First-half hat trick for Lewandowski as Barcelona top ahead of international break

MADRID (AP) — Robert Lewandowski continued his impressive start to the season on Sunday, scoring a hat trick in a 25-minute span as Barcelona beat Alaves 3-0 and went into the international break top of the Spanish league.

Lewandowski scored in the seventh, 22nd and 32nd minutes to take his league tally to 10 goals in nine matches. He has a total of 12 goals in 11 games in all competitions, and has scored eight times in his last five matches.

The Poland striker was coming off a brace in Barcelona's 5-0 rout of Young Boys in the Champions League on Tuesday.

“We played a very good match from the first minute,” Lewandowski said. “When you score three goals in the first half, it gives you the ability to be a lot more in control in the second.”

The victory moved Barcelona three points back in front of second-place Real Madrid ahead of the international break. Madrid had drawn even on points with the Catalan club with a 2-0 win over fourth-place Villarreal on Saturday.

Barcelona was coming off its first league loss of the season — a 4-2 defeat against Osasuna. It had previously won its first seven matches in the competition.

Lewandowski scored with close-range strikes after a pair of assists by Raphinha and another from Eric Garcia.

It was the third loss in a row for Alaves, which had no attempts on goal in the first half.

Barcelona lost forward Ferran Torres with an apparent muscle injury five minutes into the match.

Atletico Madrid moved to third place with a 1-1 draw at Real Sociedad.

Julián Alvarez scored from inside the area after a backheel pass by Antoine Griezmann one minute into the match. Sociedad equalized with a left-footed curler into the top corner by Luka Sucic in the 84th.

The result put Atletico level on points with Villarreal. Diego Simeone's team is ahead on goal difference.

Atletico was coming off a 4-0 loss at Benfica in the Champions League, its joint-biggest defeat in the competition..

Sociedad, winless in two matches, was in 15th place.

Girona ended a six-match winless streak in all competitions with a 2-1 victory at home against Athletic Bilbao, with Cristhian Stuani scoring the winner by converting a penalty kick nine minutes into second-half stoppage time.

Before that, the match had been marked by three penalty saves by Girona goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga — one in the first half and two in the second after a video review required the last penalty to be retaken.

It was Athletic's first loss in six matches in all competitions.

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Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski celebrates after scoring his side's 3rd goal against Alavez during a Spanish La Liga soccer match at the Mendizorroza stadium in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Miguel Oses)

Barcelona's Raphinha, left, controls a ball challenged by Alaves' Abdel Abqar during a Spanish La Liga soccer match at the Mendizorroza stadium in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Miguel Oses)

Barcelona's Pedri reacts after missing a chance to score a goal against Alaves during a Spanish La Liga soccer match at the Mendizorroza stadium in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Miguel Oses)

Alaves' head coach Luis Garcia Plaza gestures during a Spanish La Liga soccer match against Barcelona at the Mendizorroza stadium in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Miguel Oses)

Alaves' Moussa Diarra, right, and Barcelona's Pedri battle for the ball during a Spanish La Liga soccer match at the Mendizorroza stadium in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Miguel Oses)

Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski, right, and Alaves' Abdel Abqar battle for the ball during a Spanish La Liga soccer match at the Mendizorroza stadium in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Miguel Oses)

Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski, back, scores his side's 3rd goal against Alaves during a Spanish La Liga soccer match at the Mendizorroza stadium in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Miguel Oses)

Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski, left back, celebrates after scoring his side's 2nd goal against Alaves during a Spanish La Liga soccer match at the Mendizorroza stadium in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Miguel Oses)

Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski, center, celebrates after scoring his side's 2nd goal against Alaves during a Spanish La Liga soccer match at the Mendizorroza stadium in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Miguel Oses)

Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski, center, celebrates after scoring the opening goal against Alaves during a Spanish La Liga soccer match at the Mendizorroza stadium in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain, Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Miguel Oses)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Two U.S. Navy pilots were shot down Sunday over the Red Sea in an apparent “friendly fire” incident, the U.S military said, marking the most serious incident to threaten troops in over a year of America targeting Yemen's Houthi rebels.

Both pilots were recovered alive after ejecting from their stricken aircraft, with one suffering minor injuries. But the shootdown underlines just how dangerous the Red Sea corridor has become over the ongoing attacks on shipping by the Iranian-backed Houthis despite U.S. and European military coalitions patrolling the area.

The U.S. military had conducted airstrikes targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels at the time, though the U.S. military’s Central Command did not elaborate on what their mission was and did not immediately respond to questions from The Associated Press.

The F/A-18 shot down had just flown off the deck of the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier, Central Command said. On Dec. 15, Central Command acknowledged the Truman had entered the Mideast, but hadn't specified that the carrier and its battle group was in the Red Sea.

“The guided missile cruiser USS Gettysburg, which is part of the USS Harry S. Truman Carrier Strike Group, mistakenly fired on and hit the F/A-18,” Central Command said in a statement.

From the military's description, the aircraft shot down was a two-seat F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet assigned to the “Red Rippers” of Strike Fighter Squadron 11 out of Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia.

It wasn't immediately clear how the Gettysburg could mistake an F/A-18 for an enemy aircraft or missile, particularly as ships in a battle group remain linked by both radar and radio communication.

However, Central Command said that warships and aircraft earlier shot down multiple Houthi drones and an anti-ship cruise missile launched by the rebels. Incoming hostile fire from the Houthis has given sailors just seconds to make decisions in the past.

Since the Truman's arrival, the U.S. has stepped up its airstrikes targeting the Houthis and their missile fire into the Red Sea and the surrounding area. However, the presence of an American warship group may spark renewed attacks from the rebels, like what the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower saw earlier this year. That deployment marked what the Navy described as its most intense combat since World War II.

On Saturday night and early Sunday, U.S. warplanes conducted airstrikes that shook Sanaa, the capital of Yemen that the Houthis have held since 2014. Central Command described the strikes as targeting a “missile storage facility” and a “command-and-control facility,” without elaborating.

Houthi-controlled media reported strikes in both Sanaa and around the port city of Hodeida, without offering any casualty or damage information. In Sanaa, strikes appeared particularly targeted at a mountainside known to be home to military installations. The Houthis later acknowledged the aircraft being shot down in the Red Sea.

The Houthis have targeted about 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones since the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip started in October 2023 after Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw 250 others taken hostage.

Israel’s grinding offensive in Gaza has killed more than 45,000 Palestinians, local health officials say. The tally doesn’t distinguish between combatants and civilians.

The Houthis have seized one vessel and sunk two in a campaign that has also killed four sailors. Other missiles and drones have either been intercepted by separate U.S.- and European-led coalitions in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets, which have also included Western military vessels.

The rebels maintain that they target ships linked to Israel, the U.S. or the United Kingdom to force an end to Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran.

The Houthis also have increasingly targeted Israel itself with drones and missiles, resulting in retaliatory Israeli airstrikes.

The Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg (CG 64) steams in the Mediterranean Sea, Dec. 15, 2025. (Kaitlin Young/U.S. Navy via AP)

FILE - Aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman is moored near Split, Croatia, Feb. 14, 2022. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic, File)

FILE - A fighter jet maneuvers on the deck of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Red Sea, June 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue, File)