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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Sport
Pa Sport Staff

Karim Benzema hits quickfire treble in Real Madrid rout and Napoli lose to Milan

AP

Karim Benzema completed a hat-trick inside seven first-half minutes to help Real Madrid to a 6-0 victory over struggling Valladolid.

Rodrygo opened proceedings before his captain nodded in Vinicius Jr’s cross on 29 minutes to double his side’s advantage.

The Frenchman quickly got himself on the scoresheet twice more and Marco Asensio added another after the break before Lucas Vazquez completed the rout in stoppage time.

Atletico Madrid left it late but kept pace with their second-placed city rivals after Angel Correa’s 86th-minute strike made the difference in their 1-0 victory over Real Betis.

Sixth-placed Villarreal secured their fourth win in five matches and pulled within four points of fourth-placed opponents Real Sociedad with a 2-0 victory.

Dani Parejo’s penalty opened the scoring on 77 minutes and Nicolas Jackson doubled the advantage four minutes later before he saw red in time added on.

Almeria remain in the drop zone but drew level on points with 17th-placed Espanyol after a 2-2 draw with Celta Vigo.

Serie A leaders Napoli suffered a 4-0 home defeat at the hands of AC Milan, who moved up to third thanks to a Rafael Leao brace and goals from Brahim Diaz and Alexis Saelemaekers.

Second-placed Lazio, four points clear of Milan, managed a 2-0 win over Monza, Pedro opening the scoring on 13 minutes before Sergej Milinkovic-Savic netted after the break.

Roma kept their hopes of playing European football next season alive as a Georginio Wijnaldum goal, Paulo Dybala spot-kick and Stephan El Shaarawy’s stoppage-time strike gave them a 3-0 victory over Sampdoria, who had Jeison Murillo sent off early in the second half.

Bologna saw off Udinese 3-0 and Mattia Caldara’s own goal prevented Spezia from eking out anything more than a 1-1 draw with Salernitana.

In the Bundesliga, two goals in two second-half minutes were enough to secure the relegation-battling Hoffenheim a vital 2-1 victory over Werder Bremen.

Andrej Kramaric broke the deadlock on 50 minutes before Christoph Baumgartner doubled his side’s lead, with Amos Pieper only able to claw back a late consolation for the hosts.

The result means 15th-placed Hoffenheim now sit three points clear of Hertha, who occupy the relegation play-off place.

Cologne and Borussia Monchengladbach played out a goalless draw in Sunday’s only other contest.

Ligue 1 leaders Paris St Germain lost consecutive home league contests for the first time in two years after substitute Bradley Barcola’s second-half strike was enough to win it for Lyon.

Elsewhere, Edon Zhegrova’s astonishing last-gasp brace lifted Lille into the Europa Conference League qualifiers place after their 3-1 victory over Lorient.

It took 64 minutes for Ibrahima Kone to reply to Remy Cabella’s 13th-minute opener, his second-half strike seeming to settle the result.

But the visitors were soon down to 10 men after Laurent Abergel saw red and Zhegrova more than justified his 82nd-minute substitution, scoring seven minutes later before netting his second in the first minute of stoppage time.

Strasbourg remain just one place clear of the drop zone after failing to capitalise on the red card shown to Monaco’s Youssouf Fofana in the second half of their 4-3 loss, with the Monegasque side also gifting their opponents an own goal.

A pair of spot-kicks saw Clermont Foot emerge 2-1 victors over Ajaccio, Reims beat Nantes 3-0, Anthony Rouault’s red card helped Brest battle to a 3-1 victory over Toulouse, and Angers drew 1-1 with Nice.

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