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BARCELONA, Spain -- Neymar scored in his first clasico and set up Alexis Sanchez for an exquisite decider as Barcelona beat fierce rival Real Madrid 2-1 at Camp Nou in the Spanish league on Saturday. With Lionel Messi oddly quiet, Neymar opened in the 19th minute from close range after receiving Andres Iniestas pass as the Brazil striker outshone fellow newcomer and adversary Gareth Bale. "Scoring a goal in a clasico is very special," Neymar said. "Its a game that everyone wants to play. It was like a dream come true." While Neymar has lived up to his 57-million-euro transfer this summer, questions over the wisdom of Madrids 100 million euros payout for Bale will continue after he failed to produce a shot on goal before being replaced by Karim Benzema with half an hour to go. Benzema went on to hit the woodwork as Madrid threatened to equalize before Alexis took Neymars pass and sealed the victory in the 78th with a brilliant chipped shot. Substitute Jese Rodriguez got Madrids consolation goal in injury time after a lightning counterattack. Neymar followed in the footsteps of former Brazilian standouts Romario and Rivaldo, who scored in their first matches for the Catalan club against Madrid. And his playmaking echoed Ronaldinhos assist in his first clasico. Barcelona coach Gerardo Martino, also making his clasico debut, was careful not to overpraise Neymar, while also giving credit to Messi for his work in defence. "The transcendence of this game and the goal he scored magnified the level of his performance," Martino said about Neymar. "But I think he has had better games than tonight. As far as what (Messi) did for the team to recover the ball, I give him a superlative mark." Madrid had improved in its recent visits to Camp Nou, including a 3-1 win in the Copa del Rey last February, but Barcelona restored its home dominance over its traditional rival for the league crown. The victory was Barcelonas ninth to go with one lone draw in the league this season, lifting it a provisional four points clear of Atletico Madrid which hosts Real Betis on Sunday. Madrid was left a full six points adrift of the pacesetters and with reawakened doubts over the direction of the team under new coach Carlo Ancelotti after losses to both of its league challengers. It lost 1-0 to Atletico last month. "I think we showed good football in front of a fantastic team," Ancelotti said after his first clasico. "At this moment it was a good test. We are improving." Bale made his second start of the season since being hampered by muscle injuries, but he didnt prove to be effective in attack with Cristiano Ronaldo. Ancelotti further tweaked his starting 11 with Sergio Ramos in midfield, while Martino chose Cesc Fabregas to accompany Messi and Neymar in attack. Neymar struck the ball into the arms of Madrid goalkeeper Diego Lopez in the games first shot on goal in the 17th. Two minutes later, Iniesta dribbled into the area and laid off for Neymar on the left flank. Madrid appeared to have him hemmed in, but he used his right foot to slip a shot between the legs of Dani Carvajal, with the ball taking a deflection off the defenders thigh before trickling in. It was Neymars fourth goal in 14 matches since joining from Santos this off-season. While Neymar sparkled, Bale was limited to a pair of harmless long-range attempts as Madrid failed to muster a shot on target until a minute before halftime. Madrid gained ground as the second half wore on and Barcelona appeared to tire, leaving Benzema unmarked to rip a shot off the woodwork in the 72nd. But Neymar helped Alexis secure the three points when he spotted the Chileans run after he came on for Fabregas in the 70th. Alexis pulled up outside the area with Raphael Varane in front of him and coolly lofted the ball over the defender and the diving Lopez, who was caught just off his line. "I didnt have any other option," Alexis said. "I saw the goalkeeper coming forward and I had to try it. Fortunately it went in." Neymar received an ovation when he was substituted six minutes from time before Rodriguez fired under Victor Valdes, who plans to leave Barcelona next summer and could have played his last home game against Madrid unless the teams meet in the Champions League or Spanish cup. Before the match, Camp Nou displayed a giant mosaic with the message "Forca Tito" ("Stay Strong Tito" in Catalan) in support of former coach Tito Vilanova, who had to step down this summer as he fights throat cancer. Also, Celta emphatically broke a four-game losing streak with a 5-0 rout at Malaga, while Granada won 1-0 at Elche. Jordan 4 UK Retro Red . Defencemen Drew Doughty, Shea Weber and forward Ryan Getzlaf also scored for the Canadians, who started their gold-medal defence 2-0. Goalie Roberto Luongo, getting the call in place of Game 1 starter Carey Price, was solid when needed in making 23 saves for the shutout. Jordan 11 UK Retro White . Houston won 3-0 to advance to face New York in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Last in the game, Di Vaio and Romero got into a shoving match with several Houston players. Romero appeared to elbow and kick Houston defender Kofi Sarkodie. http://www.schuhshoe.uk/adidas-adicolor-series.html . Bjorn, who had a 36-hole total of 8-under 134, made a testing six-foot putt to save par on the 16th and a birdie on the 17th before bogeying the final hole after a misjudged approach shot. American Kevin Streelman was in second place after shooting a 69. Womens Adidas Originals Honey . -- Al Jefferson found a groove just in time for the Charlotte Bobcats. Nike Roshe One UK Blue . Once again, DeLaet finished tied for second at a PGA Tour stop on the weekend, this time at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. The pride of Weyburn, Sask.RALEIGH, N.C. -- With his latest milestone within reach, Alex Ovechkin caught himself pressing and overthinking his play. All of a sudden, his path to history was clear. Ovechkin scored his 400th career goal into an empty net after the Washington Capitals had three power-play goals in the second period of a 4-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday night. "I had a couple of chances to score, and they were good ones, but maybe I tried to make more moves than I usually do," Ovechkin said. "(An) empty-netter is (an) empty-netter. Of course I (thought) about it, but its over and its time to move on." Troy Brouwer, Marcus Johansson and John Carlson scored with the man advantage and Nicklas Backstrom assisted on all four goals to help the second-place Capitals win for the fifth time in their last seven games. Ovechkins empty-netter with 24.5 seconds left in his 634th career game made him the sixth-fastest player in NHL history to reach No. 400 and the seventh active player with that many. "As we all know, hes a pretty good goal-scorer," Backstrom said. "Its always fun to see a player accomplish something big and I think 400 goals in however many games he has, its great. We all know hes a great player." Jordan Staal and Riley Nash scored for Carolina while Cam Ward stopped 25 shots. The Hurricanes had earned at least a point in six of their previous seven games. But theyve dropped four of five with the loss to the Caps. "Five-on-5, we were all over them," Staal said. "We were the better team, 5-on-5. But three power-play goals, you cant let that happen. Thats not good enough, obviously, and thats how you lose games." Washingtons Philipp Grubauer matched a season high with 39 saves -- and got some help from the choppy ice after Alexander Semins shot with about 6 minutes left trickled just wide of the net. The Capitals have the leagues second-best power-play unit with a success rate of nearly 25 per cent. They converted all three of their chances in the second. ";You dont want to have to rely on it, but whenever its going to power you through games, absolutely you want to rely on it," Brouwer said of the power play.dddddddddddd A fortunate bounce helped the Capitals reclaim the lead at 3-2 with 4:31 left in the period: Mike Green broke his stick while dribbling a shot up the middle that clipped Brouwer on its way past Ward. "When it comes slower, obviously I get a better touch on it," Brouwer said. "I had my stick halfway up my body thinking it was going to be a higher shot because thats where he usually likes to shoot. Its almost a weird adjustment where you dont ever practice having to put your stick back down on the ice." That capped a big period for the Capitals power play. Johansson tied it 41 seconds into the second when he stuffed the puck between Wards left leg and the post. Carlson put the Capitals up 2-1 with 11:26 left -- and just 14 seconds into a holding minor on Tuomo Ruutu -- when his straightaway blast from just inside the blue line got past Ward. Carolina, which has the leagues third-worst power play, made it 2-all 2:42 later by scoring on the man advantage, with Nash making the most of Andrej Sekeras rebound. But it couldnt convert late after Carlson went off for hooking with 4:50 to play, despite peppering Grubauer with a barrage of shots from close range. The Hurricanes were playing for the first time since Dec. 14, when they wrapped up a four-point, four-game western swing with a win at Phoenix. Staal put the Hurricanes up 1-0 with 2:48 left in the first when he scored on a one-touch pass from Semin, who played seven years with the Capitals before signing with Carolina in July 2012. "We did a good job of getting after him and getting shots and getting opportunities," Staal said. "We just didnt bury them." NOTES: The Hurricanes scratched D Mike Komisarek (lower-body injury) after activating him from injured reserve earlier in the day. ... Semins point was his first since his Dec. 12 return from a concussion that cost him 12 games. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '
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