Sevilla’s Diego Carlos and Luuk de Jong got on the scoresheet on Monday to secure a fifth La Liga win in a row as their side enjoyed a 2-0 victory against CA Osasuna to move above Barcelona into third place and join the title race.
Osasuna defender Oier Sanrujo almost got the hosts off to a perfect start when he sent a header crashing against the post in the opening minutes, but it was Sevilla defender Carlos who broke the deadlock, outjumping two Osasuna players to meet an out-swinging corner from Joan Jordan to head past goalkeeper Sergio Herrera.
De Jong put the visitors further ahead early in the second half with a backheel to guide a low cross from Munir el-Haddadi into the net.
Photo: AFP
Sevilla are four points behind second-placed Real Madrid, with a game in hand.
“We played well in every aspect, we were solid defensively against a team that plays with a lot of intensity and pace while not altering our usual attacking style,” Sevilla manager Julen Lopetegui said. “Apart from their early clear chance, we were superior to them throughout the game.”
SERIE A
Photo: EPA-EFE
AP, TURIN, Italy
Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice on Monday as Juventus got back to winning ways by beating bottom club Crotone 3-0 in Serie A.
Ronaldo could even have had a hat-trick in the first half.
Weston Mckennie sealed the result after the break.
Juventus moved up to third on the table, eight points behind Serie A leader Inter with a game in hand.
It was Crotone’s fifth successive defeat and left them eight points from safety.
Ronaldo had not scored for Juventus since the start of the month. He came close on a couple of occasions before breaking the deadlock in the 38th minute when he headed in an Alex Sandro cross.
Ronaldo doubled his tally in first-half stoppage-time with another impressive header, this time from an Aaron Ramsey cross.
The 36-year-old Ronaldo should have had a hat-trick moments later, but he fired Ramsey’s pass narrowly wide of the right post.
PREMIER LEAGUE
Reuters
Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson on Monday said that he owes no apologies for his side’s 2-1 victory against Brighton & Hove Albion after Christian Benteke’s 95th-minute volley secured the three points, despite the visitors being second-best for much of the match.
Palace, who had three attempts on goal compared with Brighton’s 25, opened the scoring through Jean-Philippe Mateta before Joel Veltman equalized for Brighton.
Hodgson said the only stat that mattered was goals.
“The game is not about touches in the opposition box,” he said. “The statistic that counts at the end of the day is the score. They had the better of the possession, that’s for sure, they had the ball in our box more often, they had more quality, but I’m not going to apologize for coming away with what we consider to be a very good victory.”
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