Barcelona take rout route to top

Madrid: Barcelona cruised to a 4-0 rout of 10-man Real Sociedad to regain the lead in Spain. Gerard Martín, Marc Casadó, Ronald Araujo and Robert Lewandowski scored a goal each on Sunday to put Barcelona one point ahead of second-placed Atletico Madrid at the top of the La Liga.

“There is still a long way to go and everything can change very quickly,” Barcelona coach Hansi Flick said.

“We have to keep fighting until the end because we want to win everything we can.”

Barcelona are three points ahead of third-placed Real Madrid, who lost 2-1 at Real Betis on Saturday, when Atletico beat Athletic Bilbao 1-0 at home.

“Very happy with the match we played,” Araujo said. “It was important to win and become leaders again. It was a great effort by the team.”

Sociedad played a man down from the 17th minute after Aritz Elustondo was sent off with a straight red card for grabbing Barcelona forward Dani Olmo to stop a breakaway.

It was the sixth win in a row for Barcelona in the league, and the second loss in three matches for Sociedad, which stayed in ninth place.

FA Cup: United crash out

manchester: Manchester United crashed out of the FA Cup on Sunday after losing on penalties to Fulham.

Rather than bemoan the latest blow in a miserable season, though, United coach Ruben Amorim insisted his sights were set on a bigger trophy.

“The goal is to win the Premier League. So I know that we are losing games and losing trophies during this season, but the goal is to win the Premier League again,” Amorim said after the 4-3 shootout loss at Old Trafford.