Liga round-up

Barca leave it late as Real crush Mallorca

Last updated: 12th January 2009

Liga round-up

Messi: Barca's hero once again

Click below for match summaries


Atletico Madrid 2 Athletic Bilbao 3
Espanyol 2 Almeria 2
Mallorca 0 Real Madrid 3
Numancia 2 Getafe 0
Osasuna 2 Barcelona 3
Racing Santander 1 Recreativo Huelva 1
Real Betis 1 Malaga 2
Sporting Gijon 2 Valladolid 1

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Real Madrid have moved second after crushing Real Mallorca, but Barcelona still extend lead at the top of the table.

Barcelona were given an almighty scare by bottom of the table Osasuna before Josep Guardiola's men eventually ran out 3-2 winners.

Barca dominated from the off with the only surprise of the first half being it took nearly until half time before Samuel Eto'o broke the deadlock.

The visitors were caught cold in the second half and quick-fire double from Osasuna looked for a while like handing Barcelona a second Liga defeat of the season.

Firstly, Miguel Flano floated a header over Victor Valdes in the net before Walter Pandiani turned home Juanfran's cross in the middle to leave Guardiola's men rocking.

However, they managed to steady themselves enough for Xavi to drill home a brave equaliser from 12-yards out after some neat work by Dani Alves.

With the visitors sensing an opportunity to sinks Osasuna once and for all who else but Lionel Messi won the match for the league leaders, who are now 12 points clear of the summit of the table.

The Argentine wizard gathered possession out wide before running at Roberto in the Osasuna goal before lashing an unstopped left-footed drive home from outside the penalty area.

Real Madrid are up into second place in the Liga table with a convincing 3-0 success over relegation-threatened Real Mallorca.

The damage was done early on at ONO Estadi with goals from Arjen Robben and Raul inside the opening 17 minutes putting the visitors two up.

Sergio Ramos' goal in the 66th minute rounded off a fine display by Juande Ramos' men in a game that saw no less than nine bookings.

Atletico Madrid suffered their second consecutive defeat after being surprised 3-2 by Athletic Bilbao at Vicente Calderon.

Things started well enough for the home side with Antonio Lopez firing them in front after 15 minutes. However, Koikili's effort on the stroke of half-time proved crucial.

Fernando Llorente scored a brace after the interval before Maniche was given his marching orders on 72 minutes leaving the home side a man light.

Diego Forlan did pull a goal back for Atletico two minutes into injury-time but it proved nothing more than a consolation.

Relegation-threatened Espanyol battled back from two goals down to claim a priceless point in a 2-2 draw with Almeria.

The home fans were less than pleased with 54 minutes on the clock with a brace from Kalu Uche putting the visitors two-up.

However, Roman Martinez pulled one back soon after with Nicolas Pareja's last-gasp free-kick rescuing a thrilling share of the spoils.

Roberto Abbondanzieri's early red card proved crucial as Numancia moved away from the relegation zone with a 2-0 win over Getafe.

Jose Barkero's successful penalty and substitute Carlos Aranda's late second wrapped up a fine win.

Racing Santander's home game against Recreativo Huelva finished all-square at one apiece after Javier Camunas cancelled out Jonathan's opener.

Nine-man Real Betis suffered their fourth consecutive Liga defeat after going down to a last-gasp 2-1 loss at home to Malaga.

Antonio Apono opened the scoring from the penalty spot before Juan Melli was given his marching orders shortly after.

However, Achille Amana still equalised for the home side, although their predicament worsened when he was then sent off on 68 minutes.

Just when it looked like the 10 men had done enough to secure a priceless point substitute Pereira Eliseu snatched a last-gasp winner.

Sporting Gijon have leapfrogged Real Valladolid in the table following a 2-1 success over the 10-man side at El Molinon.

The game was effectively over at half-time with goals from Gonzalez Carmelo and David Barral sandwiching Alberto Marcos' dismissal.

Valladolid did pull one back late on through Jose Garcia Calvo, but it proved nothing more than a consolation.