Clint Dempsey posts hat trick in rout

Posted Monday, January 09, 2012 by ESPN

Spain
Racing Santander extended its turnaround since the departure of coach Hector Cuper with a 1-0 win over last-place Zaragoza in the Spanish league on Saturday.

Santander's unbeaten streak became four games under the caretaker coaching trio of Juan Jose Gonzalez, Fede Castanos and Pablo Pinillos, helping the team move out of the drop zone for the first time in 12 weeks.

Defender Bernardo Espinosa scored in first-half added time when he sent Papakouly Diop's corner past goalkeeper Roberto Jimenez with a glancing header at the near post.

Substitute Edu Oriol hit the crossbar with a shot from outside the area in Zaragoza's best chance to pull even in the 89th.

Zaragoza recorded its ninth loss in 10 games under coach Manolo Jimenez following the firing of Javier Aguirre.

Elsewhere, Andres Fernandez's inspired goalkeeping earned fifth-place Osasuna a scoreless away draw at Real Sociedad as both teams stayed undefeated in their last six league matches.

Fourth-place Levante drew 0-0 with visiting Mallorca, rising to within three points of third-place Valencia.

League leader Real Madrid beat Granada 5-1, and Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone got a scoreless draw with Malaga in his debut.

On Sunday, second-place Barcelona visits Espanyol in a Catalan capital derby, while Jose Antonio Reyes could debut in his return to Sevilla at Rayo Vallecano.

Also, it's: Getafe vs. Athletic Bilbao, Villarreal vs. Valencia and Real Betis vs. Sporting Gijon.

Italy
MILAN -- Inter Milan started the new year with a 5-0 victory over Parma in Serie A for its fifth straight win.

Diego Milito scored in the 13th and 41st minutes and Thiago Motta in the 18th as Inter built a three-goal lead. Giampaolo Pazzini added a fourth in the 56th minute before Marco Faraoni got his first Serie A goal in the 79th.

Inter (9-6-2) moved up to fifth heading into next weekend's derby against AC Milan (10-2-4), which is at Atalanta on Sunday.

Juventus (9-0-7), tied atop the standings with Milan at 34 points, plays Lecce on Sunday.

In Saturday's other game, Siena beat visiting Lazio 4-0 for its first win since October. Mattia Destro put Siena ahead in the 11th minute, Emanuele Calaio converted penalty kicks in the 35th and 45th, the latter after Lazio goalkeeper Albano Bizzarri was ejected. Destro scored again in the 81st.

Greece
AEK moved to second in the Greek league with a 2-0 away victory over newcomer Levadiakos on Saturday.

Dimitris Sialmas scored once in each half and got sent off. He was booked after his first goal for excessive celebration, and received another yellow card in the 82nd minute for a dangerous challenge.

AEK was four points behind Olympiakos and two ahead of Panathinaikos, which has played three fewer games. Olympiakos travels to last-place Drama and Panathinaikos hosts Kerkyra on Sunday.

Also, Asteras beat Panaitolikos 1-0 and Ergotelis defeated Panionios with the same score.

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