Lionel Messi was at his best again as he scored a hattrick against Levante at the Camp Nou. Neymar opened the scoring after a disciplined display by the visitors in the first 15 minutes. After the Brazilian’s opener, it was all Barcelona as they dominated the game with Messi adding two more goals, the third a penalty after Neymar was felled in the box by Ivan Lopez. Substitute Luis Suarez capped off an amazing night when he guided in his team’s fifth with a glorious bicycle-kick.
Atletico Madrid failed to close the gap on neighbors Real Madrid and Barcelona, when they lost 2-0 at Celta de Vigo. Diego Simeone’s side failed to reach the heights of their famed 4-0 thrashing of Real Madrid as they remain third in the La Liga. Celta controlled the pace of the game and goals from Nolito and Fabian Orellana were enough to clinch a well-deserved victory.
Photo: Skysports
Arsenal put in a nonchalant yet effective display against Middlesbrough in a FA Cup 5th Round encounter at the Emirates. A first-half double from Olivier Giroud was enough to progress into the quarterfinals, as Gabriel Paulista made an impressive debut for the Gunners. Arsenal put in a clever display against their Championship-side rivals, with solid and disciplined defending combined with creative attacking football resulted in progress to the quarterfinals.
Photo: BBC.co.uk
Giant-killers Bradford City were on the prowl again as they hunted down their top-tier opponents Sunderland in an exciting encounter at Valley Parade. Bradford had previously ousted Chelsea and were on the road to yet another impressive display against Gus Poyet’s men when John O’Shea slotted the ball into his own net. Jon Stead replicated his goal scoring form in the FA Cup and his 61st minute effort was enough to see his side through to the quarterfinals for the first time in 39 years. Aston Villa scampered past Leicester City in a 2-1 victory, with Leandro Bacuna and loanee Scott Sinclair etching their names on the scoresheet.
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AS Roma put in a lacklustre display against rock-bottom Parma in a boring stalemate as Rudi Garcia’s side was booed off the pitch by furious fans. Parma effectively parked the bus and quite honestly, Roma weren’t even trying hard enough as this draw left them at 2nd spot in Serie A. Juventus failed to capitalize on Roma’s unimpressive draw as the Serie A leaders were held at Cesena, with Arturo Vidal missing a late-penalty. Goals from Alvaro Morata and Claudio Marchisio had put the table-toppers into the lead at half-time but the home side quickly rallied and scored two goals of their own to equalize. Captain Gianluigi Buffon was fuming at his team’s display as they failed to increase the gap with Roma to 10 points.
Lyon suffered a third straight draw and left the table-toppers just two points above Marseille and PSG.
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