Gudjohnsen pair puts Barcelona top

(Soccer365)
Updated: 2006-11-20 09:10

A goal in each half from Eidur Gudjohnsen and late strikes from Andres Iniesta and Santi Ezquerro gave Barcelona a deserved 4-1 victory at Mallorca on Sunday and moved the Catalan side back to the top of the Primera Liga.


Barcelona's Eidur Gudjohnsen (2ndL) celebrates his goal against Real Mallorca with his team mates Deco (L), Ronaldinho (2nd R) and Andres Iniesta during their Spanish first division soccer match at Ono Stadium in Palma de Mallorca November 19, 2006.Barcelona won the match 4-1. [Reuters]

The Iceland striker promised goals in the build-up to the match and did not disappoint as Frank Rijkaard's side regained the leadership with their eighth win of the season.

Real Zaragoza bounced back from their Nou Camp disappointment to record an important 3-0 victory against Gimnastic on Sunday and keep pace with La Liga's pace-setters.

The home side came within five minutes of holding Barcelona to a 1-1 draw in Catalonia last weekend only to succumb to the brilliance of Ronaldinho in the closing stages.

But they put that disappointment firmly behind them to see off Primera Liga newcomers Gimnastic, who competed well in the first half before succumbing to second-half goals from Pablo Aimar, Gonzalez Oscar and Gerard Pique.

Two second-half goals from Maniche saw Atletico Madrid seal a comfortable 3-0 victory over hosts Levante.

Levante were competitive for much of the first half but fell behind to a penalty goal, converted by Fernando Torres.

In the second-half Atletico turned the screw and, already boosted by the sending off of Levante's Martin Cesar, the strikes from Maniche secured an emphatic win for the visitors.

Two wins in two matches now means Atletico are back in the top six and within striking distance of the leaders.

Celta Vigo won Sunday night's Galician derby courtesy of Anderson Nene's second-half goal at Deportivo La Coruna. Depor also had Alberto Lopo sent off late on.

Javi Guerrero and Ikechukwu Uche scored as Recreativo Huelva produced a dominant performance to send free-falling Osasuna into the relegation zone.

Guerrero struck in first half stoppage time and Uche sealed the win in the closing stages as Recreativo moved up to sixth and extended their unbeaten run to three games following back-to-back wins.

Villarreal continued their belated march up the table with a narrow win over fellow European hopefuls Getafe thanks to a second-half Rodolfo Arruabarrena goal.

Last season's Champions League semi-finalists had begun the season slowly, but have found some form in recent weeks to move them up the Primera Liga table.

They have lost only once since September 24 - last week's 3-1 reverse at Atletico Madrid - and were marginally the better side against Getafe in a game they could have won by a greater margin but for some poor finishing late on.

Espanyol ended a run of six league draws with a last-gasp 3-2 victory over Athletic Bilbao at the Montjuic.

Captain Raul Tamudo, with two goals, and Uruguayan Walter Pandiani were the heroes for the Barcelona-based side, who stole the three points at the death in an entertaining contest.

Tamudo's two goals, after Fran Yeste's penalty had put Bilbao in front, gave Espanyol the lead but then Aritz Aduriz looked to have snatched a draw for the Basques, until Pandiani's late intervention.

The clash of two of La Liga's biggest strugglers, Real Sociedad and Real Betis, ended in a predictably poor goalless draw in what must have been one of the worst games witnessed in Spain this season.

Sevilla had gone to the top of the table for 24 hours after maintaining their 100% home record with an emphatic 3-0 win over 10-man Valencia on Saturday.

Quique Sanchez Flores, fielding a makeshift side due to a glut of injuries, saw his side's chances of taking anything away from the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan all but disappear within the opening 20 minutes.

David Silva's 18th-minute red card left the visitors with an uphill task and, when Julien Escude fired home the opener in the 19th, the writing was on the wall.

Luis Fabiano (55) and Frederic Kanoute (71) made absolutely sure of the result after the break for Sevilla, who have now won eight out of eight at home in La Liga.

Real Madrid paid tribute to departed club legend Ferenc Puskas with a match-winning display in Saturday's other game, ending stubborn Racing Santander's seven-match unbeaten run with a 3-1 victory.

Goals from Sergio Ramos, Jose Antonio Reyes and Mahamadou Diarra put Real on their way to a seventh league win, with Ezequiel Garay's spectacular reply for Racing little more than a consolation.



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