LONDON (AP) ― Cristiano Ronaldo rewrote the record books with another two goals in Real Madrid’s latest big victory in the Spanish league.
Southampton crushed Sunderland 8-0 in England while Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero scored four goals and Premier League leader Chelsea escaped with a gritty victory.
Ronaldo netted his 14th and 15th goals to set a record scoring start in a Spanish league season as Real Madrid eased to a 5-0 win at Levante, while Lionel Messi scored to move one goal from the competition’s all-time scorer.
Messi guided league leader Barcelona to a 3-0 win at home over promoted Eibar, setting up Xavi Hernandez to break through in the second half and scoring after Neymar had doubled the lead.
Messi is now poised to equal Telmo Zarra’s milestone of 251 goals that has stood since 1955 next week at rival Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
Ronaldo scored on a penalty kick in the 13th minute before adding another goal in the 61st, increasing his league-leading tally to 15 goals in eight rounds despite missing one game because of injury.
The Portugal forward is clear of second-placed Neymar who took his tally to eight with his strike against Eibar.
The previous best start was by Oviedo’s Esteban Echevarria ― 14 goals through eight rounds to start the 1943-44 season.
Javier Hernandez, James Rodriguez and Francisco “Isco” Alarcon also scored to rout the overmatched hosts.
Barcelona maintained its four-point advantage over Madrid at the top of the standings ahead of their meeting in the league next Saturday.
Manuel “Nolito” Agudo scored in the 73rd to give Celta Vigo a 1-1 draw at Athletic Bilbao, keeping the Basque club with one win in 10 matches in all competitions not counting its elimination of Napoli from the Champions League playoffs.
Borussia Dortmund slumped to its fourth defeat in five Bundesliga games with a 2-1 loss at Cologne. League leader Bayern Munich routed helpless Werder Bremen 6-0.
Leverkusen forward Son Heung-min controls the ball against VfB Stuttgart on Saturday. The Korean scored two goals within nine minutes during the 3-3 draw. (AFP-Yonhap)
Elsewhere, Stuttgart fought from three goals down to draw 3-3 with Bayer Leverkusen; Max Kruse scored twice as Borussia Moenchengladbach defeated Hannover 3-0 on the road; Mainz beat Augsburg 2-1; and Wolfsburg won 2-1 at Freiburg on two goals from former Freiburg midfielder Daniel Caligiuri.
Southampton trounced Sunderland 8-0 in one of the biggest wins in the Premier League’s 22-year history.
His performance overshadowed Sergio Aguero’s four-goal haul in Manchester City’s latest thrashing of Tottenham.
Chelsea preserved its five-point lead ― and its unbeaten start to the campaign ― by beating Crystal Palace 2-1 thanks to a free kick from Oscar and a great goal finished off by Cesc Fabregas.
For second-placed Man City, Aguero had two goals in each half. He made two penalty kicks and also missed on in the 4-1 win over 10-man Spurs.
