European roundup: Eriksen, Sánchez and Young score as Inter win 6-0
Alexis Sánchez produced an imposing performance to inspire Internazionale to a 6-0 win over Serie A strugglers Brescia at San Siro. Sánchez scored for Inter for only the second time but helped set up other goals as they consolidated third place and moved closer to a berth in next season’s Champions League.
“Sánchez is starting to do well,” said Inter manager Antonio Conte. “He’s still not the Sánchez I liked in England, but he’s on the right track. He did well against Parma, coming in with the right attitude. Today there was great commitment on his part, he played an excellent game.”
Brescia slipped to bottom and will need a dramatic turnaround in their remaining nine games if they are to avoid an immediate return to Serie B.
Ashley Young gave Inter a fifthminute lead before Sánchez converted a 20th-minute penalty. Danilo D’Ambrosio made it 3-0 on the stroke of halftime with Roberto Gagliardini, Christian Eriksen and Antonio Candreva adding to the score in the second half.
The Cagliari forward Giovanni Simeone scored for the fourth game in a row to give his side a 1-1 draw at Bologna, keeping the sides locked together in midtable. Elsewhere, Verona moved to within a point of Milan after the Gialloblubeat Parma 3-2, while the Rossoneri could only draw 2-2 with lowly Spal.
Two goals from Gregoire Defrel saw Sassuolo comfortably ease past Fiorentina 3-1, while Claudio Ranieri’s Sampdoria secured a crucial victory over fellow strugglers Lecce, with former Southampton forward Gastón Ramírez scoring both goals in a 2-1 win.
In La Liga a change in manager brought Valencia little respite as they lost 2-0 at home to Athletic Bilbao in Voro’s first game back in charge. Raúl García netted in either half to condemn Valencia to a third successive defeat, opening the scoring in the 13th minute with a first-time strike from close range, then smashing home from outside the area early in the second half.
Valencia dropped below Granada, who coasted to a 2-0 win at struggling Alavés to climb to ninth place. It was the fourth defeat in a row for Alavés, leaving them 16th and only six points above the relegation zone. Real Valladolid pulled one point clear of Alavés with a 0-0 draw with Levante.
Gerard Moreno scored his 14th and 15th league goals of the season as Villarreal moved up into fifth place with a 2-0 win at Real Betis. Since La Liga restarted, Villarreal have won five of their six league matches, only dropping points in a 2-2 draw with Sevilla.