Two goals from Eidur Gudjohnsen helped put Barcelona back to the
top of the Primera Liga as they overcame Real Mallorca 4-1 away on
Sunday.
With the European and Spanish champions having lost Samuel Eto'o,
Javier Saviola and Lionel Messi to injury the pressure was on
Gudjohnsen to fill their boots, which the Icelander did with two
cool finishes.
He scored either side of halftime, in one-on-one situations, and
although Victor pulled a goal back for Mallorca, Barca scored two
more through Andres Iniesta and Santi Ezquerro at the end.
"Although the scoreline looks comfortable we suffered in this game.
Gudjohnsen scored at important moments and his performance is good
news for us," said Barca coach Frank Rijkaard. Barcelona return to
the top of the table with 26 points from 11 games, one ahead of
Sevilla who beat 10-man Valencia 3-0 on Saturday.
Real Madrid are third with 23 after securing a 3-1 victory over
Racing Santander in the Bernabeu on Saturday.
A point back in fourth are Real Zaragoza who sank struggling
Gimnastic 3-0 on Sunday. They were set on their way by a fine
long-range effort from Argentine playmaker Pablo Aimar and followed
up with goals from midfielders Oscar and Gerard Pique.
Two goals from Portugal midfielder Maniche helped Atletico Madrid
to a 3-0 win at Levante and put them fifth with 20.
Promoted Recreativo Huelva, who beat Osasuna 2-0 at home, are sixth
on 19 points, the same as Getafe who lost 1-0 away to
Villarreal.
Celta Vigo beat Deportivo Coruna 1-0 away in the Galician derby
with a breakaway goal from Brazilian forward Nene.
Barcelona looked nervous in the opening exchanges against Mallorca,
who unsettled them all too easily at the back in the first
half.
The leagues tightest defence before today restricted Barca to a
solitary header from Brazilian midfielder Thiago Motta, that was
blocked on the line by home keeper Antonio Prats, before Gudjohnsen
opened the scoring in the 41st minute.
Ronaldinhos quick pass to Deco was turned first time into the
Icelanders path, and he skipped around Prats to slip the ball in
the empty net.
In the 58th minute Iniesta picked out Gudjohnsen with a slide-rule
pass on the edge of the area. The former Chelsea player spun clear
and calmly finished past the advancing keeper.
An error from Barcas Mexican defender Rafael Marquez allowed Victor
to advance in the area and pull a goal back in the 70th
minute.
But their chances of turning the game around disappeared with the
sending off of defender Fernando Varela in the 82nd minute.
Ronaldinho ran into the area with four minutes to go and the ball
broke for the chasing Iniesta, who slotted home from a tight
angle.
In the last minute, Ronaldinho lifted the ball over the defence for
substitute Ezquerro to volley the fourth.
