Messi scores 4 goals to pass 200 in La Liga

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) ? Lionel Messi scored four goals to become the youngest player to pass the 200-mark in the Spanish league and set a La Liga record with goals in 11 consecutive games, leading Barcelona to a 5-1 rout of Osasuna on Sunday night.

With his 22nd hat trick for Barcelona and fifth game of four goals or more, Messi increased his La Liga total to 202 goals in 235 games. The 25-year-old became the eighth player to reach 200, joining Telmo Zarra (251), Hugo Sanchez (234), Raul Gonzalez (228), Alfredo di Stefano (227), Cesar Rodriguez (223), Quini (219) and Pahino (210). Zarra had been the youngest to reach 200, achieving the feat when he was 29.

Messi has 44 goals this season, including 33 in La Liga. He has scored in his last 16 starts overall and in a record 11 consecutive La Liga games, breaking the mark he tied last season. Mariano Martin (1942-43 to 1943-44) and Brazil's Ronaldo (1996-97) also accomplished the feat, both for Barcelona.

Barcelona hosts Real Madrid on Wednesday in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semifinals.

"We went out there and took care of business like always," Messi said. "It was important to put the game away because it isn't easy when everyone is talking so much about the 'clasico'."

Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 20th career hat trick in an 11-minute span to lead defending champion Real Madrid over Getafe 4-0.

Barcelona (19-1-1) reopened an 11-point lead over second-place Atletico Madrid (15-3-2), which lost 3-0 at Athletic Bilbao. Real Madrid (13-4-4) trails Barcelona by 15 points.

___

LONDON (AP) ? Liverpool and Tottenham lost to lower-league opponents in the FA Cup on Sunday, joining a lengthy list of Premier League teams to exit in the fourth round of soccer's oldest knockout competition.

Oldham, in 19th place in the third tier, stunned visiting Liverpool 3-2. Despite a goal from American Clint Dempsey, Spurs lost 2-1 at Leeds, which is 11th in the second-tier League Championship.

Chelsea was spared a similar fate when Fernando Torres scored in the 83rd minute for a 2-2 tie at third-tier Brentford, forcing a replay.

The FA Cup is famous for upsets. On Saturday, Luton defeated Norwich 1-0 to become the first non-league club in 24 years to beat a top-tier opponent.

Fourth-tier Bradford set the tone this season by reaching the League Cup final after knocking out both Arsenal and Aston Villa.

"You have to take it on the chin, but there has been plenty of warnings throughout the weekend," Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers said. "If your application is not right, you can get found out."

Both Liverpool and Tottenham fielded weakened lineups but they still contained plenty of millionaire players.

"I am left speechless by the result," said Oldham forward Matt Smith, who scored twice for a team that is 55 places lower than Liverpool in England's soccer pyramid. "We went out there wanting to battle together."

Oldham made its name in the early 1990s when the club reached two FA Cup semifinals (1990 and '94) and a League Cup final ('90), where it lost to Nottingham Forest.

Smith's third-minute goal was offset by Luis Suarez's in the 17th, but Oldham went ahead 3-1 when Smith scored in the fourth minute of first-half injury time and Reece Wabara got a goal in the 48th. Joe Allen's 80th-minute goal for Liverpool made the final minutes tense.

Tottenham, which is fourth in the Premier League, fell behind 2-0 when Luke Varney scored in the 15th and Ross McCormack in the 50th, Dempsey, playing at forward, headed in Gareth Bale's cross in the 58th for his eighth goal of the season.

The fifth round next month features Millwall at Luton, Reading at Manchester United, Leeds at Manchester City, Blackburn at Arsenal, Everton at Oldham, Barnsley at MK Dons, Chelsea or Brentford at Middlesbrough and Wigan at Huddersfield or Leicester.

___

ROME (AP) ? Edinson Cavani scored the go-ahead goal in the 85th minute, and Napoli won 2-1 at Parama to close within three points of Serie A leader Juventus.

Marek Hamsik scored in the 20th minute but Parma tied it in the 74th on an own goal by Napoli captain Paolo Cannavaro, playing his first game since a suspension for match-fixing was overturned. Cannavaro and defender Gianluca Grava were given six-month bans by the Italian soccer federation's disciplinary committee on Dec. 18, but the penalties were lifted Jan. 17 following an appeal to the federation's internal court.

Defender champion Juventus (15-3-4) has 49 points while Napoli (14-4-4), seeking its first title since Diego Maradona led it to the 1990 championship, has 46. Parma lost at home for the first time this season.

AC Milan (11-7-4) moved into fifth place with a 1-0 win at Atalanta on a 29th-minute goal by Stephen El Shaarawy, his 15th league goal this season.

Fourth-place Inter Milan (12-6-4), which is nine points back, was held to a 2-2 tie by visiting Torino.Christian Chivu gave Inter the lead in fifth with a free kick but left in the 28th with an apparent injury. Goals by Riccardo Meggiorini in the 23rd and 52nd minutes put Torino ahead. but Esteban Cambiasso tied the score for Inter when he redirecting a cross from 39-year-old captain Javier Zanetti in the 67th.

___

BERLIN (AP) ? Mario Mandzukic scored a goal and set up another as Bayern Munich beat Stuttgart 2-0 to open an 11-point lead in the Bundesliga.

Mandzukic scored in the 50th minute, when he intercepted a backpass from defender Christian Molinaro and rounded goalkeeper Sven Ulreich, then cossed for Thomas Mueller's goal on a counterattack in the 72nd.

Bayern (15-1-3) has 48 points. Leverkusen (11-4-4) has 37 after Saturday's 0-0 tie at Freiburg.

Hamburg defeated Werder Bremen 3-2 in the Bundesliga's 98th northern derby to end a three-game losing streak in games against its rival.

___

PARIS (AP) ? Paris Saint-Germain regained the French league lead, getting an own goal by Aurelien Chedjou in the 68th minute for a 1-0 win against visiting Lille.

Goalkeeper Steeve Elana palmed away a cross, and the ball bounced off Chedjou's chest into the goal.

PSG (13-3-6) leads on goal difference over Lyon (13-3-6), both three points ahead of Marseille (13-6-3).

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/messi-scores-4-goals-pass-200-la-liga-224655866--sow.html

long beach state beasley trailblazers michael beasley jermaine jones hbo luck unc asheville