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BARCELONA, Spain -- Diego Costa became a one-man wrecking crew to lead Atletico Madrid to a 3-0 home win over Valencia on Sunday, scoring two second-half goals and earning a pair of penalties to ensure Diego Simeones side retained its share of the Spanish league lead with Barcelona. The Brazilian-born strikers brace drew him level with Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo as the leagues leading scorers with 17 goals apiece through 16 rounds. "The important thing is to help the team win, not the goals," Diego Costa said. After a first half dominated by defence, Atletico pressed Valencia into its area and Diego Costa did the rest. He used a burst of speed capped with a stinging strike to beat goalkeeper Diego Alves on a counterattack for the 59th-minute opener. Raul Garcia went on in the 61st for David Villa to reinforce Atleticos midfield and two minutes later fired in a loose ball. Another charge into the area earned Diego Costa his first of two penalties when Victor Ruiz brought him down, only for Diego Alves to save his spot kick in the 74th. But Diego Costa again forced defender Antonio Barragan to foul him as he penetrated the box. This time he blasted the ball over the goalie in the 81st, sealing Atleticos eighth win in as many league games at Vicente Calderon Stadium. "We just go forward game by game," Diego Costa said. "We know that it will be very tough and the league is long, but we will keep fighting to keep this going." Atleticos title challenge gains strength with each passing round as it keeps pace with defending champion Barcelona and has crosstown Real Madrid trailing by five points. It has allowed a league-low nine goals and has found its scorer in Diego Costa, helped by Villa and Garcia, who have combined for another 15 goals in league play. "I always want more," Simeone said. "I dont want my team to be passive. I want the team to always push and never be satisfied. It is very tough to keep up with Barcelona, its numbers are stratospheric." Elsewhere, Real Sociedads promising playmaker Ruben Pardo set up three goals to mastermind a 5-1 rout of bottom side Real Betis. Sociedad may have flopped out of the Champions League, but has found its form in the domestic competition where it has won six of its last eight games and climbed into sixth place and the Europa League positions. The hosts overwhelmed Betis on the league debut of coach Juan Carlos Garrido, who replaced the fired Pepe Mel. The Seville-based side is now winless in the last nine rounds. Pardo passed for two goals by striker Imanol Agirretxe and another from defender Jon Ansotegi. Antoine Griezmann scored his 10th goal in the league this season, leaving him third overall behind Diego Costa and Ronaldo. Xabi Prieto rounded out the victory. "Its clear this is the way we need keep playing to go forward and not relax at any moment," said the 21-year-old Pardo, who was given an ovation when substituted late. "Everyone loves being applauded and for people to scream your name, but I am staying calm. I need to keep working to please our fans and, above all, help the team." Athletic Bilbao drew 1-1 at Sevilla to remain in fourth place and the last Champions League spot, but eight points adrift of Madrid. Almeria settled for a 0-0 draw at home against Espanyol after its coach was ejected from the dugouts and Jose "Verza" Garcia missed a penalty he had to repeat in the first half. Verza missed a 23rd-minute penalty he had to repeat after Almeria teammate Oscar Diaz had entered the area during his first attempt, which he converted. Almeria coach Francisco Rodriguez was ejected during a scuffle between both teams near the dugouts in the 32nd. . - The Detroit Lions have 13 takeaways this season — three less than all of last season — and the defence isnt the only unit pleased with the performance. . -- The NFL Players Association wants to determine if the Tampa Bay Buccaneers leaked information about quarterback Josh Freeman being in the NFLs substance abuse program. http://www.baseballbravesproshop.com/da ... es-jersey/. Dalton completed his only pass and led the Bengals to a touchdown in his only drive -- one that took four minutes to finish -- and the Cincinnati Bengals ended the preseason with a 27-10 victory over the Indianapolis Colts on Thursday night. .com) - Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh called Joe Flacco the NFLs best quarterback last week. .ca/CurlingSkins - with the Top 16 curlers earning a ticket to Banff, Alta. to compete in the TRAVELERS ALL-STAR CURLING SKINS GAME Presented by Pintys, running Jan.LOS ANGELES -- A little bit of tweaking to the starting lineup by coach Mike DAntoni worked wonders for the Los Angeles Lakers, resulting in a dominant first half against the Atlanta Hawks. Then came the second half, and they ended up fighting for their lives to escape with a victory. Xavier Henry scored 18 points, Pau Gasol hit two tiebreaking free throws with 6 seconds remaining, and the Lakers beat the Hawks 105-103 on Sunday night after blowing a 21-point lead. "There was a little bit of an energy drop in the second half and a lot of missed assignments, but we picked it up and a lot of guys made some good plays," Henry said. "I dont want to say it was because we wanted it more, but you could tell. When the game was on the line, guys were like: We were already up 20. We were not going to let this one slip by." Henry started at forward for the first time as a Laker and the 19th time in 137 NBA games, while Nick Young came off the bench. DAntonis intention with the lineup change was to perk up the team at the outset, and also inject some energy into the Lakers second unit while doing likewise for the cold-shooting Young. "Were still trying to find the right combinations and rack up the wins while we do it," Henry said of the growing pains the club is going through without Kobe Bryant. "We have a lot of new guys, and a lot of guys still need to learn how to play with each other. Were trying new lineups and stuff, so were still going to be working and trying to compete." Henry, who received nine stitches in his forehead during Fridays loss to San Antonio after colliding with teammate Wesley Johnsons knee on a drive to the basket and missed all six of his shots that night, was 5 for 11 from the field against the Hawks. "Ive been playing those guys for a while, so I really didnt have to change anything," Henry said. "Basically I just had to go out there and still be aggressive and still be consistent." Gasol had 16 points and 13 rebounds, while Steve Nash had 13 points and six assists and Young finished with 13 points. Kyle Korver led Atlanta with 22 points, converting all six 3-point attempts, but his attempt at a tying 21-footer from the right baseline was blocked by Gasol as time ran out. Hawks point guard Jeff Teague had 14 points and six assists after missing his first five shots. "We cant put ourselves in that situation, to always climb uphill," Hawks forward Paul Millsap said. "We have to do a better job of starting the game off." Two nights after shooting only 37 per cent from the field and blowing a 15-ppoint lead against the Spurs despite the absence of injured centre Tim Duncan in the paint, Los Angeles shot 42.dddddddddddd7 per cent against the Hawks. And for the first time this season, all five Lakers starters connected from 3-point range while the team went 9 for 25 from behind the arc. Trailing by 12 points after three quarters, the Hawks narrowed the gap to 90-83 on a jumper by Dennis Schroder with 10:25 remaining. Chris Kaman then lost the ball out of bounds on the Lakers next possession and committed his fifth foul on an offensive charge 34 seconds later. Millsap got the last of his 14 points on an 11-footer that tied it at 103-all with 35.3 seconds left, after Korvers sixth 3-pointer made it a two-point spread. "Theres a few things they can do to get a guy like that open," Henry said of Korver. "If they want to get someone open, they can set enough screens to do that. He was running around them and finding his way." Eleven Lakers got into the scoring column as they built a 62-49 halftime lead, without anyone on the team reaching double digits. Young, who shot 6 for 22 over his first three games, made four of his first five field goal attempts -- including a 17-footer that capped a 15-2 run and gave the Lakers a 44-23 lead with 9:19 left in the second quarter. "I think we came out with the right mindset, but they just came out and hit us first," Hawks centre Al Horford said. "Coach (Mike Budenholzer) definitely challenged us in the second half, and we were much better. I think our second unit changed it early in the fourth, making plays and getting the momentum going our way." The Lakers have beaten the Hawks eight straight times at home and have won 21 of the last 24 meetings at Los Angeles dating to Feb. 2, 1990 at the Forum. Last season at Staples Center, the Lakers won 99-98 on a layup by Bryant with 9 seconds remaining after they blew a 16-point second-half lead. NOTES: Sunday was the 38th anniversary of the day the Lakers traded Pat Riley to Phoenix for two draft picks. One of the mainstays of the Lakers first NBA championship team in Los Angeles (1971-72) he went on to win four more rings as Lakers coach, another as coach of Miami, and two more as the Heats team president. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2008. ... Shawne Williams, the Lakers other starting forward, had seven points before fouling out with 5:40 remaining. ... Eight Lakers hit a 3-pointer, the third time in franchise history thats happened and second time this season -- including the season opener against the Clippers. They also did it on Feb. 2, 2013 at Minnesota. ' ' '