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The Cameroon striker, who could miss the next six weeks after being selected by his country for the Africa Cup of Nations, was on hand to tap in twice from close range late in the game and help his club close to within four points of Liga leaders Real Madrid.

Barca thought they had a job on their hands with eight players - including mercurial forwards Ronaldinho and Lionel Messi - unavailable for one reason or another.

But a patched up side that featured fringe players like Sylvinho and Lilian Thuram, still managed to rip through the heart of a spirited Murcia side.

It took just five minutes for Eto'o to register his side's first good chance, forcing Murcia goalkeeper Notario into action quickly to block his shot.

The home side did take the lead after 26 minutes when Gianluca Zambrotta found himself wide on the right and delivered a pinpoint cross for ex-Chelsea hitman Eidur Gudjohnsen to prod home with his left foot.

It was Gudjohnsen's second Liga goal of the season and his third in all competitions.

Barca should have had chances to be two, three or even four goals to the good, but had Thierry Henry, Eto'o and Xavi all pulled up for offside by clueless linesman Juan José Gallego Galindo.

So inept was Gallego Galindo, that he even missed the crunch point of the first half, when Notario caught the ball outside his own penalty area after defender Alvaro Mejia had headed back to him.

If Barca were worried about not having the rub of the green in the opening period, they need not have been.

A wonderful second-half performance from Henry, that evoked memories of his Arsenal days, saw him cross for 17-year-old Bojan Krkic to finish from close range ten minutes after the break.

And the French striker then set up Eto'o for his first with 15 minutes to go, crossing for him to finish with a carbon copy of Bojan's strike.

It was substitute Giovani dos Santos - who replaced Bojan - who set up Eto'o's final goal, muscling full-back Pena out of the way before the Cameroon striker finished with an ugly, but no less effective, sixth goal of the campaign.

Barca will be relying on the form of Henry, Bojan and Gudjohnsen in Eto'o's impending absence, but judging by this performance, they ought to be fine.

Murcia's heaviest defeat of the season dropped them a place to tenth, but could amazingly be just a point outside the relegation zone by the end of the weekend, such is the closeness of the teams in the bottom half.

Athletic Bilbao 2-0 Sevilla

The reason for Murcia's position change was down to Athletic Bilbao claiming only their second home victory of the season against last season's near champions Sevilla.

Francisco Yeste gave Los Leones the lead on 29 minutes as the midfielder latched onto David Lopez' superb through-ball and smashed the ball first-time beyond Morgan de Sanctis in the opposition goal.

Sevilla were reduced to ten men early in the second half. Just minutes after Artiz Aduriz had fouled Julien Escude, the French defender made a revenge tackle with his elbow and recieved a straight red for his his troubles.

Markel Susaeta - the 20-year-old striker of whom big things are expected by the Basque club - wrapped up the result with his fourth goal of the season with 22 minutes to go.

Sevilla stay eighth after what was their first defeat in ten games.

Jamie O'Leary / Eurosport