The sports wrap: Kevin Gameiro scores 2nd fastest hattrick in La Liga history, and other top stories

The big story: Gameiro scored three goals in four minutes and 51 seconds

Kevin Gameiro scored the second-fastest hat-trick in La Liga history to help Atletico Madrid to a 4-1 win over Sporting Gijon on Saturday.

The 29-year-old came off the bench in the second half to win the match for Diego Simeone’s side in extraordinary fashion.

Gameiro struck three times in the space of just four minutes and 51 seconds. Incidentally, he had only took three shots in the match.

Only David Villa has managed a hat-trick in a shorter time in Spain premier tournament, having scored three goals in four minutes and 47 seconds for Valencia against Athletic Bilbao in 2006.

The 5-minute #LaLiga hat-trick club has a new member...

95/96: @bebeto7 🆚 Albacete
05/06: @Guaje7Villa 🆚 Athletic
16/17: Gameiro 🆚 Sporting pic.twitter.com/mCtKez9xQS
— LaLiga (@LaLigaEN) February 18, 2017

🎙️ @kevingameiro9: "These goals were for my grandmother who passed away this week. I thought about her a lot." #SportingAtleti pic.twitter.com/aBLEcgjMfC
— LaLiga (@LaLigaEN) February 18, 2017

Football

Mohun Bagan moved level on points with arch-rivals East Bengal with a 3-1 win over DSK Shivajians in the I-League on Saturday at the Rabindra Sarobar stadium.
Bengaluru FC’s wretched run of form continued as the defending I-League champions were frustrated by Mumbai FC to a goalless draw at the Cooperage Stadium on Saturday.

Former Manchester United forward Dwight Yorke was denied entry in the US because he had an Iranian stamp on his password. American President Donald Trump signed an executive order to bar people from seven countries, out of which Iran was included, “They told me there was a visa problem and a red flag had come up against my name because of an Iranian stamp in my passport. I went there to play in a legends match to open a stadium and didn’t even stay overnight,” Yorke was quoted as saying by ESPN.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said on Friday that he will never coach Barcelona again as pressure mounts on current boss Luis Enrique after Barcelona’s loss against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville threw his weight behind under-fire Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, “His performance levels consistently for 20 years have been unbelievable. And you’d have to say, I do go along the line of, ‘Be careful what you wish for,’” Neville said.
Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan still harbours hopes of winning the English Premier League title, despite being eight points adrift of runaway leaders Chelsea, “Anything is possible in the Premier League,” the German said.
Millwall stunned reigning Premier League side Leicester City 1-0 in the FA Cup fifth round clash on Saturday. Meanwhile, Lincoln City shocked Burnley 1-0 and Manchester City drew 0-0 with Huddersfield.
Robert Lewandowski’s last-gasp goal helped Bayern Munich seak in a 1-1 draw against Hertha Berlin in the Bundesliga on Saturday.
Gareth Bale scored on his return from injury as Real Madrid downed Espanyol 2-0. Bale, who has been sidelined since November last year, scored in the 83rd minute after Alvaro Morata had given them the lead in the 33rd minute.

Cricket

New Zealand Cricket revealed that it is monitoring the issue of bush fires in the Port Hills area close to Christchurch, ahead of the second ODI match between the hosts and and the South Africans. The fires have destroyed many homes and has led to large scale evacuations, reported ESPNCricinfo.
Former England batsman Peter Richardson died late on Friday, aged 85. Richardson is known for hitting a century in the “Laker Test” of 1956, where the spinner took a record 19 wickets. The opener scored five centuries in the 34 Tests he had featured in.
Teenager Virat Singh was again in the limelight with a cracking half-century which guided East Zone to an eight-wicket victory over West Zone to clinch the National T20 Championship for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, reported PTI.

Shreyas Iyer stroked an unbeaten 85 to keep India ‘A’ afloat as Australia maintained their dominance after declaring on 469/7 on day two of their three-day warm-up game at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday.
RP Shah, one of the three General Managers of BCCI, on Saturday resigned from his post citing his age as a “reason”.
Jharkhand batsman Ishank Jaggi has been included in the auction pool last minute following a string of good performances in the final leg of the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy.
The Pakistan Cricket Board on Saturday charge-sheeted Sharjeel Khan and Khalid Latif under its anti-corruption code and gave them 14 days to respond to the charges.

Tennis

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeated Tomas Berdych 6-3, 6-4 in 72 minutes on Saturday to enter the final of the Rotterdam Open.

Athletics

Former discuss thrower Harpreet Singh was arrested in Delhi for possessing around 25 kg of the party drug, Meow, amounting upto Rs 50 crore. Singh was caught along with two others.
Top race walker Khushbir Kaur was on Friday axed from the Indian team for the upcoming Asian Race Walking Championships after Athletics Federation of India cracked the whip on her for opting out of the 20km event at the National Championships in New Delhi without informing the body, PTI reported.
Haryana’s Sandeep Kumar surpassed his own national record with a gold in the men’s 50 km event of the National Race Walking Championships in New Delhi on Saturday, PTI reported.

Boxing

The newest Indians in the professional boxing circuit, Akhil Kumar and Jitendra Kumar are scheduled to fight as many six bouts each this year, reported PTI.

Golf

India’s Aditi Ashok shot four consecutive bogeys amid blustery conditions between the sixth and ninth holes on the front to card five-over 78 in the third round of the Women’s Australian Open at Royal Adelaide Golf Club, PTI reported.