Torres hat trick spurs Chelsea
LONDON – Fernando Torres got his first hat trick in more than 2½ years on Sunday to lead Chelsea to a 6-1 English Premier League win over Queens Park Rangers.
Tottenham returned to fourth place with a 2-0 win over Blackburn, moving ahead of Newcastle on goal difference and pulling three points back of third-place Arsenal. Chelsea trails Tottenham by a point with three games remaining.
Defending champion Manchester United holds a threepoint lead over second-place Manchester City heading into Monday’s game between the rivals at Etihad Stadium.
In Chelsea’s first match since reaching the Champions League final, Daniel Sturridge scored after 49 seconds, John Terry headed in a corner kick in the 13th minute and Torres scored in the 19th, 25th and 64th for his first three-goal game since Liverpool’s 6-1 win over Hull on Sept. 26, 2009. Florent Malouda made it 6-0 in the 80th.
Djibril Cisse scored in the 84th for QPR, which remains out of the relegation zone on goal difference over Bolton
After only eight goals in his first 61 games since joining Chelsea for $80 million, Torres has four in his past two matches.
Spain Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 57th goal of the season, Karim Benzema added a pair and Real Madrid closed on its first Spanish league title in four years with a 3-0 victory over Sevilla.
Three-time defending champion Barcelona prevented Real from clinching by winning 7-0 at Rayo Vallecano as Lionel Messi scored twice for his 20th multi-goal game this season. With four games left, Messi has 65 goals, two short of the European record set by Bayern Munich’s Gerd Mueller in 1972-73.
In Madrid, Ronaldo scored in the 19th minute, and Benzema in the 48th and 52nd. Ronaldo and Messi have each scored a Spanish league-record 43 goals.
Italy Undefeated Juventus moved a step closer to the Serie A title with a 4-0 rout at neighbour Novara.
Mirko Vucinic got goals in the 16th and 64th minute, Marco Borriello scored in the 40th for goals in consecutive games and Arturo Vidal had a goal in the 50th.
Juventus is unbeaten in all 35 league matches this season, plus its four Italian Cup matches – it faces Napoli in the May 20 final.
With three rounds remaining, Juventus remained three points ahead of defending champion AC Milan, which won 4-1 at Siena.
Elsewhere, Inter Milan and Udinese both won to create a four-way tie with Lazio and Napoli for third place and the final Champions League berth.
France Eden Hazard tied the score with a penalty kick in the 71st minute, then helped set up Nolan Roux’s goal in the 79th to lead defending champion Lille over Paris SaintGermain 2-1 and keep alive its slim title hopes.
Montpellier has a fivepoint leads over PSG with four games left, and Lille is another two points back.
Scotland Scottish champion Celtic eased to a 3-0 win over Rangers, stretching its lead over its city rival to 21 points.
Goals by defender Charlie Mulgrew and midfielder Kris Commons in the 31st made it 2-0, and striker Gary Hooper completed the scoring in the 54th.