Debutant and |Dubai amateur Oscar Craig makes the cut on a tough day dominated by warm winds
sports9 hours ago
Lionel Messi celebrated becoming Barcelona’s highest appearance maker of all time by scoring twice as his rampant side crushed Real Sociedad 6-1 away in La Liga on Sunday with a stunning team display.
Antoine Griezmann opened the scoring by netting against his old club in the 36th minute and right back Sergino Dest stretched Barca’s lead shortly before halftime after latching on to a sweeping pass from Messi.
Dest struck again early in the second half before Messi controlled a sumptuous pass from Sergio Busquets and scored to mark a night on which he overtook Xavi Hernandez as Barca’s record appearance maker, with 768 games for the club.
Ousmane Dembele struck his side’s fifth goal of the night in the 71st minute after a brilliant solo run while Sociedad’s Ander Barrenetxea hit arguably the best goal of the game to give his side a rare moment of joy.
Messi, however, had the final say, finishing off a flowing team move in the 89th minute to score his 23rd league goal of the season, increasing his lead at the top of the scoring charts.
The victory took Barca above Real Madrid into second place in the standings on 62 points, four behind leaders Atletico Madrid with 10 games left to play.
“This is a difficult place to come, Barca always used to struggle here but we came flying out of the blocks,” said Griezmann.
“We worked very hard, we won the ball lots of times deep in their half and reacted well every time we lost it. It was a great Barcelona performance.”
Barca used to dread facing Sociedad away from home, failing to beat them in San Sebastian for more than a decade, and even though they ended up hammering the Basques they did not get off to the best start.
Sociedad forward Alexander Isak should have given the hosts an early lead from close range but could only shoot straight at keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, who denied the Swede again moments before Dest doubled Barca’s lead.
“This wasn’t our best game and they were clearly better than us and overwhelmed us,” said Sociedad forward Mikel Oyarzabal.
“They were more ruthless than us; we went into halftime feeling bad as they scored all their chances while we couldn’t convert ours and the second half was very different as a result. But no-one likes to lose like that.
Debutant and |Dubai amateur Oscar Craig makes the cut on a tough day dominated by warm winds
sports9 hours ago
In a packed leaderboard the tied second place was decided on a card countback with the Emirates Golf Federation 2 Team prevailing
golf10 hours ago
Chief organiser Tony Estanguet says the goal is to organise a 'spectacular but also more responsible Games which will contribute towards a more inclusive society'
sports11 hours ago
Hag will hopeful Luke Shaw, Anthony Martial and Lisandro Martinez will return before the season's end
sports11 hours ago
The menu is designed to showcase a diverse array of India's most popular snacks
kt network11 hours ago
Nadal scores crushing straight-set win over American teenager Darwin Blanch as Rublev ends four-match losing streak
sports11 hours ago
As a thermostatic shower mixer, Jaquar Qloud offers perfect regulation over temperature, water flow volume, and shower mode selection
kt network11 hours ago
The England star smashed nine sixes and eight fours in his 48-ball 108 as the Kings eclipsed the previous record set by South Africa who overhauled a target of 258 by the West Indies in 2023
sports12 hours ago