Life's a breeze for Barça

By Andy Hall

FC Barcelona are ten points clear at the top of the Primera División tonight after a 4-0 victory at lowly Málaga CF.

Eto'o strikes twice
Barça, who lost Ludovic Giuly to a hamstring injury in midweek, were rarely troubled during the match and Samuel Eto'o opened the scoring on 24 minutes dodging past two markers to fire past Juan Calatayud. Within five minutes Deco had doubled the lead with a stunning strike from 20 metres out. He also played a part in Barça's third goal on 72 minutes, his failed attempt to shoot past the Málaga goalkeeper landed at the feet of Iniesta, who coolly tapped in the third before Eto'o scored yet again in added time to bring his season's tally to 12.

Valencia climb
Valencia CF - who face a vital UEFA Champions League encounter with Werder Bremen on Tuesday - left it until the 85th minute to settle their visit to Albacete Balompié. Mark González and Rubén Castro both missed early chances for Albacete, and were made to pay when Xisco Muñóz struck after being set up by Carlos Marchena. The victory takes Valencia up to third place, level on points with Real Madrid CF in second.

Real win
Real Betis Balompié missed the chance to go fourth after suffering a 1-0 defeat at Real Sociedad de Fútbol. Nihat Kahveci and Mikel Labaka tested Antonio Doblas early on while at the opposite end, Asier Riesgo tipped a trademark Marcos Assunçao free-kick onto the bar. Darko Kovacevic scored the only goal on 36 minutes, racing onto Igor Gabilondo's deep centre and superbly chipping Doblas from outside the box. Real are now 12th and Betis stay fifth ahead of Sunday's games, when Madrid hope to close the gap on Barcelona by defeating hosts Villarreal CF.