The Hindu : Sport : Ronaldinho stars in FC Barcelona's win

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Oct 17, 2006
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Ronaldinho stars in FC Barcelona's win

MADRID : Ronaldinho scored two goals to help FC Barcelona beat Sevilla 3-1 in the Spanish league on Sunday.

The Brazilian scored his first goal from the penalty spot after Julien Escude brought down Barcelona defender Juliano Belletti in the 26th minute. He added another from a free kick in the 40th.

Lionel Messi also scored for the defending champion, taking a pass from Xavi Hernandez in the 81st to make it 3-1.

Escude nearly gave Sevilla the lead in the 25th, but the goal was called back because defender Thiago Motta committed a foul before the ball crossed the line.

Striker Frederic Kanoute scored Sevilla's only goal in the 38th, heading in an equaliser in between Ronaldinho's two goals.

Barcelona leads the league with 16 points from six matches, three more than Valencia, which lost to Celta Vigo 3-1 for its first defeat of the season. Atletico Madrid, also with 13 points, is third on goal difference, while Sevilla is fourth and Real Madrid fifth.

Valencia loses

David Navarro gave Valencia the lead in the 41st minute, but Celta striker Fernando Baiano equalised four minutes later with a shot from the right edge of the penalty. Celta midfielder Iriney then sent a shot that deflected off the back of Valencia defender Roberto Ayala and lofted over goalkeeper Santiago Canizares in the 52nd.

Fabian Canobbio made it 3-1 in the 56th when his long shot squeezed through Canizares' legs. Fernando Morientes pulled one back for Valencia in the 63rd and missed a chance to equalise in the 75th when he tapped wide in front of an open goal.

Javier Arizmendi beat three defenders and then Betis goalkeeper Toni Doblas in the 47th, but Robert equalised from the penalty spot in injury time after a handball by central defender Alberto Lopo in the penalty area.

Walter Pandiani nearly gave Espanyol a late win at Villarreal but his header off a corner was called back because a linesman ruled the ball had gone out.

Juan Arango scored the lone goal in Mallorca's 1-0 win at Levante. The midfielder sent a low shot into the net in the 22nd.

In the English Premier League, Bolton came from behind to beat Newcastle 2-1 on Sunday.

El Hadji Diouf scored two goals in three minutes. Shola Ameobi's penalty gave the Magpies a 19th-minute lead at St. James' Park, but the Senegal striker punished two lapses in the Newcastle defence with goals in the 55th and 57th minutes.

Bolton moved into third place with 17 points, within two points of both Manchester United and Chelsea.

Ameobi scored his penalty after Abdoulaye Faye blocked a cross from Obafemi Martins with his arm. Newcastle missed a chance to make it 2-0 in the 39th when Ameobi headed a cross from Damien Duff in front of goal, but Peter Ramage, arriving totally unmarked, shot high and wide from eight metres.

In the 55th, Nicolas Anelka got around the back of the Newcastle defence on the left and crossed low for Diouf to sidefoot the ball home.

Two minutes later, Bolton struck again when Kevin Davies jumped to head on a free kick and Diouf was left unmarked in front of goal to head past goalkeeper Steve Harper from six metres.

The results: Spanish La Liga: Celta Vigo 3 bt Valencia 2; Gimnastic Tarragona 2 lost to Athletic Bilbao 3; Levante 0 lost to Real Mallorca 1; Osasuna 0 lost to Racing Santander 1; Real Sociedad 1 lost to Real Zaragoza 3; Villarreal 0 drew with Espanyol 0; Barcelona 3 bt Sevilla 1; Real Betis 1 drew with Deportivo La Coruna 1.

English Premier League: Newcastle 1 lost to Bolton 2.

Italian league: Serie `A': Livorno 2 bt Ascoli 0; Fiorentina 2 bt Empoli 1; Inter Milan 2 bt Catania 1; Atalanta 3 bt Palermo 2; Udinese 3 bt Parma 0; Reggina 1 bt Roma 0; Torino 1 bt Chievo 0.

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