LONDON: Cristiano Ronaldo’s late equalizer earned Real Madrid a 2-2 draw in an eventful Madrid derby against Atletico while Lionel Messi scored for a sixth straight game as Barcelona beat lowly Almeria 4-1.

Manchester City beat Sunderland 3-1 to win the English League Cup final at Wembley while Andre Schuerrle and Arjen Robben scored hat tricks as Chelsea and Bayern Munich extended their leads at the top of the Premier League and Bundesliga respectively.

SPAIN

The three-horse race for the title tightened on Sunday when leaders Real Madrid drew 2-2 at city rivals Atletico in a typically feisty Madrid derby and Barcelona won 4-1 at home to promoted Almeria.

Real needed a Cristiano Ronaldo goal eight minutes from time to rescue a point at Atletico’s Calderon stadium, before Lionel Messi became only the third player to reach 230 La Liga goals in Barca’s victory at the Nou Camp.

With 12 matches left, Real lead on 64 points, with champions Barca, chasing a fifth title in six years, second on 63 and Atletico, who are mounting a genuine challenge for the first time since they last won La Liga in 1996, third on 61.

Villarreal and Real Sociedad lost ground on fourth-placed Athletic Bilbao, who won 4-0 at home to Granada on Friday and are six points clear in Spain’s fourth and final Champions League qualification berth.

Fifth-placed Villarreal drew 1-1 at home to bottom side Real Betis, while Sociedad, who beat Barca 3-1 in San Sebastian last weekend and are sixth, lost 1-0 at seventh-placed Sevilla.

ENGLAND

Manchester City won the first silverware of the English season when they beat Sunderland 3-1 in the Capital One (League) Cup final at Wembley on Sunday after two stunning quickfire goals from Yaya Toure and Sami Nasri turned the final their way.

Sunderland took an early lead through Fabio Borini but Toure and Nasri’s goals plus a late third from Jesus Navas gave City victory.

Chelsea stayed top of the Premier League with a 3-1 win at bottom-placed neighbors Fulham on Saturday while Liverpool won 3-0 at Southampton to move into second above Arsenal on goal difference after the Gunners lost 1-0 at Stoke City.

Newcastle United fined their manager Alan Pardew 100,000 pounds ($167,600) after he was sent to the stands by the referee for headbutting Hull City’s David Meyler during Newcastle’s 4-1 win at Hull on Saturday.

GERMANY

Bayern Munich extended their lead at the top of the Bundesliga to 20 points after thrashing fourth-placed Schalke 04 5-1 for their 15th consecutive league win.

Arjen Robben scored a hat-trick, including a penalty, while David Alaba and Mario Mandzukic shared the other goals for the irresistible Bavarians who also scored Schalke’s goal when defender Rafinha put through his own net.

Bayern have 65 points from a possible 69, 20 clear of Borussia Dortmund who moved into second place with an easy 3-0 win over Nuremberg. Bayer Leverkusen (43) dropped to third after a 1-0 home defeat by Mainz 05.

Eintracht Braunschweig goalkeeper Daniel Davari and his opposite number Marc-Andre ter Stegen of Borussia Moenchengladbach both scored own goals in a 1-1 draw while Werder Bremen beat Hamburg SV 1-0 in the North derby.

ITALY

Juventus stayed on course for a third successive Serie A title when Fernando Llorente and Carlos Tevez scored in each half to give them a 2-0 win at AC Milan.

Juventus, who have 69 points, moved 11 clear of AS Roma who were held to a goalless draw at home by Inter Milan.

Third-placed Napoli slipped up when they drew 1-1 at Livorno, staying six points behind Roma.

Dries Martens gave Napoli the lead from a penalty but an own goal by goalkeeper Pepe Reina gifted Livorno the equalizer before halftime.

FRANCE

Edinson Cavani scored on his return from four weeks out injured as champions Paris St. Germain beat Olympique Marseille 2-0 at home to open an eight-point lead at the top of Ligue 1.

Brazilian Full back Maxwell, who extended his contract at the French club this week, scored the opener before Cavani collected his 14th league goal of the season for PSG, who have 64 points from 27 games.

Monaco are on 56 after their 2-0 defeat at fourth-placed St. Etienne on Saturday.

Lille are in the third Champions League qualifying spot, seven points further adrift, following their 3-2 victory at bottom club Ajaccio thanks to a Salomon Kalou treble.

NETHERLANDS

Ajax Amsterdam came from behind to beat rivals Feyenoord 2-1, extending their lead at the top of the Dutch championship to eight points.

Ajax are now well placed to win a fourth successive league title after second-placed Twente Enschede were held 1-1 at Utrecht.

Vitesse Arnhem beat bottom club Roda JC Kerkrade 3-0 to move level on 49 points with Twente.

PSV Eindhoven overturned a two-goal deficit to beat Go Ahead Eagles Deventer 3-2 to remain fifth with 44 points.

PORTUGAL

Nicolas Gaitan scored a sublime individual goal as Portuguese league leaders Benfica beat Belenenses 1-0 to extend their unbeaten league run to 20 games.

Benfica have not lost in the league since the opening game of the season and have 52 points, five ahead of second-placed Sporting who beat Braga 2-1.

Porto lost further ground on the top two as they were held to a 2-2 draw against sixth-placed Vitoria Guimaraes.