Print

Mail

wiki links

Barca leave it late to see off Mallorca

Sevilla's David Castedo falls over Valencia's Joaquin Rodriguez during their Spanish league soccer match in Valencia, Spain, on Sunday. Photo: AP

League leaders Barcelona left it late but ensured they stayed on top of La Liga thanks to a Fernando Navarro own goal which gave them a 1-0 win over Real Mallorca on Sunday.

"We have got three very, very important points. We had a lot of luck with the goal," conceded a relieved Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard, whose team were without an ill Ronaldinho.

The luckless Navarro saw the ball rebound off his legs barely a minute before the final whistle after Barca's Argentine striker Javier Saviola had hit the post.

Barcelona had the best of a disappointing game although Mallorca had a chance to open the scoring after 30 minutes.

Victor Valdes brought down Mallorca midfielder Jonas Gutierrez but the Barca goalkeeper, who was lucky to not get sent off, then saved the resulting penalty from Jonas.

In the second half, Saviola, Samuel Eto'o and Lionel Messi all fluffed opportunities to break the deadlock.

Barcelona have 59 points from 30 games and hold a four-point advantage over second-placed Sevilla who went down 2-0 at fourth-placed Valencia later on Sunday, with David Villa getting both goals.

Barcelona's Javier Saviola, left, celebrates the only goal of the game with teammates Samuel Eto'o, center, and Rafael Marquez during the Spanish league soccer match at the Camp Nou Stadium in Barcelona, Spain, on Sunday. PHOTO: AP

Villa danced around the Sevilla defenders to put Valencia ahead after 27 minutes.

Sevilla's Enzo Maresca had a penalty saved shortly afterwards by Valencia goalkeeper Santiago Canizares but Villa himself made no mistake from the spot five minutes after the break, after being tripped by Andreas Hinkel, who was sent off.

Former Barcelona player Hristo Stoichkov guided struggling Celta Vigo to a 1-0 victory over bitter local rivals Deportivo La Coruna on Sunday.

Stoichkov, who won four league titles at Barcelona as well as the 1992 European Cup, was making his debut as the Celta coach after resigning as the Bulgarian national coach on Tuesday.

Brazilian striker Fernando Baiano got Stoichkov off to a winning start by scoring from the edge of the six yard box, deflecting home a shot by his Uruguayan team-mate Nestor Canobbio.

"The victory doesn't guarantee anything but I couldn't have asked anything more. They got stuck in, fought and showed a winner's mentality," a happy Stoichkov said.

It was only Celta's second home win this season but helped them to edge out of the relegation zone.

Athletic Bilbao's chances of avoiding relegation improved with a 2-1 win over Espanyol.

The visitors took the lead with an amazing goal after five minutes from Jonatas.

Noticing that Athletic goalkeeper Daniel Aranzubia was standing close to the edge of his area, the Brazilian midfielder cleverly found the net from nearly half the length of the field.

However, Athletic got three points thanks to former Spanish international striker Ismael Urzaiz, both of whose second half goals were headed home from free kicks.

Athletic, along with Barcelona and Real Madrid, have been ever-present in the Spanish first division since its formation in 1928.

Levante slipped into the bottom three after going down 1-0 at Atletico Madrid with Fernando Torres getting the only goal of the game on the hour.

Fifth-placed Real Zaragoza crashed 1-0 at bottom club Gimnastic Tarragona with Javier Portillo heading Nastic in front nine minutes before the end.
This story has been viewed 1641 times.