Samuel Eto’o scored twice as leaders Barcelona came from two goals down to preserve their 22-match unbeaten league run with a 2-2 draw at Real Betis on Saturday.
Juan Melli and former Liverpool man Mark Gonzalez put Betis into a 2-0 lead after just 25 minutes as Barcelona looked set for their first defeat since the opening day of the season.
Eto’o pulled a goal back close to halftime and then equalized six minutes from the end for his 23rd goal of the season, but Barcelona’s run of 10 straight league wins still came to an end.
PHOTO: AP
“A point isn’t bad and I can’t fault the players for their effort,” Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola said. “We dominated the game and had lots of chances to win it, but Betis are a good side and they defended well. After so many consecutive victories it is normal that we eventually slip up and it happened here [in Seville].”
Barcelona had a number of stars in action on international duty during the week and Guardiola rested forwards Lionel Messi and Thierry Henry, while captain Carles Puyol was missing through injury.
Barcelona had a nightmare start with Betis scoring twice inside seven minutes.
Melli found the target on 18 minutes with a fine header, before Gonzalez struck for the hosts on 25 minutes after the visitors failed to deal with Sergio Garcia’s cross.
Trailing 2-0 Barcelona got a break seconds before the break when Andres Iniesta used his quick feet to win a penalty, although contact was minimal.
Eto’o stepped up and his weak spot-kick was saved by Ricardo, but the ball fell back into his path and he reacted sharply to prod home the rebound. Barcelona’s unbeaten league run — stretching back to the opening day of the season — was under threat.
Betis, who won at rivals Sevilla for the first time in 13 years last weekend, thought they had made it 3-1, but a 48th-minute strike was ruled out for offside.
A minute later Eto’o should have equalized. The Cameroon forward lost his marker with a great turn, but shot wide with the whole goal to aim at.
Eto’o made amends late on though with the leveler to salvage a point.
Elsewhere, Deportivo La Coruna and Osasuna played out a scoreless draw at the Riazor Stadium.
Valencia, beaten by Osasuna last weekend, climbed to third above Sevilla on goal difference following a 1-1 draw with Malaga at the Mestalla Stadium.
David Villa put the hosts ahead after 53 minutes. Villa made history on Wednesday by becoming the first Spanish player to score in six successive internationals following his goal in Spain’s 2-0 friendly victory over England and he produced another masterclass finish, curling the ball into the top corner.
Malaga equalized six minutes later when Raul Albiol put a cross into his own goal.
Jonas Vingegaard on Tuesday claimed the overall Vuelta a Espana lead while Jay Vine earned the stage 10 victory for his second triumph of the race. Two-time Tour de France winner Vingegaard overhauled Torstein Traen’s lead to head the general classification by 26 seconds from the Norwegian, with Joao Almeida third and trailing the Dane by 38 seconds. Vine put in an unmatchable performance on the final climb to finish ahead of Spanish Movistar riders Pablo Castrillo and Javier Romo. “Back in red, I’m happy with it, it’s a beautiful jersey,” Vingegaard said. “I’m happy with how the day went,
Australian Alex de Minaur reached the second week of the US Open for the third year in a row with little fanfare on Saturday and said he intended to keep winning until the tournament organizers were forced to give him better billing. Despite being the eighth seed and a quarter-finalist last year at Flushing Meadows, De Minaur’s third-round match against German Daniel Altmaier was scheduled for Court 17 — the smallest of the four stadium venues in the precinct. “It is a little bit of a headscratcher for me. I’m not gonna lie,” he told reporters after progressing 6-7 (9/7), 6-3, 6-4,
RIVALRY: Carlos Alcaraz lost his previous two matches against Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, in the Australian Open quarter-finals this year and Paris Olympics final last year Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz on Tuesday dazzled at the US Open to make the semi-finals before Novak Djokovic of Serbia danced his way through to book a New York showdown with the Spaniard that would mark the latest chapter in their generational rivalry. Former champion Alcaraz produced yet another entertaining display at Flushing Meadows to dismantle 20th seed Jiri Lehecka 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 at a sunbathed Arthur Ashe Stadium, securing his place in the last four without dropping a set this year. “Sometimes I play a shot that I should not play in that moment, but it’s the way I love
Spain are in danger of not getting out of EuroBasket Group C after losing 67-63 to Italy on Tuesday, but the defending champions still control their destiny. Marco Spissu put Italy in front for good at 64-63 with two free throws with 31 seconds left and made two more with 14 seconds remaining. Giampaolo Ricci converted one of two free throws with eight seconds on the clock. Spain, which in 2022 won their fourth title, are tied with Georgia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina at 2-2 each. Greece and Italy have clinched two of the group’s four spots in the round-of-16,
RSS