BARCELONA — Lionel Messi scored a hat trick to spark Barcelona’s 5-1 comeback victory over Espanyol in Sunday’s Catalan capital derby, keeping the winner in second place in the Spanish league.
Messi matched rival Cristiano Ronaldo’s three-goal performance in Real Madrid’s win the day before to ensure Barcelona stayed within two points of its fierce rival at the top of the table.
Sergio Garcia put Espanyol in front in the 13th minute in a good first half for the visitors, but Messi curled home the equalizer in injury time before the break to change the flow of the game.
Messi fired in his second in the 50th and added a third after Gerard Pique and Pedro Rodriguez had scored in a second half completely dominated by Barcelona.
Ronaldo’s record-breaking hat trick helped Real equal another Spanish league milestone in a 3-0 win over Celta Vigo Saturday.
His 23rd career hat trick in La Liga gave him one more treble than greats Alfredo Di Stefano and Telmo Zarra. Ronaldo’s 21st, 22nd and 23rd goals through 14 rounds also ensured Madrid claimed its 18th consecutive victory across all competitions under coach Carlo Ancelotti, matching a mark for Spanish teams established by Barcelona in 2005-06.
Madrid maintained the league lead, four points ahead of Atletico Madrid after the defending champion won 2-0 at Elche. Barcelona, trailing Madrid by five points, hosts Espanyol Sunday.
Ronaldo opened at the Santiago Bernabeu from the penalty spot in the 36th minute after he fell following light contact with a defender. He struck again in the 65th and 81st.
Ronaldo received a standing ovation when substituted late, after taking his overall tally to 29 goals in 21 games this season.
He led the Spanish league with 31 goals last season. Lionel Messi holds the record for the most goals in a Liga campaign with 50 in 2011-12.
Ronaldo is already well on pace to repeat not only as the league’s top scorer — Neymar is second with 11 — but he is also making a strong bid to defend his award for the world’s best player.
Madrid’s commanding win was marred only by losing James Rodriguez, who asked to be changed and walked off the pitch in the 53rd.
Also, promoted Cordoba’s 42-year wait for a top-tier victory finally ended by winning 1-0 at Athletic Bilbao, while Malaga won 1-0 at Deportivo La Coruna to rest in sixth place overnight.
Ribery hits 100th goal
Bayern Munich continued their seemingly relentless march towards a 25th German title as Franck Ribery’s 100th goal for the Bundesliga leader secured Saturday’s 1-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen.
Pep Guardiola’s side remain seven points clear of nearest challengers Wolfsburg after defeating Leverkusen, who remain the last team to beat Bayern at the Allianz Arena, back in October 2012.
Ibrahimovic scores twice
Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored twice as a poor Paris Saint-Germain rallied to beat Nantes 2-1 and moved provisionally to the top of the French league Saturday.
PSG moved two points clear of Marseille. Elsewhere, striker Ricky van Wolfswinkel fired Saint-Etienne to a 1-0 win over bottom side Bastia, Bordeaux scored a 3-2 win over Lorient,
Montpellier recorded a 4-0 away thrashing of Rennes and Nice won 3-2 at Caen. — Agencies
