Barcelona thrash Granada; Real held by Osasuna
MADRID: Lionel Messi is back in form and Barcelona are finding their feet after a 4-0 demolition of Granada on Saturday put them within four points of the top of La Liga.
An emphatic victory puts Barca in sight of league leaders Atletico Madrid but Diego Simeone’s side remain first after Real Madrid were held to a goalless draw by Osasuna.
It was a chance missed for Real after Atletico’s match at home to Athletic Bilbao earlier on Saturday had been postponed due to the snowstorm that has engulfed Spain this weekend.
Atleti are now a point ahead of Real Madrid and four clear of Barcelona, with three games in hand over both.
Messi scored twice to make it four goals in three matches for him since the turn of the year and his resurgence has coincided with an upturn for the team too, this victory Barca’s third on the bounce.
“We are calmer,” said Barca coach Ronald Koeman. “We have to stay humble, to keep working and winning.”
Messi’s double, the second a sweetly-struck free-kick, came between two strikes from Antoine Griezmann, who is also enjoying a revival after a disappointing 18 months at Camp Nou.
Some had wondered if Messi would ever get back to his best following an underwhelming start to the season but his latest contribution makes him the league’s top scorer on 11 goals, five months after he tried to leave.
“From day one, my interactions with Leo have been good,” said Koeman. “We’re used to this, if there are a couple of games where he doesn’t score, there will be a couple of people who will be unhappy, but not me, never.”
Crawley stun Leeds in FA Cup; Chelsea, City win
MANCHESTER: Leeds United suffered the biggest upset of the FA Cup third round when they fell to a 3-0 defeat by fourth-tier Crawley Town on Sunday as Manchester City and Chelsea eased through.
A brilliant solo strike from Nick Tsaroulla in the 50th minute put League Two Crawley in front after a first half in which Leeds had caused them few problems. Three minutes later the West Sussex club were 2-0 up after an error from Leeds keeper Kiko Casilla who let an Ashley Nadesan shot squeeze in at the near post.
The impressive Nadesan had a hand in Crawley’s third when his low shot was parried out by Casilla, only for Jordan Tunnicliffe to pounce and drill the ball home. Crawley’s best run in the FA Cup came in 2012, when they reached the fifth round—the only other time they have made it past the third round.
Bernardo Silva scored two goals and Phil Foden another as Manchester City strolled to a 3-0 win over Championship (second-tier) Birmingham City.
Frank Lampard’s Chelsea were also up against League Two opposition but avoided any embarrassment with a comfortable 4-0 victory over Morecambe.
On Saturday, Manchester United had booked their place in the fourth round of the FA Cup after Scott Mctominay scored the only goal of the game against Watford, via a corner, in a third round clash at Old Trafford.