Spanish Football News Blog

There was no change at the top of La Liga as Barcelona and Real Madrid both won away from home on Saturday.
FOOTBALL Real Madrid's Karim Benzema after scoring against Deportivo in La Liga - 0

Leaders and champions Barca stayed five points ahead of second-placed Real after Pedro's first-half goal gave them an unconvincing 1-0 win at Sporting Gijon.

Manuel Pellegrini's side impressed without the suspended Cristiano Ronaldo as a Karim Benzema brace helped them beat Deportivo la Coruna 3-1 - their first win at the Riazor in 18 years.

In the day's other Liga match, Luis Garcia struck on 58 minutes as Espanyol beat Athletic Bilbao 1-0 to move three points clear of the relegation zone.

Spain U21 winger Pedro's 15th goal of the season was enough for Barcelona as they toiled to fend off their battling hosts Sporting in poor conditions.

He drilled home a low finish after a quickly-taken free-kick on the half hour as Barca, well below their high standards, even lost track of their passing game in the second half, with Lionel Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic particularly disappointing.

Sporting, however, lacked the cutting edge to truly test them and, despite a late rally, were unable to snatch an equaliser.

Initially Barcelona passed rings around Sporting, who looked for the occasional break with a degree of success, although striker Mate Bilic had left his shooting boots at home.

The Croatian scuffed one finish wide while, three minutes after Barca took the lead, he headed straight at Victor Valdes after a right-wing cross from Luis Moran.

Otherwise it was all Barcelona, with Andres Iniesta denied by two defenders sliding in, Ibrahimovic heading against the post Lionel Messi drilling just wide.

Messi's usually sublime first touch was letting him down - that low effort across goal came about after his mis-control inadvertently put him past Gregory Arnolin, while on two more occasions the ball came heavy off his foot when played in.

Fortunately for Los Cules, rising star Pedro was in typically ruthless form, drilling low into the bottom left after a quickly-taken free-kick allowed Iniesta to release him with a majestic slide-rule pass.

From that point on the metronomic Barcelona pass-and-move machine was in full flow, although - a criticism coach Pep Guardiola recently made of his charges - they failed to create any more clear-cut chances before the break.

The second half was mostly poor, not helped by the driving rain as Barca struggled to maintain the same rhythm and pressure on the ball.

Neither side created anything until the 74th minute, when Pedro missed twice in quick succession, putting one finish over an open net and seeing another blocked by Alberto Lora.

Sporting keeper Juan Pablo was in good form, snuffing out the danger on two occasions when Ibrahimovic was played in, and tipping a late drive by Pedro round the bar.

Injury time saw Barcelona holding on, giving away a succession of free-kicks and defending desperately, but Sporting failed to capitalise and the visitors took the three points.

Real Madrid were more convincing, dominating a Deportivo still reeling from a horrific broken leg suffered by left-back Filipe last week.

With Ronaldo suspended for two games following his sending off against Malaga last weekend, Raul stepped in and he worked well with Benzema, who forced a superb save from Daniel Aranzubia with one effort before Esteban Granero headed home following a mix-up in the Depor defence.

Benzema almost set up his veteran strike partner with a low ball that was somehow missed by the Madrid club captain, while Aranzubia was again at his acrobatic best to deny Raul from close range.

France striker Benzema spooned the ball over after a great low ball from Kaka as Madrid turned the screw, doubling their lead on 40 minutes after a superb break.

Deportivo had gone close after a decent spell of pressure was snuffed out by Marcelo. Iker Casillas launched Kaka down the left, who slipped the ball inside to Guti.

Confronted with the onrushing Aranzubia and two defenders, the veteran midfielder back-heeled the ball first-time to Benzema, who rifled his finish into an empty net.

Aranzubia saved from Kaka early in the second half but Real stepped off and allowed Deportivo to keep the ball.

The hosts were toiling though, until moment of madness from Marcelo allowed sub Riki to rob the Brazilian and draw a foul from Sergio Ramos just inside the penalty area.

The ex-Real reserve drilled the spot-kick past Casillas into the bottom right to set up a nervy finish.

But Madrid stepped it up and restored their two-goal advantage when Benzema got his second on the night and seventh in La Liga this season, drilling home from 12 yards after a good run from Alvaro Arbeloa.

Source: Yahoo/Eurosport