Messi beats Ronaldo to award

A solid performance over two key matches has seen Lionel Messi edge Cristiano Ronaldo to take player of the week honours in the Associated Press Global Football 10.

Both players scored five goals in two games last week, for Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively, but Messi received the most votes from the voting panel.

He scored a hat trick in the 5-1 win at Rayo Vallecano and followed it up with a double in the 4-0 rout of Eibar for the Spanish league leaders.

Ronaldo netted once in Madrid's 3-1 victory at Levante midweek, and then hit four in the 7-1 thrashing of Celta Vigo on Saturday.

"It was a toss of the coin between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, but Messi gets the nod with his overall performance over two matches," Marco Monteverde of News Corp. Australia said.

Riyad Mahrez took third place after scoring the winner in Leicester's 1-0 victory at Watford on Saturday, which put his team five points clear atop the English Premier League.