Barca leads as Messi brace

Barca leads as Messi brace

Barcelona stretched their lead at the top of the Primera Division to five points as they beat Sevilla 4-0 to take advantage of a slip by Real Madrid.

Barca could not get past a stubborn Sevilla defence in the first half at the Nou Camp, but the floodgates opened after Julien Escude's own goal broke the deadlock five minutes into the second period.

Substitute Pedro added the second after 70 minutes, before Lionel Messi netted in the 85th and 90th minutes to notch his 100th and 101st goals for the club.

Earlier, Fernando Llorente's header had proved the difference as Athletic Bilbao pulled off a shock 1-0 win over Madrid.

Spain striker Llorente nodded home from a corner after just two minutes and the home team, who were reduced to 10 men in stoppage time when Carlos Gurpegi was sent off for a second bookable offence, held on.

Valencia closed to within three points of Real Madrid at the top with an entertaining 4-1 win over 10-man local rivals Villarreal at the Mestalla on Sunday night.

Ever Banega opened the scoring early on and David Villa doubled the lead from the penalty spot, with Kiko earning a red card for a foul on the striker.

David Silva made it three 11 minutes after the break and, although a defensive mix-up led to Nilmar reducing the deficit, Villa deservedly capped the performance with his second.

Real Mallorca made it nine home wins out of nine and climbed into the Champions League places with a 2-0 victory over Deportivo La Coruna.

Mallorca, who have also won both of their Copa del Rey games at their Ono Estadi fortress this term, took the points thanks to two goals in seven minutes just after the break through Mario Suarez and Gonzalo Castro.

The victory means Mallorca, who started the day one place and one point behind fourth-placed Depor, swap positions with the Galician side.

Atletico Madrid continued their fine start to 2010 with an entertaining 3-2 victory over Sporting Gijon at the Vicente Calderon.

Diego Forlan put Atletico ahead early on and although Sporting drew level through Diego Camacho's 34th-minute penalty, the Rojiblancos took the spoils thanks to second-half goals from Paulo Assuncao and youngster Ibrahima Balde.

Sporting set up a tense last few minutes when Luis Moran reduced the deficit to 3-2 in injury-time after Atletico had missed a host of chances to kill the match off, but the home side held on for a deserved win.

Racing Santander were held to a 1-1 draw by Real Valladolid after squandering a host of opportunities at El Sardinero.

Despite dominating proceedings from the first whistle, the hosts fell behind in the 18th minute through Pablo Pinillos' own-goal.

Racing deservedly drew level after the break thanks to a deft finish by Sergio Canales, but could not find a way past Valladolid keeper Justo Villar to wrap up the three points as the visitors bounced back from their 4-0 thrashing at home to Atletico Madrid last weekend.

Malaga climbed out of the relegation zone and gained a degree of revenge for their midweek Copa del Rey humiliation against Getafe by snatching a late winner when the two met at La Rosaleda.

Substitute Nabil Baha struck the only goal of the game with six minutes to go as Malaga finally made the most of their numerical advantage having played against 10 men from the 31st minute, when the visitors had Derek Boateng sent off.

The victory means Malaga leave the bottom three for the first time since the start of October, and it also helped them avenge Thursday's 5-1 mauling by the same opponents in the second leg of their Copa del Rey last-16 tie.

Henok Goitom's second-half equaliser earned 10-man Almeria a point from a 1-1 draw at home to fellow strugglers Tenerife.

Juanlu Hens had given the visitors, who knew victory would take them above their opponents, the lead less than two minutes in but Goitom deservedly levelled for the hosts, who had Pablo Piatti sent off for two yellow cards, on the hour mark.

Basement sides Real Zaragoza and Xerez failed to gain a much-needed win as they played out a goalless draw at La Romareda.

The visitors would have been the happier of the two sides after being forced to play the final 36 minutes with 10 men after the sending-off of Victor Sanchez for a lunge on Pereira Eliseu.

New signing Eliseu missed a wonderful chance to secure the three points, and make himself a hero among Zaragoza's fans, but he somehow managed to blaze wildly over the bar when just six yards out.

On Saturday, Juanfran Torres and Walter Pandiani scored in the first 10 minutes as Osasuna beat Espanyol 2-0.