BARCELONA: Lionel Messi took his senior career goals tally to 301 as he scored twice in the 5-0 win at Rayo Vallecano which kept Barcelona three points clear at the top of the Spanish league.
The World Player of the Year scored Barca’s second just after halftime and finished off the rout with another at the end. The 25-year-old has now scored 270 goals for his club and 31 for Argentina.
Spain players David Villa, Xavi and Cesc Fabregas scored the others as Barcelona continued their unbeaten start under new coach Tito Vilanova and moved on to 25 points from nine games.
Vilanova said: “We are delighted for Lionel. He has scored a couple of goals but I prefer to remember the moment when he ran 30 metres to help out in defence in the 89th minute. I love the goals, but I like this more.”
FINLAND: HJK Helsinki landed a fourth successful league title – their 25th in all – with a 6-3 win away to JJK on the last day of term. Closest pursuers FC Inter lost 3-0 at Honka to finish six points behind. At the foot of the table, FF Jaro won 2-1 at TPS to preserve their top-flight status and send FC Haka down to the second division despite a 1-0 win at VPS.
FRANCE: Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s 10th league goal in nine games earned leaders Paris Saint-Germain a fortunate 1-0 win over bottom club Nancy. The Swede struck with 15 minutes left to keep Carlo Ancelotti’s side three points of Toulouse who beat Brest 3-1.
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