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Eto'o guides Barcelona to victory
Samuel Eto'o scored twice in the first eight minutes of the second half to guide Barcelona to a 3-0 victory over Osasuna.
- Indo-Asian News Service
- Updated: February 25, 2007 09:51 AM IST
Read Time: 2 min
Barcelona:
Samuel Eto'o scored twice in the first eight minutes of the second half to guide Barcelona to a 3-0 victory over Osasuna in the Spanish Primera division on Saturday.
The champions had to work hard to break down a stubborn and rather negative Osasuna side, who could have gone top of the table themselves had they won.
The result lifts Barcelona into fourth place, two points behind Real Madrid, who take on Valencia at home on Sunday.
Eto'o scored his league-leading eighth goal of the season in the opening minute of the second half, left unmarked in front of the goal to head in Ronaldinho's corner.
Seven minutes later, Eto'o capitalized when Osasuna goalkeeper Ricardo Lopez dived and got his left hand on a cross from Sylvio Mendes Campos.
But he was unable to control the rebound. Eto'o ran onto the ball rolling away from the goal to move two ahead of Ronaldo among the scoring leaders.
Ronaldinho almost added his fourth of the season with a powerful shot that rolled just left of the net in the 63rd minute.
On the defensive
Barcelona kept Osasuna on the defensive throughout, accumulating more than double the possession of the Pamplona club.
Osasuna threatened in the 69th minute but Rafael Marques of Barcelona used his head to block a shot by Vladimiro Lopes de Rocha right in front of Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes.
Late in the second half, Osasuna all but fell apart.
A ball that bounced off the back of Ronaldinho in the 88th minute dropped into the penalty area, where French midfielder Ludovic Giuly outraced several nearby defenders and beat an onrushing Lopez for his second goal this year. (AP)
Topics mentioned in this article
Football
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