Record-breaker Sorloth hits four as Atletico smash Real Sociedad

Barcelona, May 12: Alexander Sorloth hit four goals in the first half-an-hour to power Atletico Madrid to a 4-0 win over Real Sociedad on Saturday in La Liga.

The Norwegian hitman's quadruple helped Atletico tighten their grip on third place, while La Real slump to 12th.

Sorloth completed a hat-trick in the opening 11 minutes, the earliest in La Liga history, beating trebles netted by the 15th minute in 1929 and 1941 by Europa's Carles Bestit and Valencia's Mundo respectively.

Atletico coach Diego Simeone has often relied on Sorloth as a super-sub this season but the 29-year-old showed what he can do from the start in a devastating opening period.

The former Real Sociedad forward dissected the Basque side, opening the scoring after seven minutes with a lethal finish from Pablo Barrios' cross.

In the 10th minute Sorloth pounced again, this time drilling home from the edge of the box past Alex Remiro's despairing dive.

The third, in the 11th minute, was gifted to him by comical Real Sociedad defending and the striker gobbled up his chance from close range.

Sorloth netted his fourth in the 30th minute with another powerful finish after Javi Galan found him with a low cross.

Earlier, Villarreal maintained their push for Champions League football next season with a late 1-0 win at Girona.

The Yellow Submarine, fifth, with the top five qualifying, needed an 89th-minute header from Karl Etta Eyong to snatch victory at the Montilivi against a struggling Girona side.

Victory puts Villarreal level with fourth-placed Athletic Bilbao on 61 points, four ahead of Real Betis, sixth, who host Osasuna on Sunday.

Mallorca, ninth, kept their hopes of European football alive with a 2-1 win over relegated Real Valladolid.

Lazio snatches draw against Juve

The race for fourth place in Serie A keeps getting tighter and if Juventus fails to qualify for next season's Champions League, defender Pierre Kalulu might shoulder significant blame.

Lazio snatched a 1-1 draw against Juventus, one of its direct rivals for fourth spot, on Saturday. The match changed on the hour mark when Kalulu was sent off for hitting an opponent while his team led 1-0.

Fourth-placed Juventus remained level on points with Lazio, above the capital team thanks to a better head-to-head record.

Roma is only a point behind and visits third-placed Atalanta on Monday. Bologna was a point further back following Friday's loss to AC Milan and could be joined on points if Fiorentina wins at Venezia on Monday.

There are two rounds remaining.

Juventus broke the deadlock six minutes after the break when Weston McKennie floated in a cross from the left for an unmarked Randal Kolo Muani to head in from close range.

However, just nine minutes later, Kalulu was sent off after video review. He hit Taty Castellanos on the back of the shoulder, although the Lazio forward fell clutching his face.

Lazio leveled in the sixth minute of stoppage time. Juventus goalkeeper Michele Di Gregorio pulled off another fine save to keep out Castellanos' header but he couldn't stop Matías Vecino's follow-up from point-blank range. Lazio and the Stadio Olimpico celebrated wildly.

Marseille, Monaco clinch CL qualification 

Mason Greenwood's brilliant late strike helped Marseille beat Le Havre 3-1 in Ligue 1 on Saturday and clinch qualification for next season's Champions League, while Monaco defeated Lyon to secure their own spot at Europe's top table. 

Both sides came into the penultimate night of the French campaign knowing wins plus favourable results elsewhere could secure a top-three finish behind champions Paris Saint-Germain with a game of the season to spare.

Marseille got the job done away to relegation-threatened Le Havre, but it looked set to be a frustrating night for them despite Amine Gouiri putting the visitors in front.

The match was held up for around half an hour in the second half due to unrest caused by the presence of Marseille supporters in the home areas of the stadium, and when the action restarted Issa Soumare equalised for Le Havre.

However, Greenwood produced a moment of magic to put Marseille back in front from a powerful long-range strike with five minutes left, the goal his 19th of the season in Ligue 1.

Gouiri then sealed the win in stoppage time with his second of the game, leading to coach Roberto De Zerbi racing down the touchline to join in the celebrations with his players and the travelling fans.

While Marseille were not involved in any European competition this season, Monaco made it to the knockout stages of the Champions League and they will be back among the continent's elite again in the next campaign.

Goals in the second half by Takumi Minamino and Denis Zakaria gave Monaco a 2-0 win over Lyon in the principality, dealing a huge blow to their opponents' prospects of getting the prize money from the Champions League that they so desperately need.

Lyon are seventh with one game left, although they remain three points behind Nice in fourth as well as Lille and Strasbourg, meaning the final spot in the Champions League will be contested by that quartet next weekend. (AFP)