MADRID - Sevilla strengthened its grip on third in La Liga thanks to captain Vicente Iborra’s hat trick in a 3-0 win at Celta Vigo Sunday.
Iborra was only brought on as a substitute at half-time by coach Jorge Sampaoli after his exertions as Sevilla booked its place in the last 16 of the Champions League with a 0-0 draw at Lyon in midweek.
However, he made an instant impact by heading home the opener from Pablo Sarabia’s corner on 51 minutes.
The midfielder then broke clear to seal the three points six minutes from time before adding a stoppage-time penalty to round off the first hat-trick of his career.
Victory puts Sevilla five points clear of fifth-placed Atletico Madrid and four clear of Real Sociedad in fourth.
Sevilla is just a point behind Barcelona and seven adrift of league leader Real Madrid.
Espanyol will carry a nine-game unbeaten run in La Liga into their meeting with Barca in the Catalan derby next weekend after a 2-1 win over Sporting Gijon lifted it up to ninth.
Basque rivals Eibar and Alaves remain locked in mid-table after a 0-0 at Ipurua stadium.
Inter’s Brozovic sinks Genoa
Inter Milan’s Marcelo Brozovic scored twice to earn a 2-0 win over Genoa, leaving Stefano Pioli’s side in eighth place.
The Croatian midfielder volleyed the ball in from a corner seven minutes before halftime and tapped home the second after a surging run by Joao Mario midway through the second period.
Schalke falls
schalke 04 had defender Naldo sent off after four minutes and then almost held out until the very end before falling to a cruel 1-0 defeat at home to Bayer Leverkusen after Stefan Kiessling’s late winner in the Bundesliga Sunday.
There was also drama in the day’s other game where Mainz 05 had what appeared to be a perfectly good goal disallowed in the 88th minute of its 1-0 loss at Borussia Moenchengladbach, which led through Andreas Christensen’s second-half goal.
The victory took Leverkusen up to eighth place with 20 points, three more than their opponents.
Gladbach ended an eight-match run without a win in all competitions since the end of September with victory over Mainz, although the frustrated home fans jeered them off at halftime.
Cavani saves PSG
In Paris, a second-half brace from Edinson Cavani saw champion Paris Saint Germain come from two down to earn a 2-2 draw with Ligue 1 leader Nice at the Parc des Princes Sunday.
The visitors withstood an early onslaught to go into the break 2-0 up after a sumptuous free-kick from Wylan Cyprien on 32 minutes and a slick left-foot shot from Alassane Plea right on the break.
The result puts Nice on 40 points from 17 games, one clear of second placed Monaco, which beat Bordeaux 4-0 Saturday and four clear of under-pressure Unai Emery’s champions.
Earlier a goal from Romain Hamouma and a series of saves from Stéphane Ruffier saw Saint-Etienne beat Guingamp 1-0 at home to climb to eighth after qualifying for the Europa League last-32 in midweek.
