Irrepressible Barça continue scoring spree

FC Barcelona followed up their convincing success at FC Basel 1893 with another 5-0 rout, this time against UD Almería, as Samuel Eto'o scored three of the five first-half goals that propelled them to the Liga summit.

Henry strike
Josep Guardiola's side were almost untouchable in a memorable first half at Camp Nou during which they scored all their goals in a purple 32-minute patch. Barcelona took the lead after five minutes when Eto'o calmly fired in after Almería had failed to clear Yaya Toure's cross. Lionel Messi and Andrés Iniesta then caused panic in the visitors box before the former teed up Thierry Henry to make it 2-0 from close range.

Eto'o treble
The third goal was arguably the pick of the bunch as Iniesta's sublime pass sent Xavi Hernández clean through and the midfielder nonchalantly passed to Eto'o to tap in. Messi was quickly back in the spotlight as he tiptoed to the byline and pulled the ball back for Eto'o to back-heel in his hat-trick and all but assure a ninth straight win in all competitions.

Alves free-kick
Álvaro Negredo was shown the red card for fouling Rafael Márquez before Daniel Alves completed a five-star first half by rifling in a long-range free-kick. Barça, who began the day in fourth and level on points with Real Madrid CF, have scored 24 goals in their eight league games so far but they will still lose top spot if Valencia CF earn a result at RC Recreativo de Huelva while Sevilla FC or Villarreal CF can also overtake them with three points on Sunday.

Osasuna woe
Elsewhere, CA Osasuna remain without a win after a 2-0 home defeat by Real Betis Balompié. Mehmet Aurélio curled his free-kick through the wall to open the scoring early in the second half and Hugo Pavone wrapped up the victory by poking in following Achille Emana's free-kick. Betis move up to 12th while Osasuna remain one place off the bottom.