BARCELONA, Spain -- Pedro Rodriguez scored three goals and Victor Valdes saved
another penalty in Barcelonas 4-0 win at Rayo Vallecano on Saturday, keeping the
defending Spanish league champions perfect through five rounds.
Under Armour Ireland . Pedro scored from a
pass by Lionel Messi in the 33rd minute and added two more goals in the 47th and
72nd after Valdes saved his second penalty in four days following his stop in
Wednesdays 4-0 over Ajax in the Champions League. The Spain forward has five
goals this season, making him the leagues second-leading scorer along with
Atletico Madrids Diego Costa behind Messi with six. Cesc Fabregas capped the
rout in the 80th with Rayo searching for a consolation goal. "We knew the
difficulties Vallecas Stadium presents, its a tough ground to win at," Pedro
said after his first career hat trick for Barcelona. "They have a competitive
team, but we were able to find the spaces we needed to score." Atletico also got
its fifth win in as many rounds to lie level on points with Barcelona after a
no-nonsense 2-0 victory at Valladolid. Atleticos defence limited Valladolid to
one shot on goal while midfielder Raul Garcia and forward Diego Costa both
scored goals set up by Jorge "Koke" Resurreccion in the second half. Moments
after goalkeeper Diego Marino saved his header, Garcia scored in the 56th with a
no-look header from Kokes cross that Marino could only watch float over him and
into the net. Koke then lobbed a delicate through ball down the middle of the
pitch for Diego Costa to seal the result in the 72nd. "It was a question of
waiting for our moment," said Atletico coach Diego Simeone. "Valladolid played
well in the first half. It didnt generate scoring chances, but nor did it let us
play like we wanted. But we talked about it at halftime and my players had a
great response." Barcelona and Atletico opened up an overnight five-point
advantage over Real Madrid before it hosts Getafe on Sunday. Atletico visits
Madrid next round in their first meeting since Atletico beat Madrid in the Copa
del Rey final last season. Encouraged by its raucous fans, Rayo set a brutal
pace from the start, and Valdes was called into action in the third minute to
turn back Alberto Pereas header. "Valdes is having an exceptional run," said
Barcelona coach Gerardo Martino. "Hes among the three best goalkeepers in Spain.
Its my turn to enjoy having him as my player, even though you dont always want
to see your goalkeeper having to make three or four decisive saves." Barcelona
matched Rayos intense pressure and a ball stolen by Alex Song led to Barcelonas
opener. Messi took the ball, drew in the hosts defence, and laid off for Pedro
arriving down the right side to drive a low shot into the net. It was then
Valdes turn to shine again this season, his last with the Catalan club which he
seems determined to make his best. Rayo was poised to level in the 35th when
Barcelona defender Adriano fouled midfielder Roberto Trashorras in the area, but
Valdes stood firm and had little trouble parrying Trashorras spot kick. "In the
first half our team was able to cause Barcelona problems," said Trashorras. "If
I had scored that penalty, they would have had even more trouble. Having studied
him I thought that Valdes was going to dive to one side, and I tried to shoot
down the middle since he had gone to one side the other day. But he did well to
wait." Pedro scored his second goal when he raced in to stab Fabregas cross home
after the former Arsenal midfielder forced Rayo into losing the ball deep in its
own half. As Rayos players tired while its fans continued to urge them forward,
Neymar started and extended a flowing move by squaring for Pedro to tap in his
third goal before Fabregas took the fourth. Also, Real Sociedads scoring drought
reached three games when Malaga held the Basque club to 0-0 at home, while
Levante rallied to 2-2 at 10-man Almeria. Sociedad, which lost its Champions
League group opener on Tuesday, increased its winless run in the domestic
competition to four rounds. Despite selling several players this summer,
first-year coach Bernd Schuster has Malaga on a three-game unbeaten streak. The
promoted Almeria remained winless through five rounds after squandering a
second-half lead for the fourth time this season. Also on Sunday, its: Real
Betis vs. Granada, Celta Vigo vs. Villarreal, and Valencia vs. Sevilla. Espanyol
hosts Athletic Bilbao on Monday.
Saucony Grid 9000 For Sale . On Mar. 16,
coming off a "fight of the year" performance at UFC 154 the previous November,
St-Pierre faced Nick Diaz at UFC 158 in what would be his eighth defence of the
welterweight title. Using his superior athleticism, St-Pierre cruised to a five
round, unanimous decision victory setting up a much-anticipated title defence
against number one contender Johny Hendricks.
Saucony Mens
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James Neal on injured reserve Tuesday.
http://www.sauconyshoesireland.com/ . -- New
England Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis is retiring after a 16-year career to
become the goalie coach for the Los Angeles Galaxy.SPARTA, Ky. -- Ryan Blaney
provided more evidence that Penske Racings No. 22 Ford can win no matter whos
driving. Blaney earned his first Nationwide Series victory and another win for
the teams Mustang, holding off Austin Dillon and surviving several late cautions
to win Saturday nights 300-mile race at Kentucky Speedway. Blaney, who drives
for Sprint Cup champion Brad Keselowski in the Camping World Truck Series, used
his second start in the No. 22 to claim the cars 10th victory of 2013 and a
season sweep at Kentucky. Keselowski drove the car to victory in June. Blaneys
win included tense moments over the final 40 laps, from beating Dillon off pit
road with a two-tire stop on lap 166 to reclaiming the lead from Dillon after
losing it on the restart. More tests followed, including a near-brush with
teammate Sam Hornish Jr.s loose Ford and one final restart. "We just had an
awesome, awesome Mustang," Blaney said. "The team just kept getting the car
better and better and as the race went on. Those restarts were tough. Luckily, I
had a good enough car to hold them off." Matt Crafton was third, Hornish fourth
and rookie Alex Bowman fifth in a Toyota. Dillon shaved two points off Hornishs
series lead and trails by just 15 with six races remaining. Getting closer to
Blaney was out of the question for Dillon and just about anyone in contention.
Hornish gave it a shot late in the race before that late wiggle left him
settling for his 21st top-five finish of the season. Dillon had hope on several
restarts, only to let the son of NASCAR veteran Dave Blaney quickly snatch it
away on several late restarts. The final one typified the futility: Blaney
blasted out on lap 191 to open up a three car-length lead and didnt look back.
"He did everything right," Dillon said of Blaneys restarts. "He did everything
he could to hold me off and the car was better once he got out front for sure. I
felt like if we couldve got out front we could hold him off for eight laps, but
disappointed that we couldnt quite clear him." Hornish led 65 laps after
starting on the pole, while Dillon led 32. Beating the Noo.
Ua Scorpio Shoes. 22 has been tough for
everybody this season. Three other drivers have reached victory lane in it this
season, including Keselowski, whos racing in this weekends Cup series race in
Loudon, N.H. Blaney, who won a Trucks race in Iowa last year, became the fourth
in just his 15th start. Crew chief Jeremy Bullins kept him calm and focused over
the radio, and the only direction he ever really needed was to victory lane
after taking the checkered flag. The points race meanwhile saw little change.
Hornish entered Saturday looking to widen his edge on Dillon, who came into the
series final stand-alone race seeking his third Nationwide victory in four
Kentucky starts. He helped his prospects Saturday afternoon by clocking 179.235
mph to claim his third pole this season and leading Penskes front-row sweep with
Blaney (178.159) taking the outside spot. Dillon was close by in the third spot
with a run of 178.042 mph in his Chevy. With Cup regulars racing this weekend in
New Hampshire, 41 drivers had the track to themselves, and Nationwide contenders
did their best to exploit the freedom. Hornish and Dillon in particular looked
forward to racing all-out here, with the points leader especially eager to
follow up Junes ninth-place run. After the start was delayed briefly to allow
track dryers to blow away some weepers, Hornish went about proving how good his
Mustang was. He led the first 65 laps before his teammate won the race off pit
road during the third caution and led on the restart. Dillon was second and
needed only a lap to move in front -- on lap 68 -- and add another chapter to
his impressive Kentucky resume. He led the next 32 laps before Blaney took the
first of two leads to establish himself as the best driver in the best car. "Im
a pretty lucky guy and privileged to have the drivers we have," Bullins said. "I
dont think we have any slouches, so I dont have any complaints about my driver
lineup. Ive got it pretty good. Tonight was another example of that. "We brought
a good car, and we got somebody driving that knows what to do with it and was
able to get the job done."
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