Alessandro Del Piero scored the winner in Sydney FC's first victory of the Australian A-League season. Juventus legend Del Piero scored his second goal in as many games in a 1-0 derby win over Western Sydney Wanderers in front of a delighted 19,000-plus crowd. The 37-year-old Italian World Cup winner found the net after retaking a penalty in the 54th minute, to end Sydney's losing start to the new season. AFP

Lionel Messi hit his 21st Barcelona hat-trick as his 10-man side edged a thrilling 5-4 victory at Deportivo La Coruna. Jordi Alba and Cristian Tello got the other goals for Barca, who had Javier Mascherano sent-off on 48 minutes, while a Pizzi double, an Alex Bergantinos strike and an Alba own goal kept the home side in the game. Messi now has 11 league goals, two more than Cristiano Ronaldo who earlier scored for Real Madrid in a 2-0 win over Celta Vigo that kept Madrid eight points behind the Catalan side. Barca coach Tito Vilanova was relieved to win the game. "We'll take the positives from that. The three points, lots of goals and we controlled the game with 10 men for a long time. The game was a bit crazy and Leo [Messi] has travelled a long way this week but he was still incredible," he said. AFP