Barca thrash Zaragoza to go three points clear

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(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-10-27 11:50

MADRID: Seydou Keita hit a hat-trick and Zlatan Ibrahimovic netted twice to lead Barcelona to a 6-1 thrashing of Real Zaragoza and send the La Liga champions three points clear of Real Madrid on Sunday.

Real and Barca both lost in Europe in midweek but after a depleted Madrod side drew 0-0 at Sporting Gijon on Saturday, Pep Guardiola's team grabbed its chance to pull emphatically away at the top of the standings.

Barca have 22 points from eight matches to Real's 19, and Sevilla remain in third, three points further back after being held to a 0-0 draw at home by Espanyol on Saturday.

Zaragoza kept a dominant Barca at bay for the first 24 minutes at the Nou Camp until Keita leapt to nod Lionel Messi's precise cross into the top left-hand corner.

Ibrahimovic doubled their lead five minutes later with a thunderous, long-range free-kick that Juan Pablo Carrizo could only palm into the roof of the net and the Sweden striker then turned provider just before the break.

Xavi sent him clear on the left and he squared for Keita to thump the ball into the empty net.

The Mali midfielder returned the favor 11 minutes after the break when he crossed for Ibrahimovic to volley past Carrizo for his seventh La Liga goal, taking him joint top of the scoring charts, before Jorge Lopez beat Victor Valdes with a low drive.

Lionel Messi made up for several missed chances when he lifted the ball over Carrizo for Barca's fifth and Keita completed his hat-trick with another fine header in the 86th.

David Villa netted his seventh goal of the season to remain La Liga top scorer and Pablo Hernandez scored with a superb lob as Valencia climbed to fourth with a 3-0 victory at Almeria, who had goalkeeper Diego Alves sent off in the 63rd minute.

Valencia took the lead at the Juegos Mediterraneos stadium in the 54th minute when winger Hernandez raced clear and crossed for Villa to nod past Alves.

Alves was shown a straight red card after he chopped Hernandez down outside his area and Hernandez then caught his replacement, Esteban, off his line with a perfectly weighted lob from distance to double Valencia's lead.

Juan Mata made sure of the points with a well-struck shot three minutes from the end of normal time.

Villa's Spain teammate Joan Capdevila swept in a free-kick to give Villarreal a 2-1 home win over Malaga for a first La Liga victory this season that lifted them off bottom spot.

Ernesto Valverde's Villarreal side took the lead at the Madrigal in the 27th minute when striker Nilmar slid in at the far post to clip Damian Escudero's low cross high into the net.

Albert Luque equalized in first-half added time with a powerful downward header before Capdevila curled a left-foot strike around the wall into the bottom corner of the net just before the hour.

"When things are going badly you look for reasons why and today we came out very focused with a lot of commitment," Valverde said.

"It cost us a lot of effort and you always hope that when you win a match it's the start of a good run."

Reuters