MADRID (AP) - Lionel Messi scored twice in the second half, raising his season total to 27 goals in 22 games, and Barcelona routed Real Sociedad 5-0 Sunday night to extend its winning streak to nine.
Since Nilmar’s tying goal for Villarreal in Barcelona’s 3-1 win on Nov. 13, the Blaugrana have outscored opponents 28-0 en route to seven wins. Barcelona is unbeaten in its last 21 games.
With 17 league goals, Messi tied for the Spanish lead with Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored on a free kick in a 3-1 win at Zaragoza.
David Villa, Andres Iniesta and Bojan Krkic also scored for Barcelona (13-1-1), which leads with 40 points, two more than second-place Real Madrid (12-1-2).
Messi threaded the ball to Pedro Rodriguez in the ninth minute, and Villa was alone to redirect the centering pass into the roof of goal for his ninth this season.
Iniesta charged into the area in the 33rd, laying off to Pedro who returned it for Iniesta to beat Claudio Bravo with a low shot inside the near post while never breaking stride.
Messi scored in the 47th, exchanging passes with Daniel Alves three times before slotting home. Messi hit a post in the 78th, then ran past four defenders inside the area before firing a left-footed shot past Bravo in the 87th. Bojan in injury time.
“It may look easy but it’s not,” Messi told Canal Plus TV. “The truth is that things are working out and we’re playing at such a high level.”
At Zaragoza, Mesut Oezil and Angel Di Maria also scored for Real Madrid.
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LONDON (AP) _ American midfielder Stuart Holden scored his second goal of the season in the 88th minute to help Bolton overcome its fourth red card of the season and beat Blackburn 2-1.
Blackburn’s Mame Biram Diouf had just equalized, but Holden burst forward following the resulting kickoff to run onto a flick by Kevin Davies and half-volley past goalkeeper Paul Robinson from just outside the area. Bolton moved into sixth place and 26 points, just six behind Arsenal.
Didier Drogba came off the bench to lift Chelsea to a 1-1 draw at Tottenham, although the striker wasted a chance to clinch his team’s first Premier League win in a month when he missed an injury-time penalty kick.
Roman Pavlyuchenko put the home team ahead in the 15th minute, but Drogba, who entered at halftime, equalized midway through the second half when he smashed a shot that goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes fumbled over the line.
Gomes made a comfortable save on Drogba’s penalty kick in the second minute of added time, stretching Chelsea’s run without a win to five league matches.
Chelsea moved to 31 points, four ahead of fifth-place Tottenham and even with third-place Manchester United, which can leapfrog Manchester City and Arsenal if it beats the Gunners on Monday.
“We fully deserved to win the game,” Chelsea captain John Terry said. “We dominated them. That’s more like the Chelsea we all know.”
Stephen Hunt scored to give Wolverhampton Wanderers a 1-0 win over Birmingham that boosts its attempt to avoid relegation.
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MILAN (AP) _ Kevin Prince Boateng and Robinho scored first-half goals as AC Milan beat Bologna 3-0 in a convincing performance by the Serie A leaders.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored a third goal after halftime and Milan goalkeeper Christian Abbiati denied the hosts a consolation goal when he saved Marco Di Vaio’s penalty kick 12 minutes from the end.
Milan’s 11th win of the season gives it 36 points at the top of the standings. Juventus moved into second with 30 points as Milos Krasic scored in second-half injury time to beat visiting Lazio 2-1.
Giorgio Chiellini gave Juventus the lead in the second minute with a header from Alberto Aquilani’s corner kick, but Lazio equalized in the 14th after Juventus failed to clear a corner and Mauro Zarate slotted the loose ball home.
Juventus is ahead of Napoli and Lazio on goal difference.
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BERLIN (AP) _ Papiss Demba Cisse took his Bundesliga season tally to 13 with two goals for Freiburg in a 3-0 victory over visiting Borussia Moenchengladbach.
Freiburg’ fifth home win in six matches lifted it into fifth place with 26 points, one above defending champion Bayern Munich, while Moenchengladbach remains bottom.
Cisse opened the scoring in the 19th minute, Oliver Barth made it 2-0 at the end of the first half, and Cisse completed the scoring in the 59th when he was left unmarked to meet a free kick from Julian Schuster with a simple tap in.
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PARIS (AP) _ Lisandro Lopez and Bafetimbi Gomis scored a goal each as Lyon beat Toulouse 2-0 at home to stay two points behind French leader Lille.
Also, Saint-Etienne won 2-0 at struggling Monaco with goals from veteran midfielder Laurent Battles and winger Bakary Sako.
Rennes missed the chance to overtake Lyon, tying 0-0 at Bordeaux.
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AMSTERDAM (AP) _ FC Twente missed an opportunity to go top of the Dutch league after losing 6-2 at SC Heerenveen.
Oussama Assaidi scored three goals and set up two others for Heerenveen, which also got Mika Vayrynen’s 89th minute penalty.
Nacer Chadli replied for Twente with goals in the 32nd and 51st.
Twente’s loss kept PSV Eindhoven on top despite its winless streak extending to three games after a 0-0 draw against De Graafschap on Saturday.
Christian Eriksen’s 11th-minute goal secured a 1-0 victory for Ajax at Vitesse Arnhem, giving temporary coach Frank de Boer a winning start.
PSV has 38 points, one more than defending champion Twente. FC Groningen stayed third with 36 after dismissing AZ Alkmaar 2-0 on Tim Matavz’s double. Ajax has 35.
Feyenoord beat Excelsior 1-0 on Luc Castaignos’ first-half strike to win the Rotterdam derby.
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