Suarez, Neymar put five past Gijon, fire Messi-less Barcelona top of La Liga

Barcelona’s midfielder Rafael Alcantara (L) celebrates a goal with teammates Barcelona’s Uruguayan forward Luis Suarez (2nd L) and Barcelona’s Brazilian forward Neymar during the Spanish league football match Real Sporting de Gijon vs FC Barcelona at El Molinon stadium in Gijon on September 24, 2016.
ANDER GILLENEA / AFP

Barcelona shrugged off the absence of Lionel Messi to move to the top of La Liga as Luis Suarez and Neymar were on target in a 5-0 thrashing of Sporting Gijon.

The hosts enjoyed the better of the opening half-hour, but were hit by a two-goal Barca burst in three minutes as Suarez rounded Ivan Cuellar to slot home the opener before Rafinha headed home a second.

Sporting were reduced to 10 men 16 minutes from time when Alberto Lora saw a second yellow card and Barca made their man advantage count as a Neymar double and Arda Turan rounded off the scoring in the final 10 minutes.

Real Madrid can regain a three-point lead over Barca with victory when they travel to Las Palmas later on Saturday.

Barca coach Luis Enrique made five changes to the side that started Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid as Andres Iniesta, Ivan Rakitic, Javier Mascherano and Jordi Alba joined the injured Messi in dropping out.

The champions looked unsettled in the early stages and goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen was lucky to escape further punishment when he gave away a free-kick for handling outside his area with the score still level at 0-0.

However, one moment of Suarez magic turned the game in Barca’s favour as he raced onto Turan’s through ball and flicked the ball past the onrushing Cuellar before slotting into an empty net.

A fine team goal put the game beyond Sporting moments later as Neymar freed Sergi Roberto down the right and Rafinha met his cross with a powerful near-post header.

Barca appeared to have eased up in the second half ahead of Wednesday’s visit to Borussia Moenchengladbach in the Champions League as Sergio Busquets and Suarez were replaced by Denis Suarez and Paco Alcacer.

However, the goals flowed after Lora dived in on Roberto to leave his side a man light.

Alcacer was denied his first Barca goal when he smashed the ball off the underside of the bar, but Neymar mopped up the rebound to make it 3-0.

Roberto was the provider once more for the fourth as Turan powered home his cross at the back post four minutes later.

Denis Suarez then teed up Neymar to sweep home his second of the game two minutes from time.

And the Brazilian could even have had a hat-trick when he curled another effort off the post in stoppage time.

After thrashing Celtic 7-0, Neymar and Messi share a topless photo

Barcelona star Neymar shared this topless photo of himself and Lionel Messi after they both helped in Barca's 7-0 thrashing of Celtic last night. Messi scored a hat-trick

Jesus Salvaged Brazil

Brazil secure an impressive win over Ecuador in the thin air of Quito, which is situated a dizzying 2,850 meters (9,350 feet) above sea level.

Brazil had never won a qualifying game in the Ecuadoran capital before, but two goals from teenage prodigy Gabriel Jesus and a penalty from Neymar handed the five-time world champions a 3-0 victory.

Jesus, the 19-year-old who signed for English side Manchester City from Palmeiras in August, was outstanding, underscoring his status as the brightest talent in Brazilian football.

Jesus won the penalty for the first goal after bursting into the area and drawing a foul from Ecuador goalkeeper Alexander Dominguez.

Neymar duly converted before Jesus doubled Brazil’s lead three minutes from time with a sublime flicked finish from Marcelo’s low cross to make it 2-0.

Jesus, who like Neymar had played in Brazil’s gold medal-winning Olympic football campaign, then added a third in stoppage time with a crisp finish into the top corner.

The win left Brazil in fifth place overall in the standings with 12 points from seven games.

In other matches on Thursday, Colombia defeated Venezuela 2-0 in their port city stronghold of Barranquilla.

Goals from Real Madrid star James Rodriguez and Macnelly Torres secured the points for Colombia, who would have won by more had it not been for two missed penalties in the final 10 minutes.

The win leaves Colombia level with Ecuador and Uruguay on 13 points, just behind leaders Argentina.

Paraguay meanwhile are level on 12 points with Brazil after scoring a stormy 2-1 win over South American champions Chile in Asuncion.

Oscar Romero and Paulo da Silva fired Paraguay 2-0 up after only nine minutes before Arturo Vidal pulled a goal back just before half-time.

A fractious second half ended with Chile defender Gary Medel being sent off in the closing stages as Paraguay held on.

In the day’s other game, Bolivia defeated Peru 2-0 in La Paz.

Olympics: Neymar crowned samba king as Farah sealed ‘double-double’

Neymar sent Brazil into ecstasy as he clinched Olympic football gold and Mo Farah sealed a rare distance double-double in a pulsating final evening of track action in Rio on Saturday.

Neymar swept home a brilliant free-kick and scored a trademark stutter-run penalty to win a shoot-out against Germany as the hosts headed towards Sunday’s closing ceremony on a high.

Later, Britain’s Farah headlined the last night of track and field as he won a thrilling 5,000m race to earn the first consecutive 5,000m-10,000m doubles in 40 years.

Matt Centrowitz produced the biggest upset when he beat defending champion Taoufik Makhloufi of Algeria to become America’s first 1,500m champion in more than a century.

And the United States ran away with both the men’s and women’s 4x400m relays as the curtain closed on the last full day of competition, with only 12 gold medals available on Sunday.

With 294 of 306 titles decided, the United States led the medals table with 43 golds, with Britain in surprise second place with 27 to China’s 26.

China won their third Olympic Games women’s volleyball gold with a 3-1 victory over Serbia. Only the former Soviet Union — with four golds — has been more successful in Olympics women’s volleyball than China.

South Korea’s Park In-Bee won the first women’s golf Olympic gold in 116 years by a commanding five strokes, and the USA routed Spain in the women’s basketball final.

Millions of Brazilians were glued to the men’s football and celebrations were long and loud when the five-time world champions grabbed their first Olympic title at the Maracana stadium.

Victory, 5-4 on penalties after the scores were locked at 1-1 after extra time, left Neymar and his team-mates sobbing uncontrollably as they erased the nightmare of Brazil’s 7-1 World Cup semi-final defeat to Germany two years ago.

It was a fairytale finish for Neymar, who missed the 2014 defeat with a back injury and faced heavy criticism for his performances early in the Olympic competition.

“This is one of the best things that has happened in my life,” said the Barcelona star who promptly stepped down as captain.

“Now (the critics will) have to swallow what they said.”

Olympics: Brazil dump Honduras to reach football final

Neymar scored twice, including the fastest goal in Olympics history, as Brazil coasted into Saturday’s gold medal football match with a 6-0 thrashing of Honduras at Rio’s iconic Maracana.

A rematch with the Germans is in store should the world champions see off 1996 winners Nigeria in Wednesday’s other semi-final, later in Sao Paulo.

Neymar had been much criticised for his lacklustre displays in two 0-0 draws to start the tournament, but his transformation back from the nation’s whipping boy to golden boy was capped by his determination to open the scoring after just 15 seconds.

The Barcelona star hounded defender Johnny Palacios to rob possession on the edge of the Honduras box and goalkeeper Luis Lopez’s attempt to atone for his teammate’s error only ricocheted the ball off Neymar’s midriff and into an empty goal.

For a moment, Neymar’s bravery looked like it may have come at a cost as he had to be stretchered off after being winded in the challenge.

However, there was no repeat of his tears of anguish when carried off with two broken vertebrae in his back that ended his World Cup participation in a brutal quarter-final against Colombia two years ago.

The 24-year-old was soon back terrorising the Honduras defence as he teed up Luan for an effort Lopez managed to repel, before Bryan Acosta and Allans Vargas were booked for taking their uncompromising attempts to stop Neymar too far.

However, it was Manchester City’s new £27m ($36m, 31 million euros) wonder kid Gabriel Jesus who piled on the pain for Honduras with two more goals before the break.

Luan’s lovely through ball was prodded past the helpless Lopez by Jesus for his second goal of the tournament on 26 minutes.

Nine minutes later, Neymar turned provider with a precise pass down the left that Jesus burst onto before crashing the ball into the roof of the net.

Neymar was even whipping the near capacity 78,000 crowd into a frenzy as he uncharacteristically crashed into tackles, with Brazil relieved from the burden of expectation that appeared to weigh heavy on the young squad early in the competition.

Luan missed a huge chance at the start of the second period when he fired straight at Lopez with Jesus waiting for a tap-in to complete his hat-trick.

However, Brazil didn’t have long to wait for a fourth when Paris Saint-Germain defender Marquinhos took advantage of some awful Honduras marking to sweep home a corner six minutes into the second-half.

Fittingly, in their best performance of the tournament, Luan converted a fine team goal for Brazil’s fifth as Gabriel Barbosa slipped in Felipe Anderson to cross low to the far post.

And Neymar capped a fine display with his second of the afternoon from the penalty spot in stoppage time.

Victory also guaranteed Brazil a fourth Olympic men’s football medal, but after bronze in 1996 and 2008 and the shock of losing to Mexico in the London 2012 final, only gold will suffice for an expectant nation back at the Maracana on Saturday.

Rio Olympics: Neymar leads Brazil into men’s soccer semifinals

Neymar

 

Neymar scored his first goal of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Saturday, giving Brazil a 2-0 win over Colombia and a spot in the semifinals of the men’s soccer tournament.

Neymar scored from a free kick in the 12th minute, sending a right-footed shot through the wall and into the lower right corner of the net. Luan added the second in the 83rd at the Arena Corinthians with a shot from outside the area, keeping alive Brazil’s hopes of winning the soccer gold medal for the first time.

The game, a sort of rematch from the 2014 World Cup quarterfinals, was heated from the start, with hard fouls from both teams. The benches cleared just before halftime after a vicious foul committed by Neymar, who lashed out after being harassed by opponents nearly every time he touched the ball.

“They really came playing hard, but we were able to overcome the pressure,” Brazil forward Luan said. “We were able to get the early goal and that helped us come away with a great victory.”

Brazil will next face Honduras, which reached the Olympic semifinals for the first time by defeating South Korea 1-0 at the Mineirao Stadium in Belo Horizonte.

In the other semifinal match, 1996 Olympic champion Nigeria will face Germany, which is playing at the Olympic tournament for the first time since 1988 — when Jurgen Klinsmann was in the squad. Germany routed Portugal 4-0 in Brasilia, while Nigeria beat Denmark 2-0 in Salvador.

Infographics: World’s most expensive footballers

Manchester United bought Paul Pogba for a world-record €105m plus a potential bonus fee of €5m, Juventus confirmed Tuesday.

“Juventus Football Club can today confirm that Paul Pogba has completed a move to Manchester United for a fee of €105m to be paid in two financial years,” the Italian club said in a statement.

The sum beats the previous record set by the transfer of Gareth Bale to Real Madrid from Tottenham Hotspur in 2013, “thus making Pogba the most valuable player in the sport’s history”, Juventus said.

See infograph of the world’s most expensive players.