Cameroon international Samuel Eto’o produced a world-class finish to fire Barcelona to a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao on Sunday as Pep Guardiola’s side closed to within three points of leaders Valencia.
After demolishing Atletico Madrid 6-1 last time out Barca were hungry for more, but the goals weren’t as forthcoming and it was left to Eto’o to provide the breakthrough on 63 minutes with his sixth goal of the campaign.
The 27-year-old controlled a lofted ball majestically before unleashing an unstoppable left-footed volley worthy to win any match. Barcelona’s next test is a Champions League trip to FC Basel tomorrow.
PHOTO: AP
“I am really happy. You cannot afford to relax on this ground at 1-0 because they always launch balls into the area and even at 2-0 you are not safe,” Guardiola said.
Lionel Messi and Xavi were given a rest as Guardiola showed he is not afraid of making big decisions.
“If we had lost people would have said that we are dependent on Xavi and Messi, but it is not like that. We are a squad,” Guardiola said.
Valencia lead the standings after maintaining their flawless home record with a 4-0 thrashing of Numancia. Last season, Valencia were a soft touch at their Mestalla stadium losing nine times, but the 2004 champions have made it a fortress once again with four home wins from four in the league.
Sevilla are second, two points behind the tabletoppers, after defeating Almeria 1-0 late on Sunday.
While former coach Juande Ramos struggles at Tottenham Hostpur, his successor Manolo Jimenez is enjoyng a good run and Adriano’s 52nd minute goal powered his side up to second. A solid defense has been the secret to Sevilla’s success and goalkeeper Andres Palop has kept seven consecutive clean sheets.
Valencia have also looked assured at the back and have David Villa, who scored the winner in Spain’s 2010 World Cup qualifying win over Belgium in midweek, firing in the goals. The Spanish international netted the opener on four minutes and the final goal of the game on 89 minutes — his eighth goal of the campaign — to complete the 4-0 rout of Numancia.
Villarreal, also unbeaten, sit two points behind Valencia in third, with the two powerhouses of Spanish soccer, Barca and Real Madrid, fourth and fifth on 16 points.
Real Betis finally got their first win of the season climbing out of the bottom three with a 3-0 triumph over Real Mallorca.
That means Osasuna are the only team yet to win and new coach Jose Antonio Camacho had a difficult start losing 2-1 at promoted Sporting Gijon.
At 1-1 the game could have gone either way, but Osasuna had Roversio Rodrigues sent off for bringing down Mate Bilic in the penalty area. Bilic converted the penalty and Osasuna drop into the relegation zone.
Spanish La Liga
Team P GD PTS
1 Valencia 7 13 19
2 Sevilla 7 9 17
3 Villareal 7 6 17
4 Barcelona 7 12 16
5 Real Madrid 7 10 16
6 Almeria 7 1 11
7 Malaga 7 -1 10
8 Atletico Madrid 7 1 9
9 Getafe 7 0 9
10 Espanyol 7 -1 9
11 Deportivo La Coruna 7 -1 9
12 Mallorca 7 -5 8
13 Valladolid 7 -2 7
14 Racing Santander 7 -4 6
15 Sporting Gijon 7 -11 6
16 Real Betis 7 -1 5
17 Athletic Bilbao 7 -6 5
18 Recreativo Huelva 7 -9 5
19 Osasuna 7 -3 4
20 Numancia 7 -8 4
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
RSS