Real Madrid won 1-0 away at a competitive Real Sociedad on Saturday, with an important goal from Gonzalo Higuain, his tenth in the league this season, to go top of La Liga for 24 hours at least, two points ahead of Levante, who go to Osasuna on Sunday.
Earlier, Lionel Messi hit a first half hat-trick as Barcelona beat Mallorca 5-0, a result that has the Catalans one point behind Madrid. Madrid’s goal came on nine minutes when Fabio Coentrao unlocked the home defence with a superb pass from the left-wing that eluded three defenders to find Higuain in sufficient space for the Argentine to simply lift the ball over the advancing goalkeeper Claudio Bravo. Afterwards Higuain paid tribute to the team spirit Madrid had to show to achieve a difficult three points. “It was a good match, we created a number of chances and I don’t think they had one clear one, but we showed we are a solid and compact and most of all a team,’’ he told Spanish TV.
City on top, Arsenal stun Chelsea: Manchester City beat Wolves to maintain their five-point lead at the top of the Premier League on Saturday as Manchester United bounced back from their derby mauling with a 1-0 win at Everton. City, riding high after their 6-1 demolition of United last weekend, overcame a late fightback from Wolves after being reduced to 10 men to secure a 3-1 victory at Eastlands.
Earlier on Saturday, Arsenal captain Robin van Persie scored a brilliant hat-trick as the Gunners stunned third-placed Chelsea 5-3 at Stamford Bridge. The decisive moment came five minutes from time when van Persie pounced on a slip from Chelsea captain John Terry for a goal that put Arsenal 4-3 up.
