SOCCER

Lionel Messi set up Frenkie de Jong for a goal to help earn a 1-0 win at Huesca on Sunday in the Argentine great’s 750th overall appearance for Barcelona and his 500th in the Spanish league.

Messi, 33, trails only Xavi Hernandez for most games played with Barcelona. Xavi played 767 games in all competitions, including 505 La Liga matches.

• Luis Suarez assisted on a first-half goal and scored in the 90th minute to give Atlético Madrid a 2-1 win at Alavés, which played for nearly a half hour with 10 players.

Atlético regained a two-point lead over second-place Real Madrid, with two games in hand on its city rival.

ENGLAND: Chelsea’s slide continued with its fourth loss in six games – 3-1 at home against a Manchester City side depleted by the coronavirus.

Advertisement

lkay Gundogan, Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne scored in a 16-minute span of the first half and American goalkeeper Zack Steffen got the win in his first Premier League start. Regular keeper Ederson was one of five City players sidelined by coronavirus infections.

City climbed up to fifth place, while Chelsea dropped to eighth.

• Youri Tielemans’ stunning strike in the 72nd minute gave Leicester a 2-1 victory at Newcastle.

It was the fifth straight win for Leicester, which is in third place – a point behind leader Liverpool.

HOCKEY

NHL: The Vancouver Canucks received provincial approval to play in British Columbia this season.

British Columbia Premier John Horgan announced the decision on Twitter, saying he had spoken to team owner Francesco Aquillini about the NHL’s return-to-play plans and believes the enhanced health measures mean games can be played safely.

British Columbia is the second province to officially approve NHL games, following Alberta.

Last week, a health official in Manitoba told The Canadian Press that the province was working toward approving games in Winnipeg. Officials in Ontario and Quebec have not commented on whether competition has been approved for the three teams in those provinces.

The NHL season is set to resume Jan. 13, with the seven Canadian team playing in one division so they don’t have to cross into the United States.

• The Pittsburgh Penguins signed defenseman John Marino to a six-year contract extension that carries an average annual value of $4.4 million.

Advertisement

Marino, 23, impressed as a rookie last season, finishing with six goals and 20 assists in 56 games to go with a plus-17 rating.

• The Chicago Blackhawks and forward Dylan Strome agreed to a two-year contract extension.

Strome, 23, had 12 goals and 26 assists in 58 games last season.

WORLD JUNIORS: John Farinacci scored twice, Spencer Knight made 16 saves and the United States beat Slovakia 5-2 on Saturday night in the world junior championship quarterfinals in Edmonton, Alberta.

The Americans will face Finland in the semifinals Monday night. Defending champion Canada will play Russia in the other semifinal.

BASEBALL

Advertisement

MLB: Veteran left-hander Ross Detwiler signed an $850,000, one-year contract with the Miami Marlins.

Detwiler, 34, pitched in 16 games out of the bullpen for the Chicago White Sox in 2020, going 1-1 with a 3.20 ERA in 44 innings.

SKIING

WOMEN’S WORLD CUP: Petra Vlhova of Slovakia won a slalom in fog and rain in Zagreb, Croatia, beating Katharina Liensberger of Austria by five-hundredths of a second.

American Mikaela Shiffrin was 0.27 behind in fourth.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.