Chelsea down Leicester, Barca stay on Madrid's tail

Sport360 staff 23:46 14/01/2017

ENGLAND

Chelsea made light of Diego Costa’s controversial absence as the Premier League leaders cruised to a 3-0 win at reigning champions Leicester City on Saturday.

Wing-back Marcos Alonso was their unlikely goal hero with a brace — just his second and third goals for the club — either side of half-time before fellow Spaniard Pedro Rodriguez completed the scoring.

That gave Antonio Conte’s men a comfortable win despite the absence of leading scorer Costa amid widespread reports of a training-ground row with fitness coach Julio Tous.

The Brazil-born Spain striker is also thought to be the subject of interest from China, although Conte claimed before kick-off that his omission from the squad was down to a back injury.

Tottenham Hotspur climbed into second place after Harry Kane claimed a hat-trick in a 4-0 stroll against West Brom.

The England striker, who became a father for the first time last weekend, struck three times and Gareth McAuley put through his own goal as Mauricio Pochettino’s side recorded a sixth successive league win.

The only low point for Spurs was an ankle injury that forced centre-back Jan Vertonghen off midway through the second half. Pochettino said the early signs looked “very bad”.

Arsenal moved above Liverpool — who visit arch rivals Manchester United on Sunday — on goal difference after a pair of own goals helped them to victory at struggling Swansea.

Olivier Giroud broke the deadlock in the 37th minute, slamming home his fifth goal in five games after Mesut Ozil’s header hit Alfie Mawson.

Alex Iwobi drew own goals from Jack Cork and Kyle Naughton early in the second half before Alexis Sanchez sealed victory with a 73rd-minute volley that took his tally for the campaign to 14 goals.

LA LIGA

Luis Suarez scored twice and Lionel Messi continued his sensational form as Barcelona moved to within two points of La Liga leaders Real Madrid with a 5-0 rout of Las Palmas.

Madrid remain very much in pole position, though, with two games in hand, the first of which comes at third-placed Sevilla on Sunday.

Suarez opened the scoring after just 14 minutes, but Barca had to wait until early in the second-half to double their lead when Messi scored for the seventh straight game.

And Barca turned their domination into further goals as Suarez’s second, Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal’s first goal for the club rounded off the scoring.

Atletico Madrid remain four points behind Barcelona in fourth as they ground out a 1-0 win over Real Betis in a forgettable encounter at the Vicente Calderon.

Argentine international Nico Gaitan got the only goal after just eight minutes as he stretched to turn home Sime Vrsaljko’s deflected cross at the back post.

LIGUE 1

New boy Julian Draxler produced a brilliant first-time finish to give Paris Saint Germain a 1-0 win at Rennes on his Ligue 1 debut for the champions.

The victory lifts PSG level second with Monaco on 42 points, two behind table-toppers Nice, who host lowly Metz Sunday, while the Monegasques face a tough trip along the coast to Marseille.

The 2014 World Cup winner Draxler, 23, and freshly arrived on a 40 million euros ($42 million) transfer from Wolfsburg, looked at home in his PSG shirt from the kick off.

And when the goal came it was the third time he and Italian midfielder Marco Verratti had teamed up to pressure the goal as Unai Emery’s team, who face Nantes next week, start to gel.

Julian Draxler celebrates with his teammates after scoring.

Julian Draxler celebrates with his teammates after scoring.

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