Digest

SOCCER

Messi racks up another milestone in Barca win

Lionel Messi

Barcelona won 1-0 at bottom side Huesca on Sunday as Lionel Messi became the first foreigner to make 500 appearances in La Liga, while a late Luis Suarez goal secured leader Atletico Madrid victory against Alaves.

Messi returned for Barca after missing the final game of 2020 with an ankle knock and swung in a cross for Frenkie de Jong to divert home for the only goal on 27 minutes.

Although Ronald Koeman's side began a potentially season-defining run of four consecutive away matches with a comfortable win, Barca remains a distant 10 points behind Atletico in fifth and has played a game more.

"In general, aside from the last 20 minutes we played well," said Koeman. "We created a lot of danger, which isn't easy against a team that shuts up at the back. We got a great goal and we had two or three more chances to pull away."

Lampard braced for more Chelsea 'pain'

Frank Lampard said Chelsea will have to go through "periods of pain "to reach the standards set by Manchester City after Pep Guardiola's men outclassed the Blues in a 3-1 win at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

City brushed off a series of coronavirus-related absences as goals from Ilkay Gundogan, Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne killed the game as a contest inside 35 minutes.

Victory lifted City to within four points of Liverpool－which was due to play Southampton on Monday night－and Manchester United at the top of the table, but with a game in hand on both to come.

"There are periods of pain we are going to go through. That was painful in the first half for the players," said Lampard, who publicly lambasted his side's effort in a 3-1 defeat to Arsenal on Dec 26.

"I'll be the first to look at myself today. When I look at this squad, I know there is uplift in this team but I know where we are at because I can see and I know the work it takes to be at the level Man City showed today.

"It's normal that as a squad we take little knocks along the way, now it is a test."

Italian striker Pelle departs Shandong

Graziano Pelle

Italian forward Graziano Pelle has left Shandong Luneng following the expiration of his contract, the Chinese Super League club said on Sunday.

The 35-year-old arrived at Luneng in July 2016 from English club Southampton, helping the CSL side avoid relegation that year.

Pelle scored 63 goals in 133 appearances across all competitions for Luneng, including the second goal in the 2-0 Chinese FA Cup final victory over Jiangsu Suning last month. That triumph was the sixth time Luneng has lifted the cup.

Announcing Pelle's departure, Luneng said in a statement that the striker will go down in the club's history, and added: "Take care, and thank you, our Italian brother!"

Italian publication Corriere dello Sport has linked Pelle with Juventus and Inter Milan. Capped 20 times by Italy, Pelle has previously played for Lecce, Catania, Crotone, Cesena, Parma and Sampdoria in his home country.

MOTOR SPORTS

Defending champ Sainz wins Dakar first stage

Defending champion Carlos Sainz won the first stage of the Dakar Rally on Sunday in Saudi Arabia with the kingdom hosting motor sports' most punishing event for the second year since its move from South America.

The Spaniard, a three-time Dakar winner, covered the 277-kilometer special stage between Jeddah and Bisha in his Mini Buggy in 3hr 18min 56sec.

Sainz, whose son Carlos drives for Ferrari in Formula 1, finished 25 seconds ahead of French teammate Stephane Peterhansel after a gripping seesaw battle which record 13-time champion Peterhansel appeared to have won until Sainz stormed home.

"We spent lots of time in the midst of the vegetation, with bushes, tight corners," said Peterhansel, who counts seven auto titles in his collection of Dakar triumphs.

While Sainz leads Peterhansel by eight seconds in the fledgling standings, for another luminary of the rally world the 2021 Dakar had barely begun before it was all but over.

Nine-time world rally champion Sebastien Loeb trails by more than 24 minutes after a day to forget.

BADMINTON

World No 1 Momota positive for COVID-19

Kento Momota

Kento Momota, the world's top-ranked men's badminton player, has tested positive for COVID-19, causing the Japanese national team to cancel its trip to the Thailand Open.

The two-time reigning world champion, one of Japan's biggest gold-medal hopes at this year's Olympics, returned a positive test result before flying to Bangkok at Tokyo's Narita International Airport with the Japanese team, Japan's state broadcaster NHK reported.

NHK added that the 26-year-old Momota joined his teammates at the Japanese national training center on Saturday after spending New Year's Eve at his hometown in Japan's Kagawa Prefecture.

The whole Japanese national team has canceled its flight to Bangkok after Momota's positive result was confirmed, the NHK said.

Just a year ago, Momota sustained a broken right eye socket in a traffic accident just hours after he won the Malaysia Masters.

BASKETBALL

Curry spices win with career-high 62 points

Stephen Curry let it fly from way out under pressure with a minute-plus left for another perfect swish on the way to a career-high 62 points, and the Golden State Warriors beat Portland 137-122 on Sunday night to split the two-game set with the Trail Blazers.

Curry had the highest-scoring game in the NBA this season, finishing 18 for 31 and 8 of 16 on 3-pointers after beginning with a 21-point first quarter. He had his 10th career 30-point half to help the Warriors take a 66-54 at the break.

One small blemish in his brilliant night: Curry had his streak of free throws snapped at a franchise-record 80 in the first. The run dated to March 29, 2019, versus Memphis. Against Portland, he made a career-high 18 on 19 attempts.

Damian Lillard scored 32 points for Portland, and CJ McCollum added 28. McCollum shot 2 for 8 from deep after his 25 3-pointers over the initial five games left him and Curry as the only players to ever do so.

Xinhua - Agencies