Sunday, January 8, 2006

Barcelona beats Espanyol in their 11th win in a row

Goals from Deco and Samuel Eto'o gave FC Barcelona their 11th consecutive victory in the Spanish League as they got a 2-1 victory at city rivals Espanyol in La Liga on Saturday.

The visitors almost went ahead in the 20th minute. Then, Lionel Messi picked out fellow Argentinian Juliano Belletti with a superb through pass but the full-back was denied by a fine save from Carlos Kameni.

Deco scored the first strike for the blaugranas. Then he was taken to the hospital after a 58th-minute collision of heads with his teammate Thiago Motta that caused him to briefly lose consciousness. The Portuguese midfielder was just suffering from a slight concussion.

In other match, Deportivo la Coruña defeated Athletic Bilbao, 2-1, and reached the third place.

FC Barcelona made 43 points, and Osasuna, which was to face Racing Santander on Sunday, has 38. Deportivo is tied for third with Valencia, which was to visit Atletico Madrid on Sunday. Both squads have 32 points and identical goal differences.

Barcelona's record says tht they dind't lose since Sept. 18, 2005 when Atletico Madrid beated them.

The Catalan squad, which has lost only once in its 18 league games this season, comfirmed its lead in the 47th minute when Samuel Eto'o took full advantage of Ronaldinho Gaucho's pass by steering the ball past Kameni.

When the clock showed the 60th minute, the rivals halved the lead when Raul Tamudo controlled Fredson's crossfield ball and lifted it over advancing goalkeeper Victor Valdés.