FC Barcelona's Brazilian player Ronaldinho kicks the ball to score the fourth goal against Villarrel CF during their Spanish League football match at Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, Saturday. (AFP Photo)

MADRID, Spain, Nov. 26--Barcelona forward Ronaldinho turned on the style as he steered his side to an emphatic 4-0 win at home Villarreal that put them four points clear at the top of the Primera Liga on Saturday.
The Brazilian broke the deadlock in what had been an evenly balanced match when he fired home from the penalty spot 10 minutes before the break and completed the rout with a stunning goal to take his tally for the season to 10, Reuters reported.
The win left the champions top with 29 points from 12 games, four ahead of Sevilla who travel to Athletic Bilbao on Sunday and six clear of Real Madrid who are at Valencia.
Real Sociedad’s wretched run of luck continued when defender Ion Ansotegi put the ball into his own net to deny them a first win of the season as they drew 1-1 at Atletico Madrid.
Sociedad remain anchored to the bottom level on five points with Gymnastic, who host Real Mallorca on Sunday, while Atleticostay in fifth spot on 21.
Barca looked far from their fluent best in the opening half hour at the Nou Camp and were given a couple of early scares by Villarreal striker Diego Forlan. But they got a crucial breakthrough when Iceland striker Eidur Gudjohnsen manufactured a penalty 10 minutes before the break.
Ronaldinho did the rest when he fired the resulting spot kick low past keeper Mariano Barbosa and into the corner.
The goal sparked Barca into life and it took some fine keeping from Barbosa to deny Deco, Ronaldinho and Giovanni van Bronckhorst before the break.
Gudjohnsen, though, found a way past the Argentine early in the second half when he nodded in at the far post after Andrea Iniesta floated the ball across the area following a Ronaldinho free kick.
The stylish Iniesta made it 3-0 with a spectacular finish when he threw himself at a Gianluca Zambrotta cross to volley the ball into the ground and send it skidding into the net.
He was outdone, however, by Ronaldinho who put the icing on the cake with his 10th league goal of the season two minutes from time.
Lurking in the area with his back to goal, the Brazilian controlled a neat pass from Xavi with his chest and then looped a perfectly weighted overhead kick beyond the reach of Barbosa and high into the net to bring the Nou Camp to its feet.

BRISBANE, Australia, Nov. 26--Kevin Pietersen was eyeing a century after Paul Collingwood made 96 and England finally found some form to stall Australia’s march towards victory in the first Ashes test on Sunday.
Pietersen belted 14 boundaries in an unbeaten 92 after Collingwood fell agonizingly short of his own hundred to help England reach 293 for five in their second innings and force the match into a final day, Reuters reported.
Australia, who lost the Ashes to England last year for the first time since 1989, were looking to wrap up victory with a day to spare after dominating the first three days at the Gabba then declaring before lunch on Sunday with a massive 647-run lead.
With no real prospect of victory, England’s best hope of salvaging something from the match was to try and survive the last two days to force a draw or get some valuable batting practice before the second test starts in Adelaide on Friday.
But their chances of achieving either of those aims seemed doomed when they lost Andrew Strauss (11), Ian Bell (no score) and Alastair Cook (43) cheaply to slump to 91 for three when Pietersen and Collingwood set about restoring England’s pride.
Despite the team’s grim position, the pair went on the attack, treating the Australian bowlers with contempt as they piled on 153 for the fourth wicket at almost a run a minute and finally giving their travelling supporters a reason to cheer.
Collingwood had a lucky escape when Damien Martyn dropped a sharp reflex catch at short extra cover before he was off the mark but he was unfazed and steadily grew in confidence.
The 30-year-old slammed 13 fours and two sixes and seemed certain to reach three figures until he threw his wicket away when he danced down the pitch to Shane Warne and was stumped by Adam Gilchrist, who took over the captaincy when Ricky Ponting left the field for back treatment.
Pietersen, who scored his maiden test hundred in the last Ashes test in 2005 to seal the draw England needed for a 2-1 series win, also had a few anxious moments in his 151-ball knock.
The 26-year-old survived a strong appeal for a catch behind when he was on 44 then Gilchrist missed a stumping chance when he was on 80 but was otherwise in complete control during a superb display of big-hitting.

LONDON, Nov. 26--Nicolas Anelka scored twice against his old club to help Bolton Wanderers beat Arsenal 3-1 to climb to third in the Premier League on Saturday.
The enigmatic Frenchman struck in each half after Abdoulaye Faye had put Bolton in front. Gilberto Silva was on target for the Gunners, who have now lost their last three league visits to the Reebok Stadium, Reuters said.
Captain Steven Gerrard grabbed his first league goal of the season to give Liverpool a 1-0 victory over Manchester City.
Gerrard broke forward after 67 minutes to beat City keeper Nicky Weaver with a fierce shot from 20 meters and clinch ninth-placed Liverpool’s sixth home league win of the season.
Faye headed past Jens Lehmann after nine minutes before Anelka made it 2-0 in first-half stoppage time, cutting in from the left to smash in a swerving shot.
But his celebrations were tempered by Gilberto’s headed reply seconds later.
Anelka was denied from close range before he raced away in the 76th minute to calmly slot the third past Lehmann.
Unlucky Arsenal hit the woodwork three times through Freddie Ljungberg, Emmanuel Adebayor and Cesc Fabregas after the break.
Aston Villa moved into fifth spot when Gareth Barry’s penalty on the stroke of halftime salvaged a 1-1 draw at home to Middlesbrough after Malcolm Christie had put the visitors ahead.
Liverpool’s title hopes already looked fanciful as a result of dismal away form which has yielded only one goal and two points, yet at Anfield they have been a model of consistency.
City, also winless away from home, frustrated Liverpool and it needed the magic of Gerrard to unlock their defense.
West Ham United were watched by new Icelandic chairman Eggert Magnusson at home to Sheffield United after his consortium bought the club for 85 million pounds on Tuesday.
The Hammers celebrated the new era with a nervy 1-0 victory over their fellow strugglers thanks to a goal by Hayden Mullins.
Reading made it three wins in a row, going up to seventh with a 1-0 victory at 10-man Fulham.
Kevin Doyle scored from the penalty spot after 17 minutes, having been fouled by Ian Pearce who was sent off.
Charlton Athletic stayed bottom after coming from a goal down to draw 1-1 with Everton at the Valley.

ASPEN, USA,
Nov. 26--Austria’s Kathrin Zettel won the women’s World Cup giant slalom here Saturday ahead of Finland’s Tanja Poutiainen and fellow Austrian Michela Kirchgasser.
Zettel, 20, claimed the first World Cup win of her career after eight lesser podium places, AFP reported.
Last year she was on the podium seven times, and she finished third in the season-opening slalom at Levi, Finland, on November 11.
Zettel finished 28-hundredths of a second ahead of Poutiainen, who led after the first run, and 58-hundredths of a second in front of Kirchgasser, who claimed the first podium place of her career.
American Julia Mancuso, the Olympic giant slalom gold medalist, was seventh.
Sweden’s Anja Parson, who won the World Cup giant slalom title last season, launched her defense by crashing out on the first run, when she caught a gate.
Austria’s Marlies Schild, who won the slalom at Levi, also failed to qualify for the second run.
The women return Sunday for a slalom on the same Aspen piste.

HYDERABAD, India, Nov. 26--Top-seeded India and second-seeded Taiwan will face off in a title tilt at the Asian Hopman Cup tennis tournament.
India defeated Japan 3-0 Saturday to top Group A, while Taiwan shut out Thailand 3-0 to emerge out of Group B. Both India and Taiwan won their two round-robin matches, AP said.
The winner of final will advance to next month’s Hopman Cup mixed teams championship in Perth.
The Indian pair of Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna continued their winning form and came through the preliminary round without dropping a set.
Mirza defeated Tomoko Yonemura 7-5, 6-2 and Bopanna overcame Yuichi Sugita 7-5 (2), 6-2 to give India a winning lead. Mirza and Bopanna then paired up in the doubles to outplay Yonemura and Sugita 6-0, 6-1.
Taiwan had an even easier contest against Thailand. Hwang I-Hsuan smashed out Nudnida Luangnam 6-2, 6-1 in the women’s singles, and Chen Ti drubbed Weerapat Doakmaiklee 6-1, 6-4 to secure a winning lead, and prompt the Thais to give a walkover in doubles.

NEW YORK, Nov. 26--The Cleveland Cavaliers led by LeBron James received double-digit efforts from six players to offset a 31-point performance from Allen Iverson and claim a 108-95 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday.
According to Reuters, James made his usual contribution to the Cleveland cause, scoring 25 points and dishing out 11 assists but the Cavaliers all-star got plenty of help, including a season-high 18-point, 15-rebound performance from center Zydrunas Ilgauskas.
Drew Gooden chipped in with 13 points and Damon Jones added 12 to help the Cavaliers pull out of a two-game tailspin.
Iverson, who entered the game second in league scoring averaging just over 30 points, was 10-of-28 from the floor and 10-of-12 from the free throw line but could not keep the 76ers from sinking to their eighth defeat in 10 games.
The 76ers quietened the Cleveland crowd as they raced out to a 25-16 first quarter lead before the Cavaliers woke from their slumber, outscoring Philadelphia 35-13 in the second to cruise to the interval with a comfortable 51-38 cushion.
Philadelphia pulled within eight in the fourth quarter but never threatened as the Cavaliers coasted to victory.
Chauncey Billups and the Pistons were firing on all cylinders, scoring 29 points as Detroit motored to their sixth straight win by edging the Wizards 115-111 in Washington.
Dwyane Wade poured in 35 points and handed out 12 assists as the NBA champion Miami Heat eased past the Bobcats 102-93 in Charlotte to snap a three-game losing streak.
Dirk Nowitzki nailed 28 points and snared nine rebounds as the stampeding Mavericks trampled the New Orleans Hornets 85-73, extending their winning run to nine games.