s head-to-head record against Chou to 3-5. Chou, 36, trailed throughout the opening game after the score was tied 2-2. His relatively passive approach allowed the 25-year-old Thai to capitalize on Chou’s defensive clears with powerful smashes while committing few unforced errors. The Taiwanese
FRUSTRATION: Gauff smacked herself on the head with her racket before storming down the tunnel, emerging afterward to have a heated discussion with her coach Elina Svitolina on Saturday won the Italian Open after beating Coco Gauff 6-4, 6-7 (3/7), 6-2 to claim her third Rome title, while Jannik Sinner set a date with Casper Ruud in the men’s final. Ukraine’s Svitolina had not claimed a WTA 1000 title since her last victory at the Foro Italico eight years ago, but prevailed over the ever-erratic Gauff to claim her 20th tournament triumph. Saturday’s win over Gauff was her third in a row against a player in the top four of the world rankings — including Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina — ahead of the French
West Ham United’s 3-1 defeat at Newcastle United on Sunday left Tottenham Hotspur realistically only needing one more point to win the battle for English Premier League survival, while Bruno Fernandes made history in Manchester United’s 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest. Spurs can avoid dropping out of the English top flight for the first time in nearly 50 years with victory at Chelsea today, but a draw would also likely suffice thanks to their much superior goal-difference over West Ham. “Overall bad performance. Too many things [went wrong], I think we gifted them the goals,” West Ham head caoch Nuno Espirito Santo
MLB is experiencing an epidemic of guys being dudes. At ballparks all across the US, groups consisting of mostly young men are joining in on the “Tarps Off” trend that is loud, goofy, infectious and new to the baseball world. Joining in on the fun is simple: Go to the section where the party is happening, take off your shirt and start twirling it above your head. Soccer-like chants or singing usually follow — injecting a jolt of energy for a sport that is occasionally chided for its lack of energy inside the stadium. After getting its start in St Louis, Missouri, on
RSS