BARCELONA, Spain -- With Barcelonas faint Spanish league title hopes fading, Lionel Messi scored from a crafty free kick late on to give Barcelona a 2-1 win at Atletico Madrid on Sunday and keep his team in the chase. jerseys nfl cheap authentic . Despite its first away victory in three games, Barcelona is still 10 points adrift of leader Real Madrid thanks to Cristiano Ronaldos superb back-heeled goal in his teams hard-fought 1-0 win at Rayo Vallecano earlier. After Radamel Falcao had cancelled out Dani Alves opener for Barcelona, Messi caught Atleticos players unawares while they were trying to form a defensive wall by looping a perfectly placed shot into the far side of the net in the 81st minute. Messis own bit of brilliance took his league tally to 28 goals-- one behind Ronaldos 29. "A leader is someone who steps up when the team needs him and Leo has been doing that for the past four years," said Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola, who also acknowledged that his teams shot at winning a fourth straight league title since he took charge is slim. "I dont believe we will win the league. But I hope we will compete like we did today and that we will compete in the Champions League and Copa del Rey final." Barcelona dominated possession from the start at Vicente Calderon stadium, patiently probing for a way through an Atletico team on a nine-game unbeaten streak since the arrival of coach Diego Simeone. Xavi Hernandez, on his return to Barcelonas starting 11, came close in the second minute while Messi had a goal disallowed shortly after for using his hand to control the ball. It was the Argentina forwards fifth yellow card, meaning he will miss next weeks match against Sporting Gijon. Barcelona finally broke through with Dani Alves goal in the 36th. Messi set up the goal by drawing in a swarm of defenders at the top of the box before laying the ball off, allowing Cesc Fabregas to cross to the far post for the Brazil right back to fire home. "I saw the space open up after my teammates fantastic combination and I scored off a great set-up by Cesc," Dani Alves said. "Winning in stadiums like this one strengthens you moving forward." Atletico pressed for an equalizer after halftime. That came four minutes later when striker Falcao knocked in a poor clearance by Sergio Busquets for his 15th goal of the league campaign. With the score level, the game turned into an up-and-down contest marred by fouls that favoured Atleticos more aggressive style. The hosts looked set to keep Barcelona winless in three straight away games until Messi saw the chance for his 43rd goal of the season in all competitions. The three-time Ballon DOr winner executed the long-range strike from the left to perfection, his shot leaving goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois to look on helplessly. After Rayo had outplayed its crosstown rivals in the first half, Ronaldo pounced on a loose ball in the area and flicked it through a pack of defenders with his back to the net in the 54th minute to give Madrid its ninth straight away victory. "It was a great goal," Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas said. "I saw the back-heeled shot and I didnt think it was going in, but it was a great touch of class that he pulled out of nowhere." Rayo, which entered the game on a three-game winning run, almost went in front before halftime when Francisco "Piti" Medina latched onto a pass, cut back and sent a rising shot off the post. After the break, Madrid gained control and soon went ahead when Ronaldo scored his 37th goal in all competitions this season. The game, however, swung back in Rayos favour in the last 15 minutes to keep the result in doubt until the final whistle. Miguel "Michu" Perez slipped while shooting and sent the ball high in the 73rd. Two minutes later, Jose Casados long blast forced Casillas to stretch and tip the ball wide, and Emiliano Armenteros had a great chance to equalize but failed to convert in front of an open net in the dying moments. "Rayo didnt deserve to lose," said a gracious Jose Mourinho, who gave credit to his defence. "A draw would have been fair because they were a fantastic opponent. If we hadnt played so well in the back we wouldnt have won." Also on Sunday, it was: Villarreal 2, Athletic Bilbao 2; Valencia 1, Sevilla 2; Osasuna 2, Granada 1 and Real Sociedad 1, Mallorca 0. wholesale nfl jerseys . The 35-year-old former Strikeforce welterweight champion was let go on Monday following over three years with the company. jerseys nfl cheap . Though the Jets have not confirmed any updates to Scheifeles status, TSN Hockey Analyst Aaron Ward says early reports indicate he suffered an MCL injury and will likely out 6-8 weeks.Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca. Good morning Kerry, I love your daily clarifications to help everyone understand better why some calls are made! My question is in regards of spearing. As you know by now, Milan Lucic speared Alexei Emelin in Game 3 - again! I understand that at times some calls be overlooked, but why is he continuously getting away with it? If there is video evidence, why nothing is done afterward to avoid any precedence to be set? My last question: is this not making the officials in a difficult position? Thank you very much for your time. Lyne Laurendeau Lyne: The act of spearing and butt-ending seldom result in a player suspension. Instead, a fine may be imposed (but not always as we have seen) by the Player Safety Committee. It would appear that players are utilizing both ends of their hockey stick on a more consistent basis in violation of rule 58 (butt-ending) and rule 62 (spearing). This season the following fines have been levied for these illegal acts: February 6, 2014: Alexei Emelin - Montreal Canadiens - Butt-ending Pascal Pelletier ($5,000)March 20, 2014: David Legwand - Detroit Red Wings - Butt-ending Evgeni Malkin ($5,000)April 13, 2014: Scott Hartnell - Philadelphia Flyers - Spearing Brett Bellemore ($5,000)April 18, 2014: Milan Lucic - Boston Bruins -Spearing Danny DeKeyser ($5,000)April 25, 2014: Ryan Garbutt - Dallas Stars - Spearing Corey Perry ($1,474.36) You also might recall in the Ducks-Stars series on April 18th that Corey Perry was given a "slashing" minor when he "speared" Jamie Benn at 7:25 of the first period. Perry remained in the game as a result the "slashing" assessment and then scored an unassisted goal at 16:15 of the second in a 3-2 Anaheim win. Milan Lucic was also guilty of an undetected backdoor spear motion on Alexei Emelin in a game March 24. Neither of these incidents resulted in a fine. Beyond the non-call in the Bruins-Habs game the other night, no disciplinary action or fine will result from Lucics latest spear on Emelin. It should also be noted that Emelin was guilty of cross-checking on the play and was not penalized for the infraction as well. Fouls can be missed in the fast pace of the game. There is obvious reluctance on the part of the referees to call "spearing" foor what it is due to the severity of the penalty that they must impose under the rule. cheap jerseys from china. Only when contact is significant, as in the Ryan Garbutt spear on Corry Perry, will we see the accurate call made. Perrys action on Jamie Benn was no less a spearing motion than Garbutts, but due to lesser degree of contact (deemed to be minimal by the ref) the infraction was called slashing. It is not the referees job to interpret the relative value of the rule or base their assessment on the degree of contact (or non contact) when a spearing motion is delivered. That however is exactly what is being done. Under rule 62, the referee is empowered (and expected) to assess a double minor is imposed when a player spears an opponent and does not make contact. A major and game misconduct is to be assessed on a player who spears an opponent (makes contact). When I attended my first NHL training camp for officials as a 20-year-old aspiring referee in 1972 we went through every rule in the book during daily classroom sessions. The rule book wasnt all that thick back then and the referee had the option of assessing a minor or major penalty for spearing based on the degree of contact. Wanting to understand the difference between the two applications I approached veteran referee Lloyd Gilmour for advice. I asked Gilmour what constituted the difference between a minor or major penalty for spearing. Without so much as a wink, Lloyd said, "Kid, if you see the spear go in its two minutes; if the stick comes out the players back call it five!" Perhaps the veteran advice was a little tongue-in- cheek but in reality not all that far off from the application we might be seeing now. Lyne, it is my opinion that there should be a fine imposed for every instance of spearing and butt-ending; regardless of the degree of contact or whether a penalty was imposed by the referee. Both are dangerous and cheap acts. Further to this, the referees must be directed to call the action of spearing and butt-ending for what they are and not place their personal value on the degree of contact made with the point or end of a players stick. It is the referees that are putting themselves in a "difficult position" by either ignoring the infraction or calling it by any other terminology than what it is. Penalty enforcement and fines would result in higher standards of player accountability and act as a stronger deterrent against these unwanted acts from being committed. cheap jerseys ' ' '
