Two goals from Gonzalo Higuain plus a Lionel Messi penalty handed Argentina a convincing win in Buenos Aires on Friday night. Real Madrid striker Higuain scored in either half, with Barcelona forward Messi converting from the spot a minute before the interval.

Argentina controlled the tempo from the outset, looking to find gaps in the visitors’ defence at every opportunity. They went close to breaking the deadlock several times only to be denied by Venezuela goalkeeper Daniel Hernandez but, just before the half-hour mark, Primera Division rivals Messi and Higuain linked up to give their country the lead.

Messi supplied the pass which put Higuain through one on one with Hernandez, and the Madrid man made no mistake with a neat cross-shot past Hernandez.

The gulf in quality between the teams became even more evident thereafter and Argentina duly doubled their lead in the 44th minute, Messi despatching the penalty after Venezuela defender Gabriel Cichero had handled the ball inside his area.

Messi was again the provider when Higuain made it 3-0 after 58 minutes, supplying the perfect pass for his colleague to slot home.

Colombia enjoyed a convincing 5-0 rout of Bolivia to remain hot on Argentina’s heels. The win kept Jose Pekerman’s second-placed side within four points of Argentina, who have played one game more than the Colombians.

The Cafeteros controlled the match from the first whistle but had to wait until the 20th minute to open the scoring, Macnelly Torres tapping home from Guillermo Cuadrado’s cross.

The floodgates opened after the interval in Barranquilla. Carlos Valdes took advantage of a kind rebound following a corner to double his team’s lead four minutes into the second half, with Teifilo Gutierrez swiftly adding a third on the counter-attack.

The misery was not over for Xabier Azkagorta’s side, though. Four minutes from time, Radamel Falcao latched onto Pablo Armero’s pass and notched a fourth goal and then, deep into stoppage time, substitute Armero made no mistake when one on one with goalkeeper Sergio Galarza.

In Montevideo, fourth-placed Uruguay lost ground in the qualification race as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Paraguay.

Liverpool striker Luis Suarez looked to have won it for Uruguay when he broke the deadlock in the 82nd minute with a superb volley, but four minutes later Edgar Benitez capitalised on a Diego Lugano error to restore parity.

Finally, man of the match Jefferson Farfan grabbed the game’s only goal three minutes from the end to earn Peru a 1-0 triumph over Chile in Lima.

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Arjen Robben opened the scoring in the 25th minute and Javi Martinez made it 2-0 moments later.

Sebastian Prodl was red-carded in the 44th minute before fellow Bremen defender Theo Gebre Selassie scored an own-goal after 49 minutes. Gomez increased the lead to 4-0 in the 51st minute.

Kevin de Bruyne pulled a goal back for Bremen in the 58th minute, but Franck Ribery joined in with the scoring in the 86th minute before Gomez netted again in the final minute.

Bayern increased its lead to 18 points over Borussia Dortmund with its sixth straight victory in what was coach Jupp Heynckes’ 1,000th Bundesliga match as coach and player.

Bremen remains on 28 points after its second straight loss.

Heynckes made six changes to his lineup following the Champions League win over Arsenal, with Robben and Gomez starting.

Bayern had the first chance after 20 minutes but Bremen goalkeeper Sebastian Mielitz made a fine save from Robben.

Bayern went ahead 1-0 five minutes later with an attack from the right, Philipp Lahm crossing into the box where a charging Robben poked home from five yards.

The lead doubled after 29 minutes as Robben sent a free kick into the box and Martinez headed home.

Bremen went a man down a minute before the break as Prodl was sent off for a professional foul on Gomez.

Bayern made it 3-0 thanks to an own-goal early in the second half when Gebre Selassie’s attempted clearance ended in Mielitz’s net.

Two minutes later it was four as Ribery looped a pass to Gomez, who passed the ball into the empty goal.

Bremen pulled a goal back in the 58th minute as Dante’s clearance only went to Aleksandar Ignjovski, who passed to de Bruyne and the Belgian did the rest.

Ribery made it five in the 86th minute, latching on to Lahm’s fine looping pass before beating Mielitz, while Gomez hit Bayern’s sixth in the 89th minute.

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Bilbao bossed the opening stages of the match and went ahead through Ibai Gomez’s vicious volley at the half-hour mark.

But Antoine Griezmann headed Sociedad level four minutes later, and striker Imanol Agirretxe then gave the visitors the lead in the 66th thanks to an error by goalkeeper Raul Fernandez. Substitute Carlos Vela added another goal 10 minutes later.

Sociedad’s first win at Bilbao since 2001 provisionally lifted it into fifth place in the Spanish league. Philippe Montanier’s side is on a seven-game unbeaten streak and has only one loss in the last 15 rounds.

“It had been a long time,” said Sociedad’s veteran midfielder Xabi Prieto. “We came in playing well so we knew it was possible, and we are leaving in great spirits.”

Inaugurated in 1913, San Mames is scheduled to be torn down after 100 years and replaced by a new stadium at the end of this season.

The first Basque Country derby was played here in 1929. The final tally for derbies at the veteran stadium rests at 37 wins for Bilbao, 12 wins for Sociedad, and 17 draws.

Prieto remained cautiously optimistic about his team’s chances of making a top-six finish and qualifying for either the Champions League or Europa League next season.

“We will see. We are playing well,” he said. “We are near the top now and on a very good run.”

Bilbao could not have asked for a better start with Gomez smashing Jon Aurtenetxe’s cross into the top of the net after Aritz Aduriz and Mikel San Jose had both come close with headers.

Sociedad, however, responded in perfect fashion with Chori Castro picking out Griezmann floating free at the far post to turn his lobbed pass into the net.

Both defences then appeared to have settled down until Fernandez, Bilbao’s little-used goalkeeper in his second start, gifted Sociedad the goal that proved to be the winner. Fernandez failed to pull in or punch out a routine cross that bounced off his chest, letting Agirretxe send the ball ricocheting off both players before it trickled over the goalline.

With Bilbao demoralized, Vela sealed the result with a shot just inside the upright for his 11th goal of the season.

After the final whistle, the Sociedad players all went to the corner of the pitch where their fans were seated to celebrate the win.

“Not many of our fans could make it because there weren’t many tickets on sale, but those who did were well compensated,” Prieto said.

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“The draw was fair,” Frankfurt coach Armin Veh said. “We didn’t allow anything in the first half, Freiburg were better in the second.”

Frankfurt’s Stefan Aigner — who had a goal ruled out for offside early on — could only hit the side-netting after racing toward goal in the 17th minute.

Freiburg improved after the break and almost scored from a corner in the 64th, when Stefano Celozzi cleared Jan Rosenthal’s header off the line. One minute later, he did it again, this time from Mattias Ginter.

“That’s what I’m there for,” Celozzi said.

Frankfurt goalkeeper Kevin Trapp denied Max Kruse in the 76th, Johannes Flum headed over with five minutes remaining and then drew another save from Trapp.

“When we in Freiburg get so many chances in the first Bundesliga (division), then I’m happy,” Freiburg coach Christian Streich said. “We can’t always hope that we score the winner in the 80th minute.”

Frankfurt remained fourth while Freiburg stayed three points behind ahead of the rest of the weekend’s games.

Bundesliga leader Bayern Munich hosts Werder Bremen on Saturday, while defending champion Borussia Dortmund visits Borussia Moenchengladbach on Sunday.

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Barca dominated possession for the first 25 minutes but was stunned when Odion Ighalo put the hosts ahead at the Estadio Nuevo Los Carmenes.

Messi tapped in a deserved equalizer five minutes into the second half, though, and then curled in a free kick 17 minutes from time to complete the turnaround and move Barca 15 points clear at the summit.

Barca assistant coach Jordi Roura, still overseeing first-team affairs with head coach Tito Vilanova undergoing cancer treatment in New York, shuffled his pack for the game, restoring Dani Alves, Javier Mascherano, Sergio Busquets, Cesc Fabregas and Pedro Rodriguez to his lineup, with Xavi (thigh) and David Villa (ill) among those to miss out and Andres Iniesta only on the bench.

Granada was unchanged from the starting XI that won 3-0 at Deportivo La Coruna last weekend as it looked to continue its promising start — two wins in two games — under new coach Lucas Alcaraz.

Messi’s neat pass put Alexis Sanchez through on goal after four minutes, but Granada goalkeeper Tono was off his line quickly to smother the danger.

Former Barca B player Nolito had Granada’s first sight of goal three minutes later, with Victor Valdes gathering his side-footed volley at the second attempt.

Barca had a decent penalty shout waved away midway through the first half when Fabregas appeared to be clipped from behind by Gabriel Torje.

Alexis, who netted his first goal of the season in last weekend’s 6-1 thrashing of Getafe, was provided with another presentable chance by Messi but took too long and the threat was snuffed out by defender Diego Mainz.

Moments later, at the other end, the hosts showed their illustrious opponents how to apply the cutting edge in front of goal as they took a shock lead.

Carlos Aranda’s cross from the right was tapped back across goal by Nolito for Ighalo to stab home from close range — with Valdes and Barca defenders appealing in vain for offside.

The play soon switched back to Granada’s defensive third, where Adriano went within inches of finding an instant response. His superb effort with the outside of his left foot whistled just past the top corner.

Granada defender Guilherme Siqueira was lucky to be shown only a yellow card 12 minutes before halftime when he hauled Pedro to the ground as he looked to burst through.

Aranda should have made it 2-0 on the stroke of halftime after being gifted the ball on the edge of the Barca box by a sloppy defensive free kick by Thiago Alcantara, but Valdes made the save.

Just as it had done against Real Madrid a fortnight ago, Granada held the halftime lead. However, this time it lasted only five minutes into the second period.

Parity was restored when Messi pounced on the rebound to prod home after Tono could only parry a low Fabregas drive. It was the prolific Argentina forward’s 36th goal in La Liga this term — and meant he had scored in 14 straight games.

Alexis again pondered for too long on the ball when put through down the left by Fabregas, the Chilean getting the ball caught up in his feet as an unmarked Pedro cut a frustrated figure waiting for the cross.

That turned out to be Alexis’ last action as he was replaced by Cristian Tello.

Pedro went close to putting Barca ahead midway through the second half with a long-range blast that struck the inside of the left post and rebounded to safety with Tono beaten.

Seconds later, Barca had a goal correctly ruled out for offside. Tello threaded a pass through for Dani Alves, who crossed for Pedro to prod home but the flag was raised.

Iniesta was introduced in place of Pedro with 18 minutes remaining, and a minute later he was celebrating Messi’s second goal.

Thiago was fouled by Youssef El Arabi 25 yards from goal and the four-time Ballon d’Or winner stepped up to curl home a left-footed set-piece. Tono, diving to his right, got a hand to it but was unable to push it around the post.

Tello should have wrapped things up six minutes from time when he was on the end of a well-worked move, but lashed over the bar.

Granada substitute Yacine Brahimi was then denied a stoppage-time equalizer by Valdes after a slick one-two, and there was still time for Messi’s hat-trick attempt to be thwarted by Tono, but there were no further goals.

Also Saturday, a first half goal by Javier Saviola earned Malaga a 1-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao to ensure it will remain fourth in the table by the end of the weekend.

Lucas Piazon, on loan from Chelsea until the end of the season, made his first start for Malaga and marked the occasion by providing the assist for the only goal of the game.

The 19-year-old used skill and strength to advance into the Athletic area and pulled a pass back from the by-line into the path of Saviola near the penalty spot and the striker shot high into the net after 18 minutes.

Celta Vigo remained in the relegation zone after suffering its third defeat in a row on the road with a 3-1 loss to Getafe.

All the goals came in a frantic first half. Adrian Colunga opened the scoring for the hosts after 10 minutes but Augusto Fernandez equalized just 10 minutes later, before Diego Castro and then Federico Fernandez added goals of their own before the break.

An early goal by Kike Sola saw Osasuna earn itself some much-needed breathing space from the relegation zone with a 10 win over rival Real Zaragoza.

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City goalkeeper Hart admitted in the build-up that anything but victory at St. Mary’s would all but end any their hopes of retaining the title, with leaders Manchester United already boasting a nine-point cushion.

Roberto Mancini’s side simply did not look like a side in need of a victory Saturday, conceding after just seven minutes when Jason Puncheon slotted home.

Hart could have possibly done better with the shot that led to the opener, but there was no doubting his culpability for Southampton’s second.

Excellent team interplay put through Rickie Lambert, whose fierce drive squirmed through the England international’s grasp, allowing Steven Davis to bundle home.

Edin Dzeko reduced the deficit as halftime approached, though a two-goal lead could have been restored on the stroke of halftime had referee Martin Atkinson not waved away Jay Rodriguez’s penalty appeals.

That was soon forgotten, though, as Barry passed into his own goal unchallenged to put Saints on course for a first win since Pochettino replaced Nigel Adkins at the helm.

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Villas-Boas was at pains to point out the similarities between Bale and Ronaldo during the week, and the Welshman put in a performance the Portuguese would have been proud of today.

Bale beat Tim Krul with a 25-yard free kick to open the scoring for the Londoners and then sealed the win with a superb breakaway goal that ended with him slotting the ball between the Newcastle goalkeeper’s legs.

“It was a massive game today. It was just important to come back and put pressure on the teams above us,” Bale told Sky Sports 1. “I am enjoying my football at the moment and that’s the most important thing. I’m just going to keep my head down and be focused.”

Newcastle dominated large parts of the game but Bale, like he has done so many times this season, swung the game in Spurs’ favour.

Bale was employed through the middle for large parts Saturday, which Villas-Boas believes is helping the midfielder make an even greater impact.

“Today we started where he finished the second half against West Brom (last weekend),” Villas-Boas said. “We gave him the same freedom. When a player feels good about the position he enjoys it more.”

The 23-year-old, who scored the decisive goals in Tottenham’s last two matches, now has 19 goals for club and country this season. Only the athletic brilliance of Krul prevented him from scoring a hat trick.

Newcastle’s goal came from Yoan Gouffran, who was later carried off on a stretcher with a serious-looking leg injury.

The win stretched Tottenham’s unbeaten Premier League run to 10 matches and put the north London club into third temporarily until Chelsea beat Wigan later Saturday.

Villas-Boas and Newcastle manager Alan Pardew fell out last season, but there was a strong sense of bonhomie as they embraced on the touchline before kickoff.

Bale was in no mood to show the visitors the same love. Just 70 seconds had elapsed when he burst down the left after a clever one-two with Lewis Holtby, but Davide Santon cut the Welshman’s cross out before Clint Dempsey could convert.

Three minutes later and Spurs had the lead. Fabricio Coloccini clattered into Dempsey 25 yards out and Bale stepped up to deliver a Ronaldo-esque free kick that dipped over the wall past a diving Krul.

Spurs dominated the rest of the opening quarter with some scintillating attacking football.

Mousa Dembele penetrated the box and rolled the ball back to Holtby, who came within inches of scoring his first goal for the club.

Thereafter Newcastle came back in to the game. Lloris saved from a Gouffran curler and Cisse directed a free diving header just wide of his compatriot’s goal.

Holtby momentarily raised the hopes of the home crowd, but Newcastle remained on top and the seemingly inevitable equalizer came with 24 minutes gone.

Sissoko galloped down the right on a Newcastle counter and pulled the ball back to Gouffran, who beat Lloris via a deflection from the diving Michael Dawson.

Spurs had two penalty appeals turned down. The first — when Aaron Lennon’s shot struck Santon’s arm — looked credible, but the second — when Bale’s volley brushed Mathieu Debuchy’s shoulder — was not.

Gutierrez whipped a cross in to the box to find Yohan Cabaye, but the Frenchman miscontrolled and Lloris came to the rescue.

Tottenham failed to up its performance straight after the break.

The game came to a pause for seven minutes as Gouffran received treatment for what looked like a serious injury. Kyle Walker clipped the forward’s right shin on the halfway line and he needed oxygen before being carried off on a stretcher. He was then taken to hospital for an X-ray.

“His shinbone looks sore. It’s fingers crossed,” Pardew said. “We don’t want to lose him, he’s only just come to the club.”

Bale looked to be Tottenham’s best hope of finding a winner. The Welshman, who fired his country to victory over Austria in midweek, picked the ball off Lennon and fired a low cross in to the box but it was cut out before Dempsey could score.

Bale came forward again, charging at the defense before firing a powerful shot that Taylor blocked bravely.

Taylor went from hero to villain moments later, however, as his mix-up with Coloccini allowed Bale to race through the Toon defense and fire between the legs of Krul to make it 2-1.

Caulker had a chance to seal the win moments later with a free header when Krul went walkabout, but the defender nodded wide.

Only Krul’s fingertips prevented the Welshman from adding a third after he raced through from a long punt downfield before firing a powerful volley at goal.

“He is definitely a great keeper,” Bale said. “I was disappointed with the goal I missed on my right foot. I’ll have to work on that.”

Cabaye put in a terrible tackle on Dembele, stamping on the Belgian’s ankle in a late attempt to win the ball. Spurs’ players demanded a red card, but Phil Dowd issued just a yellow.

Newcastle threatened to equalize in the second of seven added minutes through substitute Shola Ameobi, but Lloris saved well to deny the striker.

Krul’s acrobatics denied Bale his hat trick twice in added time, but the winger did not mind. He had already done enough damage to see off the Toon.

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Recent months have seen the Madrid based media, in particular sports dailies AS and Marca, take an increasingly hard line on Mourinho, including some very heavy criticism of his both his professional and personal behaviour, which has included rows with Madrid reserve team coach Alberto Toril, goalkeeper Iker Casillas and Marca journalist Anton Meana.

Pique told journalists after training at Barcelona’s Ciutat Deportiva on Monday morning that he felt the storm of criticism had more to do with Madrid losing games on the pitch than any moral stance taken by the journalists.

“It makes me laugh because I remember that when Madrid won, Mourinho was allowed do anything,” Pique said. “He came here and poked Tito in the eye. How many games was he banned for? Zero. Now that Mourinho is taking on Iker, that he locked up a journalist [to yell at him], there is criticism. Mourinho has always been like this, ever since he arrived. He was allowed do anything.”

Pique also included Catalan papers such as Mundo Deportivo and Sport in his comments, saying that he did not think the media should just be a cheerleader for ‘their’ team.

“I do not think the press should act like this,” he said. “I am just saying this for Barcelona, but also for Madrid. Barca do not do everything well. But if you look at the front pages of Mundo Deportivo and Sport, it seems like the club does everything well. I say the same for both sides, for Madrid and for Barcelona.”

Pique also believes that injuries and suspensions were to blame for Madrid’s 0-0 draw at Osasuna on Saturday night, not bad coaching from Mourinho or a bad attitude from the players.

“It did not look to me like Madrid had thrown in La Liga,” he said. “They went without four or five very important players. I believe they had the right attitude. Madrid have never based their game on playing great football. They have intensity and ambition. They ‘eat up’ their opponent. You could see they missed their injured players.”

Barcelona took advantage of Madrid’s latest stumble to open up an 18 point gap on their rivals with Sunday’s 3-1 in Malaga, a game which completed a first half of the La Liga season with 18 wins and one draw in 19 games.

Pique said it was impossible to really say whether Tito Vilanova’s Barca side were better than that of Pep Guardiola in recent seasons, and anyway this year’s side had won nothing yet.

“There will be opinions for every taste,” he said. “I think we are playing really well. We have been at our most comfortable in these last games. But what counts is trying to win the three trophies (La Liga, Copa del Rey and Champions League). That is what we did with Pep (in 2008-09) and we will try to do it with Tito.”

Pique also suggested that the current Barca team had more tactical options than in previous seasons.

“We can play in various ways,” he said. “Tito has gone with more midfielders in the last games. The first year we won the treble we had a settled team, but I feel this year the team has more options. This year we have a very competitive squad.”

Such flexibility would be useful as Barca face into a busy spell, starting with Wednesday’s Copa del Rey quarter-final first leg at home to Malaga.

“The Copa del Rey and the Champions League will help us keep our rhythm going,” he added. “We are starting into Copa, Liga, Copa, and it will be non-stop. It is best for us to play every three days than every weekend. That everyone plays is very good for the team.”

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It was a miserable night for Madrid, who was without the suspended Cristiano Ronaldo and Sergio Ramos, with Kaka sent off 19 minutes after coming on as a substitute, while Jose Maria Callejon had a goal disallowed for a borderline offside decision.

The result means Madrid is 15 points behind La Liga leader Barcelona, which plays Malaga on Sunday, and four behind neighbor Atletico.

Osasuna had the better of the second half and could have won, but its final ball continually let them down.

Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas, who had been dropped by Mourinho for the past two league games, returned to the side with replacement Antonio Adan suspended following his red card last time out.

Ronaldo was suspended after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season last week, and his absence was keenly felt.

Mourinho acknowledged the strong performance of Casillas but would not guarantee the club captain will be in the starting side next week.

In our last two games, the team has played well defensively, and (Casillas) has been a part of that,” Mourinho explained. “I liked how he played against Celta as well, rising to the occasion to give his team a boost. Nevertheless, it is still too early to tell if he will play against Valencia on Tuesday.”

There was little of note in the opening stages with neither team creating any clear openings.

Osasuna’s Damia’s opening shot went wide, and it took until the 25th minute for Madrid to have an effort on goal, with Angel Di Maria firing past the post.

Madrid was finding it a struggle to get in behind the hosts’ defense, and when Fabio Coentrao found himself unmarked on the left of the area, rather than provide a crisp pass to the onrushing Gonzalo Higuain, the defender headed the ball into the ground and the hosts cleared.

Callejon’s back header narrowly cleared the bar for Madrid and as the half wore down, Osasuna midfielder Alvaro Cejudo blazed a half-volley high and wide.

Madrid failed to take advantage of a good chance in the final minute when Callejon set up Coentrao with the goalkeeper out of position but he fired wide.

The second half started much as the first ended with plenty of possession for Madrid but no clear openings.

Two quick-fire corners for Osasuna ended with Manuel Lolo heading over when he could have directed it across Casillas and into the far corner, but the hosts were enjoying a threatening spell, with Emiliano Armenteros forcing the goalkeeper to go down to his left.

The tempo of the game had risen considerably and Osasuna sensed it could take all three points, an outcome that appeared more possible when Madrid was reduced to 10 men.

Kaka had only been on the pitch for two minutes when he was booked and when he did not retreat so Osasuna could take a quick free kick, he was given a second yellow in the 77th minute.

However, it was Madrid that thought it had taken the lead moments later, but Callejon was judged to have been offside in a borderline decision.

Karim Benzema forced Fernandez to go down to collect his shot in Madrid’s first shot on target in the second half but it was one of the last kicks of a miserable game for the visitors.

Roberto Soldado took his tally to 17 goals for the season as Valencia beat Sevilla 2-0 and continued its improvement since Ernesto Valverde replaced Mauricio Pellegrino as coach.

Los Che made it seven wins from eight games under Valverde to move up to seventh a point behind Malaga in the final Champions League spot in fourth. Sevilla remains 12th in the table following the loss.

Soldado netted from close range five minutes into the second half then wrapped up the win in the closing moments with a header from a Pablo Piatti corner to make it 11 La Liga goals for the season.

Patrick Ebert inspired Valladolid with two goals and an assist as it claimed its first win in five games over Mallorca with a 3-1 victory.

The German fired the hosts into the lead with a wonderful strike from 20 yards after 21 minutes but Mallorca was level before halftime as Victor rose to head home Javier Arizmendi’s cross 16 minutes later.

Ebert proved the difference in the dying minutes as Oscar Gonzalez turned home his cross three minutes from time and the former Hertha Berlin man then went through on goal and jinked past Dudu Aouate before slotting into an empty net.

Sergio Garcia’s first-half goal was enough to hand Espanyol a crucial three points as it moved out of the relegation zone with a 1-0 win over Celta Vigo.

The former Spanish international gave the hosts the perfect start as he tapped home Christian Stuani’s cross from close range on 23 minutes, and despite having more of the ball after the break, Celta struggled to create clear-cut chances.

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Filip Sandberg put defending champion Sweden ahead on power play early in the second period, but Grimaldi then scored twice in a three-minute span to swing the game in the Americans’ favor.

He powered from behind the net to score, and then redirected Jacob Trouba’s slap shot from the blue line midway through second period.

Sweden pulled its goalie for an extra player with 1:42 left but failed to capitalize. Instead, Trocheck rounded off the win with 16.7 seconds left.

John Gibson made 26 saves for the victory and was named the MVP of the tournament. Niklas Lundstrom had 31 saves for Sweden.

It was the third title for the Americans, who also won in 2004 and 2010.

Earlier, Valeri Nichushkin scored an overtime winner to give Russia a 6-5 victory over Canada in the bronze-medal match.

Canada trailed throughout the match, but Brett Ritchie scored an equalizer with 9 minutes left of the third period to force overtime. In the extra 10-minute period, Nichushkin broke down the right flank on a solo effort and skated in front of the goal to score into the left corner after just 1:35.

Russia goalkeeper Andrei Makarov made 40 saves for the victory. Malcolm Subban stopped 19 shots for Canada.

It was the first time since 1998 that 15-time champion Canada finished without a medal at the event.

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