La Liga And PL Title Race Update: Leaders And Challengers Win To Heat Up The Competition
Reuters / Lee Smith
The races to summit in La Liga and the Premier League are hotting up. Let’s see how the table toppers and challengers fared in their matches.
Real Madrid, Barcelona, Chelsea and Tottenham – all were in action.
LA LIGA
Barcelona 7-1 Osasuna
Reinvigorated after the El Clasico win, a much changed Barcelona line-up put Osasuna to the sword. All three – Lionel Messi, Paco Alcacer, and Andre Gomes bagged braces, while Javier Mascherano also managed to score his first ever goal for Barcelona. Osasuna’s only and consolation goal was scored by midfielder Roberto Torres.
Deportivo La Coruna 2-6 Real Madrid
REUTERS/Jon Nazca
Real Madrid had to respond after the morale damaging loss in El Clasico, and they did it in style. The blockbuster trinity of BBC didn’t feature in the match, yet the young guns were more than able to do the damage. Alvaro Morata, Isco, Lucas Vasquez, and Casemiro scored a goal each, while Colombian superstar James Rodriguez bagged 2.
Andone and Joselu scored the 2 goals for Deportivo.
PREMIER LEAGUE
Chelsea 4-2 Southampton
Reuters / Dylan Martinez
Buoyant with FA Cup semifinal win against Tottenham, Chelsea were keen to extend their lead in the league. Hazard struck early to give his team the lead, which was neutralized by former Chelsea man Oriol Romeu in 24th minute. However, Gary Cahill restored the Blues’ advantage with a header just before half-time.
Diego Costa scored 2 goals in the second half to put an end to his uncharacteristic barren spell. Southampton’s second goal was scored by another former Chelsea man, when Ryan Bertrand put the ball in Chelsea’s net with a well taken header in the last minute.
Crystal Palace 0-1 Tottenham
Crystal Palace faced the tough task of containing the rampant Tottenham, who were keen to keep up the pressure on Chelsea in the title race. The Eagles held their fort strong, but it was Christian Eriksen who managed to make a hole in it – the Dane scored a brilliant long ranger in the 78 minute to claim a much needed victory for Spurs.
Written by Shorya Panwar. Tweet to get in touch with him.