Reuters
Barcelona, April 24: Luis Suarez became the first La Liga player to score four goals for the second game in a row as Barcelona, helped by three penalties in the second half, stayed top by hammering Sporting Gijon 6-0 here Saturday.
Elsewhere, Gareth Bale made up for the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo by scoring twice as Real Madrid came back from two goals down to win 3-2 at Rayo Vallecano while Atletico Madrid kept up their title hopes with a 1-0 home victory over Malaga.
Suarez moved ahead of Ronaldo as the league’s top scorer on 34 goals after netting four times, twice with penalties, in the space of 25 second-half minutes.
Sporting had defender Ognjen Vranjes sent off in the 85th minute after picking up a second booking for fouling Neymar who scored the subsequent spot kick. The league leaders and Atletico have 82 points, with Barca top because of a superior head-to-head record. Real are third on 81 points with three games remaining.
Lionel Messi’s stooping header put Barca ahead on 12 minutes but Gijon, who are third from bottom, missed two chances to equalise before halftime. Suarez eased Barca nerves by tapping home Andres Iniesta’s low cross in the 63rd minute before converting twice from the spot. The prolific Uruguayan grabbed another goal in the 88th minute, drilling in a pass from Messi.
Ronaldo missed his first league game of the season due to a muscle strain and Real suffered another blow ahead of their Champions League semifinal against Manchester City in midweek when Karim Benzema was injured against Rayo.
Substitute Angel Correa settled a difficult game for Atletico against Malaga soon after coming off the bench, as his shot from the edge of the area was deflected into the far corner in the 62nd minute.
Simeone said a ball boy lobbed the ball on to the pitch, leading to the coach being forced to watch the second half from the stands.
