Barcelona win again as Inter salvage a draw

Raphinha on Saturday continued his red-hot form with a hat trick in a 3-1 win at Sevilla as defending champion Barcelona recorded a seventh straight victory in Spanish La Liga.

Lamine Yamal set up two of the irrepressible Brazilian’s goals to make it a La Liga-high 12 so far — one less than Raphinha scored all last season.

Earlier, Lautaro Martinez rescued Inter with two second-half goals as the defending Italian Serie A champions drew 2-2 at AS Roma in their table-topping clash.

Barcelona forward Raphinha, right, celebrates with teammate Lamine Yamal after scoring his team’s second goal during their La Liga match against Sevilla at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium in Seville, Spain, on Saturday.

Photo: AFP

Arsenal lost top spot in the Premier League after a first defeat, and Borussia Dortmund went first in Germany with a fourth straight victory.

This time it was not Donyell Malen scoring for Roma, but midfielder Manu Kone with two first-half goals as Roma stayed top on goal difference. Martinez netted twice in the second half as both sides remained undefeated.

Maximilian Beier’s effort gave Dortmund a 1-0 win at VfB Stuttgart and a two-point lead over defending champion Bayern Munich.

Kone put Roma ahead in the sixth minute after being set up by Nahuel Molina, who nodded back a back-post cross from Paulo Dybala for Kone to run onto.

He scored again from close range in the 37th after being set up by Gianluca Mancini, following another curling cross by Dybala. The goal was ruled offside, but given following a video check.

Roma coach Gian Piero Gasperini stopped Kone being sold to Inter in the offseason.

Martinez replied immediately after the break, clipping the ball inside the post after combining superbly with Marcus Thuram on a swift counterattack, then equalized in the 79th.

Third-placed SS Lazio won 2-0 at Venezia while fourth-placed Cagliari continued their fine start with a 1-0 win at Udinese. Midfielder Daniel Maldini — the son of famed Italy defender Paolo Maldini — scored for the Sardinian side.

After firing coach Domenico Tedesco, Bologna drew 1-1 at home to Torino.

Barca have 31 goals in seven games and moved six points ahead of Real Madrid, which was to play at Atletico Madrid later last night.

Raphinha cut inside a defender and found the bottom right corner for his first goal, which came midway through the first half and after Youssouf Fofana gave Sevilla the lead.

Lamine Yamal bamboozled the Sevilla defense with quick footwork before crossing for Raphinha to head in from close range in the 52nd. Yamal then assisted again.

Barring injury, Raphinha is set to smash his career best tally of 18 league goals from two seasons ago.

Rayo Vallecano striker Sergio Camello made it seven goals so far in a 1-1 draw at CA Osasuna.

After being crushed 7-2 by Barca in midweek, Racing Santander were routed 5-0 at RC Celta Vigo with Pablo Duran scoring twice.

Alaves drew 0-0 at Athletic Bilbao in a Basque Country derby.

Brighton & Hove Albian moved up to third place after their 3-0 win over Arsenal capped a fine week for the Seagulls, following victory at Manchester United in the English League Cup.

Goal difference dropped Arsenal behind City, which could move three points ahead by beating Sunderland at home last night after press time.

Big-spending Tottenham Hotspur finally scored, but lost 3-2 at home to UEFA Europa League winner Aston Villa.

Newcastle United won 2-1 against Hull City, and Everton beat Ipswich Town 1-0.

Coach Frank Lampard’s Coventry City snapped a four-game losing start with a 1-0 success at Nottingham Forest.

Ghana striker Ernest Nuamah scored twice as second-placed Olympique Lyonnais thumped Stade Rennais 4-0 at home in French Ligue 1.

English coach Liam Rosenior got one over on his former club as Paris FC beat RC Strasbourg Alsace 2-1 at home.

Ilan Kebbal and Pablo Pagis scored for Paris FC, which are undefeated after five games.

Rosenior upset Strasbourg fans after leaving in January for a short and ill-fated spell at Chelsea. He taunted Strasbourg’s visiting fans at the final whistle, but said some had insulted his family.

Angers SCO, Le Mans and Toulouse also won at home.

A change of coach for Borussia Moenchengladbach did not stop the team conceding goals as Gladbach lost 4-3 at home to FSV Mainz 05 for a fourth straight defeat and 16 goals conceded.

Third-place SC Freiburg are level with Bayern after twice coming from behind in a 2-2 draw at Eintracht Frankfurt.