Sports / Soccer |
Real, Sevilla keep pressure on nervy Barcelona(Reuters)Updated: 2007-04-30 08:46
A solitary strike from Samuel Eto'o gave Barcelona a nervy 1-0 win over lowly Levante at the Nou Camp on Sunday to keep them top of the Primera Liga with six games remaining. The defending champions have 62 points but are still closely pursued by Sevilla on 61 and Real Madrid on 60, who both looked far more convincing on their way to big wins. Sevilla shrugged off any doubts that the pressure might be getting to them with a 3-1 home win over Espanyol. As well as the league, Juande Ramos's side are also in the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup and the King's Cup but were all over Espanyol, another side in the final four of the UEFA Cup. Antonio Puerta, Ernesto Chevanton and Jose Luis Marti all scored after the break, though Espanyol's Ferran Corominas had made it 2-1 in the 60th minute. Real thumped Bilbao 4-1 at San Mames to make it 10 wins on the road for Fabio Capello's side. David Beckham's early free kick allowed Sergio Ramos to head the first goal and Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy added two more, taking his tally for the season to 18. Bilbao committed men forward and pulled one back through Fernando Llorente late on, before substitute Guti scored a breakaway goal to leave the Basque side two points above the bottom three. Valencia are fourth with 56 points after a Joaquin double gave them a 2-0 home win over Recreativo Huelva on Saturday. Sergio Garcia's last minute header earned fifth-placed Real Zaragoza a 2-2 draw away to Osasuna to put them on 54 points, three ahead of Atletico Madrid. Celta Vigo's 3-0 home defeat to Real Mallorca saw them slip into the bottom three along with Real Sociedad and Gimnastic. Sociedad fell 1-0 at Getafe while Diego Forlan scored twice as Villarreal beat 'Nastic 3-0 away. SCRAPPY GOAL The pressure appeared to weigh on Barcelona as they created little against relegation-threatened Levante in the first half. Eto'o's goal in the 28th minute was a scrappy affair which started when Lionel Messi cut in off the right flank and threaded a ball into a crowded area. Goalkeeper Jose Molina pushed the ball out but Eto'o was on hand to scuff it into the net. The home side showed greater intent after the break with Ronaldinho and Eto'o testing Molina, while Messi came to life down the right, but a second goal eluded them. Messi missed a sitter near the end and his side almost paid for it soon after when Victor Valdes failed to collect a cross and Olivier Kapo did not quite manage to connect with the fumbled ball. |
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