Messi scores four, Real Madrid keep lead in Primera Liga

 　　MADRID, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- Real Madrid maintain their 10 point lead over FC Barcelona in the 23rd round of games in Spain's BBVA Primera Liga on Sunday.

　　Real Madrid cruised to a comfortable 4-0 win at home to relegation¹ haunted Racing² Santander, while a Leo Messi scored four goals to see Barca home to a 5-1 victory at home to third placed Valencia.

　　Madrid never looked in danger to Racing and opened the scoring with a Cristiano Ronaldo header after just 6 minutes. Racing were reduced to 10 men with 50 minutes to go after Jonathan Cisma was given a harsh second yellow card for handball and Karim Benzema doubled Madrid's lead with the last kick of the first half.

　　The second half was dull affair, enlivened only by a cameo performance from Angel De Maria, who added a third with an excellent curling shot, and Benzema, who make it 4-0 in the closing minutes.

　　If Madrid maintained their lead, there was only one candidate for the player of the week as Leo Messi scored the first four of his side's goals in Barca's 5-1 home win against Valencia.

　　Barcelona meanwhile suffered the shock of conceding an early goal to Pablo Piatti, but then produced one of their best displays of the season with Messi and Cesc Fabrigas in outstanding form

　　Messi scored twice in the first half to give Barca the lead and had it not been for the woodwork and a fine shot-stopping keeper from Valencia keeper, Diego Alves, the winning margin³ would have been greater.

　　Messi completed his hat-trick with 15 minutes remaining and scored his fourth goal of the game with five minutes remaining.

　　Xavi Hernandez, who returned after a muscle injury, rounded off the scoring in injury time.

　　The most entertaining game of the weekend saw Rayo Vallecano win 5-3 away to Levante. Levante had kicked off in fourth place, but were undone⁴ by a fine display from Rayo, for whom Diego Costa continued his scoring run with two more goals.

　　Yong Rayo winger "Lass" also scored twice as his side move into contention⁵ for a place in Europe, while Levante slip down to seventh in the table.

　　Real Sociedad scored an early goal against Granada through Mikel Gonzalez, but were then well beaten 4-1 by Granada.

　　Ignacio Lopez equalized a minute after the opening goal and Real Sociedad fell apart after Ion Illaramendi was sent off just before halftime.

　　Francisco Jara and Ikechuwku Uche rounded the scoring off in the second half with Uche scoring twice.

　　Michel Gonzalez enjoyed a 2-0 win against Osasuna on his home debut⁶ as Sevilla coach thanks to goals from Gary Medel and Pitor Trochovski, while Getafe and Espanyol drew 1-1. Alvaro Vazquez opened the scoring for Espanyol, but Miki levelled from the penalty spot to assure the points were shared, although Espanyol move up to fourth on goal difference.

　　Athletic⁷ Bilbao survived a first half battering⁸ at home to Malaga to win 3-0 in San Mames. Athletic looked tired following their European trip to Moscow on Thursday and Malaga should have led easily by halftime.

　　However, the visitors wasted a host of chances and Athletic won the game with 3 second half goals in three minutes from Fernando Amorebieta, Mikel San Jose and Gaizka Toquero.

　　Athletic move fifth, leapfrogging Atletico Madrid, who could only draw 1-1 away to Sporting Gijon on Javier Clemente's debut as home coach. Atletico took the lead from an own goal, but Sebasitan Eguren equalized before the break.

　　Villarreal's recent revival⁹ came to an abrupt¹⁰ halt with a 4-0 defeat in Mallorca with Victor Castano scoring twice for the home side.

　　The round of games ends on Monday when bottom of the table Zaragoza entertain Betis.

1 relegation   

n.驱逐，贬黜；降级

参考例句：

• Liaoning team lost this game, is still deeply avoid relegation zone. 辽宁队本场失利后，仍然深陷保级区。 来自互联网
• In society, relegation is based on your income. 社会上的规类是以你的收入为基准。 来自互联网

2 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

3 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

4 undone   

a.未做完的，未完成的

参考例句：

• He left nothing undone that needed attention.所有需要注意的事他都注意到了。

5 contention   

n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张

参考例句：

• The pay increase is the key point of contention. 加薪是争论的焦点。
• The real bone of contention,as you know,is money.你知道，争论的真正焦点是钱的问题。

6 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

7 athletic   

adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的

参考例句：

• This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
• He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。

8 battering   

n.用坏，损坏v.连续猛击( batter的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The film took a battering from critics in the US. 该影片在美国遭遇到批评家的猛烈抨击。
• He kept battering away at the door. 他接连不断地砸门。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 revival   

n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振

参考例句：

• The period saw a great revival in the wine trade.这一时期葡萄酒业出现了很大的复苏。
• He claimed the housing market was showing signs of a revival.他指出房地产市场正出现复苏的迹象。

10 abrupt   

adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的

参考例句：

• The river takes an abrupt bend to the west.这河突然向西转弯。
• His abrupt reply hurt our feelings.他粗鲁的回答伤了我们的感情。