Cristiano Ronaldo took his La Liga goal tally to 37 on Saturday as Real Madrid smashed through the 100-goal barrier to move closer to the title.
Ronaldo, who scored twice in the 5-1 demolition of CA Osasuna, is now just three shy of his own record of 40 league goals set last season and there are still eight matches left.
More importantly, his team maintained their six-point lead over bitter rivals Barcelona, who stayed in touch with a 2-0 win over Athletic Bilbao, a match which saw fellow free-scorer Lionel Messi grab his 36th league goal.
Saturday’s win in Pamplona took Real to 100 goals scored in 30 league games against just 27 conceded.
Karim Benzema set Real on their way with a delightful volley in the seventh minute, before Ronaldo, on 37 minutes, and Gonzalo Higuain, three minutes later, made it 3-0 at the interval.
Higuain’s strike took the Argentina international to 100 goals in his Real career.
While Osasuna threatened a brief comeback after the break through a Juan Francisco header, Ronaldo struck again after 69 minutes and Higuain wrapped up the scoring in the 77th minute.
A minute from the end, Osasuna substitute Roland Lamah was dismissed for a second yellow card as his team’s six-match unbeaten run came to an end on the day that coach Jose Luis Mendilibar had extended his contract for another year.
At the Camp Nou, Barca went ahead five minutes before the break against Bilbao through Andres Iniesta.
In the 58th minute, Messi scored his 36th league goal of the season after Cristian Tello was felled in the area. The Argentine star now has 56 goals in all tournaments, nine more than his great rival Ronaldo.
Athletic had less than 48 hours to prepare for the match following their 4-2 victory over Schalke 04 in the Europa League and they made several changes, leaving out Fernando Llorente and Iker Muniain.
Guardiola said he would not keep players in reserve with the second leg of their Champions League tie coming up against AC Milan following the 0-0 at the San Siro last Wednesday.
Even so Xavi Hernandez and Carles Puyol found themselves on the bench.
Defender Jon Aurtenetxe headed a Gerard Pique effort off the line, but a goal for Barcelona was on the cards and it arrived through Iniesta after 40 minutes. Known for crucial goals rather than being a regular scorer, he smashed the ball into the roof of the net after being supplied by Messi.
Tello was causing problems for the Athletic defense and he was felled by Javi Martinez in the penalty area after 58 minutes, with Messi firing in Barcelona’s second from the spot.
Malaga’s Champions League hopes suffered a blow as they lost 2-0 at home to Real Betis Balompie.
Real Zaragoza moved off the bottom with a 2-1 victory over Sporting de Gijon, who are now in last place on goal-difference with Real Racing Club de Santander, who were beaten 1-0 by Granada.
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
RSS