World Sports News in Brief

Barca held by Valencia as Messi matches Pele goal haul

Lionel Messi equalled Pele's record of 643 goals for a single club on Saturday but was unable to help Barcelona beat Valencia in La Liga as they had to settle for a 2-2 home draw.

Soccer Football - La Liga Santander - FC Barcelona v Valencia - Camp Nou, Barcelona, Spain - December 19, 2020 Barcelona's Lionel Messi shoots at goal from a free kick. (Reuters)
Soccer Football - La Liga Santander - FC Barcelona v Valencia - Camp Nou, Barcelona, Spain - December 19, 2020 Barcelona's Lionel Messi shoots at goal from a free kick. (Reuters)

* Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice, taking his Serie A tally for the season to 12, as defending champions Juventus cruised to a 4-0 win at Parma on Saturday.

* Liverpool's Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah each netted twice in a scoring masterclass as the visitors thrashed Crystal Palace 7-0 to record their first away win in the Premier League since September and move a provisional six points clear at the top.

* Newcastle United had to settle for a 1-1 home draw with 10-man Fulham in the Premier League on Saturday (Dec 19) after a Callum Wilson penalty cancelled out Matt Ritchie's own goal which fired the visitors ahead in a scrappy encounter.

* Everton piled more misery on Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta as the Toffees moved second in the Premier League with a 2-1 win in front of 2,000 delighted fans at Goodison Park on Saturday (Dec 19).

* Raheem Sterling scored his fourth Premier League goal of the season as Manchester City claimed a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Southampton at St Mary's on Saturday.

* Manchester City secured a much-needed win to keep their Premier League title challenge alive as Raheem Sterling's goal earned a hard-fought 1-0 victory at fourth-placed Southampton on Saturday (Dec 19).

* Luis Suarez scored twice from close range in a 3-1 victory for Atletico Madrid against Elche on Saturday (Dec 19) to move Diego Simeone's side three points clear at the top of La Liga.

* RB Leipzig missed the chance to go top of the Bundesliga as they were held to a 0-0 draw at home by Cologne on Saturday (Dec 19).

* Hoffenheim's Ryan Sessegnon got a late goal to snatch a 2-1 win at Borussia Moenchengladbach in the Bundesliga on Saturday (Dec 19) and stretch the hosts' winless run to six games in all competitions.

* Robert Lewandowski scored a dramatic injury-time winner, his second goal of the game, to earn Bayern Munich a 2-1 comeback victory at Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday, sending them top of the Bundesliga table going into the Christmas break.

* Paris St Germain forward Neymar is likely to return in January after picking up an ankle injury against Olympique Lyonnais last weekend, the Ligue 1 champions said on Saturday.

* Junior Negrao scored twice as the Republic of Korea's Ulsan Hyundai came from a goal behind to win the Asian Champions League final in Doha on Saturday with a 2-1 victory over Persepolis from Iran.

Reuters