Madrid, Dec 18: FC Barcelo enjoyed an easy 4-0 win at home against Deportivo la Coru to stretch their lead at the top of the La Liga football championship to six points over second placed Atletico Madrid, eight over Valencia and 11 over Real Madrid.
Barcelo led 2-0 at halftime thanks to goals from Luis Suarez and Paullinho, before Suarez made it 3-0 soon after the break on Sunday night, reports Xinhua news agency.
Lionel Messi had a pelty saved and Paulinho netted his second after a Suarez shot hit the post and the fil score would have been bigger if the former hadn’t hit the woodwork on three separate occasions.
The only setback for Barca was a muscle injury to Paco Alcacer which means he will miss next weekend’s Clasico against Real Madrid, who didn’t play this weekend as they were in the World Club Championship in Abu Dhabi.
Meanwhile, Ferndo Torres scored the only goal of the game as Atletico Madrid moved to second place in the La Liga on Saturday night following a 1-0 win at home against Deportivo Alaves.
Atletico’s win took them above Valencia who fell to their second consecutive away defeat as they lost 1-2 against Eibar in a rainy Ipurua Stadium.
Giro’s incredible season continued as they defeated Getafe 1-0 to move into contention for a place in Europe thanks to Cristian Stuani’s fifth minute goal.
The Catalans’ win momentarily lifted them into sixth place in the table, but that only lasted for four hours before Villarreal reclaimed the fil European place with a 1-0 win away over Celta Vigo.
Both sides were missing key players, but Celta suffered without Spain intertiol Iago Aspas and Pablo Forls’ first ever goal for Villarreal was enough to give them all three points.
Espanyol looked to be cruising to an away victory as they led 2-0 away against struggling Las Palmas with just 13 minutes remaining only to allow the home side to draw level through Loric Remi and Calleri.
Las Palmas would have won had it not been for Pau Lopez’s stunning 96th-minute save to deny a Jothan Viera pelty.
The Basque derby in Bilbao’s San Mames between Athletic Club Bilbao and Real Sociedad was less thrilling and ended 0-0 in a match where tension and tackles held the edge over football.
The best news from the 0-0 draw between Sevilla and Levante was the former’s coach Eduardo Berizzo’s return just 17 days after a cancer operation. IANS