Plus Romelu Lukaku scores for Inter in Serie A win plus late victories for Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig; Kylian Mbappe stars in PSG win
Sunday 22 December 2019 00:19, UK
Luis Suarez provided a goal and three assists as Barcelona opened up a three-point gap at the top of La Liga after a 4-1 victory over Alaves at the Nou Camp.
The Uruguay international set up Antoine Griezmann and Arturo Vidal in the first half before assisting Lionel Messi deep into the second and adding a penalty himself after 75 minutes as Barca extended their unbeaten league run to seven matches. Pere Pons replied for Alaves, who dropped down to 15th as a result after a four-match winless run.
The hosts began to dominate from the whistle and Vidal was unlucky as he got caught offside when set up by Messi after seven minutes.
Barca continued to press and the opener came seven minutes later as Griezmann guided Suarez's cross into the bottom corner for his seventh league goal of the season.
The hosts were rewarded for their first-half pressure on the stroke of half-time as Suarez found Arturo Vidal, who made no mistake in picking out the bottom corner from a narrow angle.
France striker Griezmann had an effort ruled out for offside as the second half got under way but - instead of Barca extending their lead further - Alaves reduced the deficit after 56 minutes. Ruben Duarte provided the cross for Catalonia's Pons to head home from the centre of the box for his second goal from two games.
But Barca fought back and Suarez claimed a hat-trick of assists as he provided the pass for Messi to fire home his 13 league goal this season with a powerful effort from outside the 18-yard box after 69 minutes.
Former Liverpool forward Suarez put the score beyond doubt with 15 minutes remaining as he slotted a penalty into the bottom-left corner - awarded for handball against Martin Aguirregabiria - meaning Barcelona have most likely sealed their spot at the top of the table until the end of the year as they hold a three-point and five-goal advantage over nearest rivals Real Madrid, who play on Sunday.
Elsewhere, Sevilla won 2-0 at relegation-threatened Mallorca to end a two-game winless streak and strengthen its grip on third place.
Diego Carlos scored in the first half and Ever Banega netted a penalty in the second to leave Sevilla within five points of Barcelona. It was the fifth straight winless league game for Mallorca, who are only one point outside the relegation zone.
Elsewhere, a 52nd-minute strike from Maxi Gomez was enough for Villarreal to beat 10-man Getafe 1-0.
Meanwhile, Valencia moved up to seventh place after Manu Vallejo's 94th-minute equaliser earned them a 1-1 draw at Valladolid.
Romelu Lukaku scored twice to lead Inter Milan to a comfortable 4-0 win over lowly Genoa on Saturday as they rejoined Juventus at the top of Serie A.
Roberto Gagliardini and 17-year-old Sebastiano Esposito were also on target as Inter pulled level with Juventus on 42 points from 17 games.
The win was a relief for Inter, who had drawn their last two league matches and been knocked out of the Champions League with a home defeat by Barcelona in between.
Inter went ahead when Antonio Candreva's cross was diverted into the net by a Lukaku header after 31 minutes and Gagliardini scored the second two minutes later with a deflected shot.
Genoa, 19th in the 20-team table, mustered their first shot on target on the hour when Antonio Sanabria's low shot was turned around the foot of the post by Samir Handanovic.
Esposito then added Inter's third from a penalty in the 64th minute, his first goal for the club.
Lukaku had the final say in the 71st minute when he collected the ball outside the area, moved forward, skipped past a defender and rifled a left-foot shot in off the crossbar for his 12th league goal of the season.
Elsewhere, Andrea Petagna struck nine minutes before full-time to ensure Spal overcame 10-man Torino 2-1 to move off the bottom of the table. Earlier in the day, Udinese beat 10-man Cagliari 2-1.
Defending champions Bayern Munich and Bundesliga leaders RB Leipzig both left it late to secure wins on Saturday with 18-year-old Dutch forward Joshua Zirkzee again proving the hero for Bayern.
Substitute Zirkzee opened the scoring in the 86th minute for Bayern as they beat Wolfsburg 2-0, with Serge Gnabry adding another in the 89th minute. Zirkzee also scored on his debut against Freiburg on Wednesday in Bayern's 3-1 win.
RB Leipzig also needed late goals to overcome Augsburg 3-1 at home. Florian Niederlechner stunned home fans with the opening goal in the eighth minute and there was a lengthy delay before the goal was confirmed by VAR.
Leipzig kept pushing for a response and missed a number of chances before the equalizer came through Konrad Laimer in the 68th minute, again after a long VAR check.
Patrik Schick, who scored the equaliser in a 3-3 draw at Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday, put Leipzig ahead from a corner in the 80th minute and Yussuf Poulsen added another nine minutes later.
They remain two points clear at the top of the Bundesliga after Borussia Monchengladbach were held to a goalless draw by Hertha Berlin.
Also Saturday, Schalke salvaged a 2-2 draw at home with Freiburg, Cologne beat Werder Bremen 1-0 and Bayer Leverkusen won 1-0 at Mainz.
Kylian Mbappe celebrated turning 21 with a silvery-looking haircut and two more clinical finishes as league leaders Paris Saint-Germain beat struggling Amiens 4-1 on Saturday.
It was a familiar sight as the lightning-fast France star latched onto a long pass from Neymar and adroitly clipped the ball over the advancing goalkeeper.
Neymar then danced in front of the home fans after tapping home from close range early into the second half.
Angel Di Maria set up Mbappe with a clever reverse pass down the right, with the striker drilling a low shot into the corner in the 65th minute.
Mauro Icardi was also on target as PSG remain seven points clear of second-place Marseille heading into the mid-season winter break. PSG have played one game fewer and have a vastly superior goal difference.
Meanwhile, Marseille enjoyed a comfortable 3-1 home win against 19th-place Nimes for a sixth win in seven games.
In Saturday's other results, M'Baye Niang's late goal gave Rennes a 1-0 home win against Bordeaux, Lille were routed 5-1 away to Monaco, and Nantes are two points behind Lille in fifth spot after losing 2-1 at home to Angers.
Reims held Lyon to a 1-1 draw, while Gatan Laborde netted twice as ninth-place Montpellier easily beat Brest 4-0.
Saint-Etienne slumped to a fifth defeat in the last seven games overall, losing 2-1 at 11th-place Strasbourg, while Dijon drew 2-2 with Metz.
