Ronaldo hat trick lifts Real Madrid
Cristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty kick but scored three times to help Real Madrid increase its lead of the Spanish league on Saturday.
Ronaldo could have scored a fourth in Madrid’s 4-1 win at Alaves if not for goalkeeper Fernando Pacheco, who saved his spot kick. Still, it was his first multi-goal performance of the season and his club record 31st hat trick in La Liga.
Madrid’s win ensured that it stayed two points ahead of Barcelona after the defending champion moved into second place with a 1-0 win over bottom-side Granada. Atletico Madrid also won (4-2 over Malaga) to move into third, overtaking Sevilla, which drew 1-1 with Sporting Gijon.
In the English Premier League, Manchester City (4-0 over West Bromwich Albion), Arsenal (4-1 over Sunderland), and Liverpool (4-2 over Crystal Palace) each won, and only goal difference separates them at the top of the standings.
Manchester United’s 0-0 draw with Burnley left eighthplace United with no wins in the league in October. Golf: Chris Kirk and Luke List each shot 7-under-par 65 to share the third-round lead at 14-under at the PGA Tour’s Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Miss. Cody Gribble (67), Canada’s Graham
DeLaet (68), and 2009 U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover (68) were a stroke back.
Hideki Matsuyama of Japan shot a 4-under 68 to maintain his three-shot lead at 17-under 199 at the HSBC Champions in Shanghai, a World Golf Championship event. Defending champion Russell Knox also shot a 68 to stay in second.
Rickie Fowler (68) stayed seven shots behind. Rory McIlroy (70) is eight shots behind.
China’s Shanshan Feng birdied four of her final six holes after a long lightning delay to top the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia leaderboard at 13-under when darkness suspended play. She leads Anna Nordqvist of Sweden by one stroke.
Tom Pernice Jr. had four straight birdies and shot an 8-under 64 for a share of the PowerShares QQQ Championship lead with Brandt Jobe. Jobe had a 66 to match Pernice at 11-under 133 in Thousand Oaks (Ventura County) in the PGA Tour Champions’ playoff opener. Tennis: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga saved a match point before beating Ivo Karlovic 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (6) and setting up a final against top-seeded Andy Murray at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna. Murray advanced because defending champion David Ferrer pulled out with a left leg injury shortly before their semifinal.
In the semifinals of the WTA Finals in Singapore, top-ranked Angelique Kerber picked apart defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2, 6-1 and Dominika Cibulkova gutted through a 1-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4 win over Svetlana Kuznetsova.