Barcelona back to their best

By Andy Hall

Samuel Eto'o claimed his 17th Primera División goal of the season in typically spectacular fashion as leaders FC Barcelona won 4-1 at Real Zaragoza while third-placed Valencia CF lost ground with a 2-1 defeat at home to RC Deportivo La Coruña.

First-half lead
Barça, who last week lost to Club Atlético de Madrid and saw their advantage cut to four points, took the lead after one minute and without even having managed a shot on goal - home goalkeeper Rubén Falcón misjudged Delio Toledo's backpass and the ball trickled into an empty net. Ludovic Giuly put the Catalan side further ahead on the half-hour when Eto'o unselfishly played him in with a neat pass. The Cameroonian international got on the scoresheet himself with a well-taken effort - after flicking the ball over Rubén, he had the simple task of tapping into an empty net to equal his league tally for the whole of last season.

Comeback hopes dashed
Zaragoza staged a fight-back during the second-half and were unlucky when José María Movilla's effort crashed against the bar on 53 minutes. Visiting goalkeeper Víctor Valdés was unable to reach Luciano Galletti's low drive from the edge of the box nine minutes later, but any hopes of getting back on level terms were dashed when Rafael Márquez's header sailed over Rubén and in off the bar to hand Barça victory. Seven points separate Frank Rijkaard's side from nearest rivals Real Madrid CF, who visit CA Osasuna on Sunday.

Depor delight
Lionel Scaloni made sure that Deportivo went in with a half-time lead at the Mestalla when his shot from edge of area deflected off David Albelda and looped over Andrés Palop. Valencia were back level five minutes after the restart when Marco Di Vaio turned in Francisco Rufete’s centre but Depor claimed victory when Víctor Sánchez was left free to shoot past Palop and take his team up to ninth.