ACTUALITE |
24.02.2008
SPA: Eto`o scores three to beat Levante
The Canadian Press
MADRID, Spain - Samuel Eto`o scored three goals Sunday to help FC Barcelona easily beat Levante 5-1 in the Spanish league and increase the pressure on leader Real Madrid.
Lionel Messi and Xavi Hernandez also scored for Barcelona, which has 54 points in second place. Madrid hosts Getafe later Sunday.
Xavi half-volleyed in a loose ball to give Barcelona the lead in the 14th minute, but Mustapha Riga equalized with a penalty in the 41st.
Messi then beat Levante goalkeeper Vladan Kujovic at the near post three minutes later.
Eto`o ran onto Messi`s pass in the 56th before rounding Kujovic to score his first goal with his left foot. The Cameroon striker added another into an open goal six minutes later, and then knocked in a third off substitute Bojan Krkic`s centring pass in the 87th for his eighth league goal.
Earlier, Joan Capdevila scored in the 83rd minute to lead Villarreal over Athletic Bilbao 2-1 and strengthen its bid for a place in next season`s Champions League.
Guillermo Franco equalized in the 65th after Fernando Llorente had given Athletic a fourth-minute lead by poking in Markel Susaeta`s cross.
Villarreal is third in the league with 46 points. Atletico Madrid, which lost to Osasuna 3-1, has 41 points.
Also Sunday, it was: Deportivo La Coruna 2, Espanyol 0; Racing Santander 1, Almeria 0; Murcia 0, Valladolid 1; and Mallorca 1, Real Betis 1.
Barcelona`s "Fantastic Four" lineup failed to debut at the Camp Nou, with striker Thierry Henry watching from the stands.
Ronaldinho started for the second straight game after the Brazil play maker`s impressive performance in a 3-2 Champions League win at Celtic.
Xavi jumped on a loose ball for his fifth league goal after Andres Iniesta had tried to find Eto`o inside the area. Two minutes later, Ronaldinho was alone in front of goal to receive Eto`o`s centring pass but shot over.
Levante`s Juan Manuel Gomez beat Victor Valdes with low roller in the 27th, but the ball bounced off the inside of the far post and along the line.
Ginaluca Zambrotta`s handball inside the area in the 40th allowed Levante to level before Messi exchanged passes with Xavi on the edge of the area to set up his ninth league goal and first since Nov. 24.
Enrique Sola, Carlos Vela and Hector Font took advantage of Atletico`s poor defending to score in Osasuna`s win.
Diego Forlan scored in the 26th for Atletico from 15 meters (yards) outside the area.
Mohammed Tchite scored in the 61st to give seventh-place Racing 39 points. It was the first goal conceded by Almeria goalkeeper Diego Alves in 677 minutes. Almeria finished with nine players.
First-half goals from Fabricio Coloccini and Angel Lafita were enough to see 18th-place Deportivo defeat Espanyol. Both teams have 27 points.
Joseba Llorente sidefooted in Jonathan Sesma`s flick-on in the 42nd for his 12th goal of the season for Valladolid.
Borja Varela gave Mallorca the lead in the 56th, but Edu Schmidt drew Betis even in the 70th with his sixth goal from a header. Betis is one of six teams with 29 points.
On Saturday, Sevilla routed Zaragoza 5-0 and Recreativo Huelva drew 1-1 at Valencia.
http://www.tsn.ca/soccer/news_story/?ID=230478&hubname=soccer
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