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SPORTSThursday 7 January 2016
Spanish Roundup:
Messi scores 2 & sets up 2, Barca beats Espanyol 4-1 in Copa
JOSEPH WILSON FC Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, center left, duels for the ball against crossbar. “It’s a deceptive result,”
Associated Press Espanyol’s Victor Alvarez and goalkeeper Pau Lopez, left, dur- Espanyol’s hopes took an- said Aduriz, who scored
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) ing a Copa del Rey soccer match at the Camp Nou stadium in other blow when Asensio his 22nd goal in 30 games
— Lionel Messi scored two Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016. was substituted after he across all competitions. “It
goals and set up two more apparently picked up an looks like we won, but it is
to lead Barcelona’s 4-1 (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez) injury during the halftime going to be very tough to
win over crosstown rival warm-ups. make it hold up at their
Espanyol, which finished a last year’s finalist to Barce- excellent first touch be- It was all Barcelona the rest ground.”
hot-tempered Copa del lona, scored three times in fore slotting in a ball he re- of the way, as Messi set up Gary Neville also got his
Rey clash with nine men on the second half to erase a ceived from Asensio, who Pique to tap in his goal af- first win as Valencia coach
Wednesday. two-goal deficit and beat started a counterattack ter Iniesta’s incisive pass over a topflight team af-
Felipe Caicedo grabbed Villarreal 3-2, while Valen- by intercepting Dani Alves’ started the move. ter Alvaro Negredo scored
Espanyol a ninth-minute cia, Sevilla, and Deportivo pass. Tempers flared as the game a hat trick in a 4-0 rout of
lead at Camp Nou, but La Coruna got positive re- But Messi quickly respond- dragged on, with Messi, Granada.
Messi hit right back four sults. ed when he caught Espan- Neymar, and Suarez re- Valencia is still without a
minutes later. Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal, yol’s defense off-balance ceiving yellow cards, along win through four Span-
The star forward put the used as a substitute, de- after Andres Iniesta played with eight for Espanyol. ish league matches under
hosts ahead with an un- buted for Barcelona, after him forward to beat goal- Perez’s second booking Neville, and had previously
stoppable free kick just be- the club finished its ban on keeper Pau Lopez. was followed by Diop see- beaten only a third-division
fore halftime, and assisted new players during 2015 Caicedo went down hold- ing red for something he team in the cup since the
Gerard Pique soon after for breaking FIFA’s rules ing his left thigh near half- apparently said to Suarez in former Manchester United
the interval. regarding the transfer for time, but the visitors’ de- the 75th. The undermanned player took charge.
Messi then set up Neymar youth players. fense held firm until Messi Espanyol resisted until Messi Sevilla took a 2-0 lead
for the fourth goal after Espanyol found its opener sent his free kick streaking flipped the ball forward for from its victory at Real Be-
Espanyol’s Hernan Perez when Caicedo used an in off the underside of the Neymar to put in. tis in a one-sided Seville
and Papakouly Diop were Bilbao fell behind at home derby, while Deportivo La
sent off, and Caicedo and after Villarreal scored twice Coruna needed defender
Marco Asensio were lost to on counterattacks, finished Alberto Lopo to head in
injury. off by Leo Baptistao and a late equalizer to claim
Espanyol, which held Bar- Samuel Garcia. But Benat an away-goal advantage
celona to 0-0 in the Span- Etxebarria set up Inaki Wil- from its 1-1 draw at second-
ish league on Saturday, will liams to pull one back, division club Mirandes.
have the return leg of the striker Aritz Aduriz soon lev- Atletico Madrid visited
round-of-16 tie at its stadi- eled, and Aymeric Laporte crosstown rival Rayo Valle-
um next week. completed the comeback cano late.q
Elsewhere, Athletic Bilbao, in the 81st.
Italian Roundup:
Dybala performs like Pirlo as Juventus wins 8th straight
ANDREW DAMPF Milan, which won 1-0 at Inter’s Mauro Icardi vies for the ball during an Italian Serie A by winning only three of its
AP Sports Writer Empoli with a first-half goal soccer match between Empoli and Inter Milan, in Empoli, Italy, opening 10 matches, Ju-
ROME (AP) — With Paulo from Mauro Icardi. Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016. ventus appears on course
Dybala performing like An- Second-place Fiorentina for a fifth consecutive title.
drea Pirlo, Juventus picked was one point off the lead (AP Photo/Paolo Lazzeroni) While the Bianconeri strug-
up right where it left off be- following a 3-1 win at Pal- gled to overcome the de-
fore the holiday break. ermo, where Josip Ilicic tus in front with an accu- up matches with a free partures of Pirlo and Carlos
Dybala scored with a curl- scored twice. rate free kick eight minutes kick is very important after Tevez at the start of the
ing free kick and also set Napoli was third, level on in, and Bonucci doubled a break of more than two season, new players such
up a goal as Juventus points with Fiorentina, af- the lead before halftime by weeks.” as Dybala and Mario Man-
swept aside last-place Hel- ter beating Torino 2-1 with redirecting a free kick from Zaza sealed it for Juventus dzukic have settled in.
las Verona 3-0 for its eighth goals from Lorenzo Insigne Dybala with a header. after being set up by Paul In Empoli, Icardi found the
straight win in Serie A on and Marek Hamsik. “(Dybala) has been prac- Pogba eight minutes from target from close range
Wednesday. Also, Roma wasted a two- ticing free kicks,” Allegri the end. by redirecting a cross from
Leonardo Bonucci and goal lead in a 3-3 draw at said. “Being able to open After starting the season Ivan Perisic.
Simone Zaza also scored Chievo Verona to remain Having tied for the Serie A
for the four-time defending fifth. scoring lead with 22 goals
champion, which hadn’t With Mario Balotelli still re- last season, Icardi has eight
played in 17 days. covering from pelvis sur- goals from his 12 shots on
“The lads did well to get gery, AC Milan was beaten target this term.
right back into the league, 1-0 at home by Bologna, It was the 10th time Inter
which is never easy after the which got a late winner won with a one-goal ad-
holidays,” Juventus coach from Emanuele Giaccheri- vantage this season.
Massimiliano Allegri said. ni. Empoli, which had won four
“We weren’t very sharp, es- Elsewhere, it was: Lazio 0, straight, was dangerous at
pecially at the start, but we Carpi 0; Sassuolo 2, Frosin- times but couldn’t find a
didn’t concede anything.” one 2; and Udinese 2, Ata- way past Inter goalkeeper
Juventus remained three lanta 1. Samir Handanovic.q
points behind leader Inter In Turin, Dybala put Juven-
