La Liga - Round-up: Barcelona march on

Eurosport - Mon, 09 Feb 07:22:00 2009

La Liga top scorer Samuel Eto'o netted twice as Barcelona beat Sporting Gijon 3-1 at the Camp Nou to restore their 12-point advantage at the top of the table.

FOOTBALL Samuel Eto'o - 0

Champions Real Madrid had trimmed Barca's lead to nine with Saturday's 1-0 home win over Racing Santander but the Cameroon international's 20th and 21st strikes of the season and a Daniel Alves goal lifted them to 59 points from 22 matches.

Andres Iniesta sprinted out of defence to help set up the opener on 24 minutes. The Spain international found Thierry Henry in space on the left and Eto'o turned his precise centre into the net past goalkeeper Inaki Lafuente.

The home side were 2-0 ahead before the break when Lionel Messi cut in from the right wing and threaded a pass through to Eto'o who turned defender Gerard Autet and rifled home.

Alves burst into the area and smashed in from an acute angle with just over an hour gone before Sporting midfielder Kike Mateo pulled one back two minutes later with a smart strike from the edge of the area.

Barca coach Pep Guardiola said he was impressed with his players' ability to dominate possession and swiftly turn defence into attack and paid tribute to the two goal scorers.

"Alves never tires and is an extraordinary player and Eto'o helps us a great deal with his goals and his sacrifice," he said.

Getafe 1-1 Espanyol

Struggling Espanyol grabbed a vital point when they held out for 25 minutes with 10 men after Marc Torrejon's dismissal but the Barcelona-based club remain in the relegation zone in 18th.

Both goalkeepers were at fault for the goals, Getafe's Jacobo Sanz scuffing an attempted clearance to let in Ivan Alonso in the seventh minute before Roberto Soldado pounced just before the half hour after Christian Alvarez failed to hold the ball.

Malaga 3-2 Almeria

Malaga moved up one place to seventh after fighting back from two goals down with striker Salva Ballesta scoring twice in the second half.

Headers from Kalu Uche and Alvaro Negredo put Hugo Sanchez's side 2-0 up at the break but Albert Luque pulled one back immediately after the restart and Ballesta struck twice before Almeria defender Mane was sent off near the end.

Real Mallorca 1-1 Deportivo La Coruna

Mallorca looked to be on course for a rare victory after Aritz Aduriz outjumped two Depor defenders on 55 minutes to head in a looping cross from Enrique Corrales.

They almost doubled their lead when David Navarro hit the crossbar but Joan Verdu equalised from the penalty spot with just over 10 minutes left to leave Mallorca stuck in the relegation zone. Corrales was shown a second yellow card with just over five minutes left.

Real Valladoid 2-1 Athletic Bibao

Valladolid upset Athletic's fine recent run to move above them into ninth thanks to two goals from Victor.

The striker netted from the penalty spot in the 38th minute and doubled his tally midway through the second half before Pablo Orbaiz scrambled in the rebound after Fernando Llorente smashed a penalty against the post.

Recreativo Huelva 0-3 Recreativo Huelva

Sergio Aguero was in superb form to score one and create two for strike partner Diego Forlan as Abel Resino enjoyed a winning start following his appointment as coach to replace sacked Javier Aguirre last week.

Aguero timed his run perfectly in the fourth minute to nod Florent Sinama Pongolle's cross from the right past Asier Riesgo and sliderule passes from the Argentine international then twice set up Forlan to open up a 3-0 lead at the break.

Villarreal 2-1 Numancia

Villarreal stay in fifth on 37 points after Italian striker Giuseppe Rossi netted twice to give the home side only their third win in 12 league matches.

Rossi opened the scoring after a quarter of an hour when he fired into the net from close range before Carlos Reina Aranda equalised from the penalty spot on 39 minutes. Rossi grabbed the winner on 67 minutes with a low shot.

Reuters

Comment 4 - 23 of 23

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  1. hands down ... barça owns them all this year

    From mjrf, on Mon 9 Feb 9:07PM

  2. amen

    From Varnavas P, on Mon 9 Feb 5:56PM

  3. to summed up, Barca already scored more than 100 goals­ in all competitive games this season..! n it still­ early Feb..!

    From carlamms, on Mon 9 Feb 5:42PM

  4. stonegold546 & zele z..!
    u talked too much like u­ know everything about Barca but yet u just shown your­ stupidity to the lots here..!
    1st thing 1st, which­ team in europe had the best home & away record,­ best attack & defense & top scorer..? Barca..!­ yes Barca..! just 22 games played yet scored 68, none­ of top team in europe even closed! so called Europe­ champ - man u 24 played but just 41 scored, inter 23 to­ 40 goals, hoffenheim 19 to 45 goals (even better than­ any BPL teams).. well let see.. man u top scorer &­ winner of lots of award last year CR7 scored 11­ compared to 21 Eto'o..! n u stonegold546 not even­ dare to mentioned which english team u support..! btw­ spain is the champ of euro2008 but i hardly saw­ england.. oh ya! they not even qualified..!!
    enough­ said..!

    From carlamms, on Mon 9 Feb 5:18PM

  5. La Liga is now a two-horse-race, where one of the­ horses fell in the pre-winter, but now back to full­ speed.
    All the others are spectators.
    I'll agree­ to many here, that a Barca - ManU will be the game to­ watch this year.

    From gyulabiusz, on Mon 9 Feb 1:58PM

  6. champion league final..

    manutd vs barca..

    god pliz­ make this happen...!!!

    From WldShortie9605, on Mon 9 Feb 8:53AM

  7. manu-sooo lucky last year when barca were in their low,­ how bout we meet again this season, if u ever get­ through inter, r u scared!?

    From Todor T, on Mon 9 Feb 8:38AM

  8. hahaaa, Eto'o - 21 goals in 21 games, last season­ CR - 31 goals in 34 games. Next year golden ball -­ messi, golden boot - eto'o! mes que un club!

    From Todor T, on Mon 9 Feb 8:36AM

  9. i guess the barca fanz is still hurt when united dump­ them out of the champion league last­ season...haha..

    may the best team win this season­ champion league...lets wait and see..

    From WldShortie9605, on Mon 9 Feb 8:31AM

  10. "Recreativo Huelva 0-3 Recreativo­ Huelva"
    ...the way to earn 3 points easy.

    From doomster, on Mon 9 Feb 7:15AM

  11. La liga is place where top teams dont need ref on pay­ rolls, Barca win last week with penalty against them­ and 2 players sent off. Can Man U win without ref help­ with divers fakin and cheatin and ref helpin them out­ with sendin opposition off like penalty against­ everton.

    From akader_78, on Mon 9 Feb 6:26AM

  12. Hey, I'm an open minded girl from the US, I'm-­ interested in photography, dating and- sports...I have­ my photos on --- Wealthy Mingle c om ---, I- love hot­ sporty guys!
    Do you love traveling and have some-­ experience? Just find me out.

    From vickisadas2d, on Mon 9 Feb 5:33AM

  13. Yes, zele z. Man u is, but just last year
    How many euro­ titles or world titles do man u hold?

    From Sam, on Mon 9 Feb 4:10AM

  14. yet Man Utd is still the champion of england,europe,and­ the world..

    does that means something...??

    From WldShortie9605, on Mon 9 Feb 4:05AM

  15. don't compare epl and la liga. la liga is much­ greater
    man u vs villareal...both matches ended­ draw
    atletico vs liverpool..both matches also­ drawed

    barca even beat trashed atletico 6-1, and­ villareal 2-1

    should i say the conclusion..??

    From puppeteer, on Mon 9 Feb 2:42AM

  16. viva barca

    From Segun, on Mon 9 Feb 2:17AM

  17. more stoned gold !!!

    From robwil292, on Mon 9 Feb 2:15AM

  18. stonegold546 Are u DRUNK? U have no idea what u­ chatting about. BARCA is the GREATEST

    From roseatah, on Mon 9 Feb 2:00AM

  19. as an english football fan, i have watched la liga­ since it was broadcast on sky. depends on what u like­ to watch, personally iam more of football purist, so­ would say la liga is a better standard of football.­ take games this weekend! apart from 2nd half ports v­ liverpool the rest wasnt vry good !!! barca awesome,­ week in week out, u can bet on them 3 to 5 goals every­ weekend, where r u going to find that sort of­ entertainment in prem league! manu 1 nil again !! and­ their the most flair team in our league. most teams in­ la liga play an open attacking game, this is due to­ fans !! and their culture, they want 2 b entertained by­ attacking skillful football, this attracts the better­ players to their league. sorry i will never pay the­ wages of joe average players in prem league english and­ foreign cause they can run 100m in 10 seconds or how­ much they can run round a pitch, some players do this­ for 100k a week !! wheres the gazzas,waddles and jonny­ barnes, get u off ur seat !! messi would have a field­ day in our league !!!!

    From robwil292, on Mon 9 Feb 1:40AM

  20. This guy must be a big clown, hw many la liga matches­ hav u watched by the way? Its only in la liga that­ bottom teams giv the guys on the topa big sacre and run­ for their money,Barca are local champions and yet they­ reach atleast d semis in the CL,ur comment shows that u­ are one of those blind but zealously patriotic enlish­ fans who see nothing good in any other league except­ their money spinning premiership.
    wait till spain­ finishes with u and ur bunch of over-inflated ballons­ on wednesday,i hope u will be here.

    From collinsc, on Mon 9 Feb 12:42AM
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