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Messi, Ronaldo light up European goal show

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-12-14 08:06

Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo, from Portugal (center), duels for the ball between Zaragoza's Angel Lafita (left) and Ander Herrera during their Spanish La Liga match at La Romareda stadium in Zaragoza, northern Spain, on Sunday. Real Madrid won 3-1. [Photo/Agencies]

PARIS - Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo were locked at the top of the Spanish scoring charts on Sunday as Barcelona and Real Madrid continued their enthralling, high-stakes title duel.

Barcelona demolished Real Sociedad 5-0, with Messi striking twice, to stay two points ahead of Real, which saw off bottom club Zaragoza 3-1.

Ronaldo was on the scoresheet in that match to join Argentine master Messi on 17 goals for the season.

"Cristiano Ronaldo is a phenomenal player. He belongs to La Liga and to Spanish fans who watch him on television or in the stands," said Real boss Jose Mourinho.

"He puts on a show in every stadium he visits. Cristiano is a tremendous professional and he scored one of the best goals of his collection."

In Italy, AC Milan won for the 10th time in 12 league games with a 3-0 success at Bologna.

It is six points clear at the top thanks to goals from Kevin-Prince Boateng, Robinho and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Lazio failed in its bid to close the gap when Milos Krasic scored a stunning individual winner with the last kick of the game to give Juventus a 2-1 win over the Rome side.

Juve is now in second place.

Milan, which will be guaranteed top spot in a week's time when Serie A shuts down for its winter break, is still in the running for three trophies.

"Everything's possible, we're in the running for all the trophies (league, cup and Champions League), we have to keep going, don't relax, there's still lots of games left so we'll talk about the title another time," said Ibrahimovic, who has nine league goals to his name.

In Germany, Borussia Dortmund picked up its seventh straight win with a 2-0 victory over Werder Bremen.

A superbly struck freekick after nine minutes by Dortmund's Turkish midfielder Nuri Sahin put the leader ahead before Poland striker Robert Lewandowski netted in the 70th minute.

It was Dortmund's 14th win from 16 games with its only defeat coming on the first day of the season back in August. The result left it 11 points clear of Leverkusen, in which beat Hamburg 4-2.

Champion Bayern Munich remains 17 points behind, but it was buoyed by the news Bastian Schweinsteiger will stay with the club until 2016.

Lille stayed top in France but only after an injury-time goal downed bottom club Arles-Avignon.

With second-placed PSG keeping the wheels on its title push with a 2-1 win at Valenciennes, Lille was in danger of seeing its capital rivals overtake it.

But after Arles had manfully held its own Tulio De Melo popped up with a header in the 93rd minute to earn Lille its eighth win of the campaign.

In the Netherlands, defending champion FC Twente was crushed 6-2 at Heerenveen where Moroccan striker Oussama Assaidi struck a hat-trick.

Third-placed Groningen is just two points behind leader PSV Eindhoven after Tim Matavz scored both goals in a 2-0 home win over AZ Alkmaar.

Ajax is a further point back in fourth spot after Christian Eriksen's 11th-minute goal was enough to secure a 1-0 win at Vitesse Arnhem.

PSV, which was held 0-0 at De Graafschap on Saturday, stays top with a one-point lead over FC Twente.

Agence France-Presse

Barcelona's Argentinian forward, Lionel Messi (right), vies with Real Sociedad's defender Ion Ansotegui (center) and midfielder Diego Rivas (left) during their Spanish League match at the Nou Camp in Barcelona on Saturday. Barcelona won 5-0. [Photo/Agencies]