Barcelona Cruise Through Depor, New Look Malaga Drawn By Visiting Athletic Bilbao

It looked for all the world that Barcelona had settled for a comfortable two goal victory, but two more goals in two minutes has turned this match into a rout. Iniesta got Barcas third, recieving the ball from Gerard Pique on the corner of the penalty area before cutting inside and firing through a crowd of defenders and past a surprised Aranzubia on 78 minutes.

On their next foray in the Depor half, good work from Lionel Messi once again saw the Argentine play Pedro in one-one-one with Aranzubia, with the man from Tenerife lifting the ball delightfully over the keeper. So yet another resounding win for Barcelona, who seem to turn it on away from the Camp Nou. Just listen to these stats: 10 matches played on the road, 10 wins, 37 goals scored and just 4 conceded. Sensational from the reigning champions.

Well, that first goal didn’t take long to come, did it? Lionel Messi, as he so often does, drifted in from out wide to thread a fantastic ball into David Villa who had lost his marker before firing between the legs of Aranzubia. How good is Lionel Messi? The assist was out of this world, the little genius just makes it look so easy, taking four or five defenders out of the game with one nonchalant stroke of his right boot.

As Barcelona strive to prove that there is life after Xavi, many journalists and pundits often claiming that Xavi is the life and soul of this Barca team, this isn’t a bad start! Quite how anyone can doubt the credentials of a team that contains Pedro, Villa, Messi and Iniesta is beyond me. For Depor, Adrian had a fine chance to put the home side ahead, but he hesitated thinking he was in an offside position and the chance was lost.

Two goals from Frederic Kanoute and one from Luis Fabiano were enough to see Sevilla past Real Sociedad in an entertaining match at Anoeta. Diego Rivas put Sociedad ahead with a superb curling effort, but Kanoute replied for the visitors almost immediately with a volley two minutes later. Joseba Llorente then took advantage of some hesitant positioning from keeper Andres Palop to fire in his teams second, as Real Sociedad took a 2-1 lead into the break.

The second half saw Gregorio ring the changes, bringing on Javi Vargas and Alvaro Negredo and both were key to Sevillas fightback. Javi Vargas was inspirational in the Sevilla goal, repelling everything that came his way, while Negredo provided the assists for Luis Fabianos close range striker and Frederic Kanoutes second, which turned out to be the winner.

Sevilla have started the second half in storming fashion and quickfire goals from Luis Fabiano and Frederic Kanoute in the 63rd and 65th minutes have seen the away side take a 2-3 lead. Gregorio Manzano had seen enough on the hour mark and sent on marksman Alvaro Negredo for the dissapointing Renato and the move has paid instant dividends.

Sevilla second equaliser came from another Perotti corner and owed as much to Real Sociedads haphazard defending than Negredos opportunism. The ball fell to the subsitute striker who fired across goal, where the predator Fabiano was lying in wait. The Brazilian got his toe to the ball just before the defender had a chance to clear from about half a metre out to draw his team on level terms.

Real Sociedad go into the break 2-1 up after Joseba Llorente put them ahead for the second time in the match. A Sevilla attack broke down on the edge of the Sociedad box, and a long clearance from Estrada fell into the path of Llorente who made no mistake from just outside the box. Sevilla keeper Andres Palop was caught in no-mans-land, and on reflection he could have done better for the first goal. Not a great night so far for the veteran shotstopper.

Apart from the goal it’s been the same old story for Sevilla. Lacking in creativity upfront, their only source of danger is from the boots of livewire Jesus Navas who grew into the game as the minutes passed. Sevilla seem intent on pinging long balls into the Sociedad half, but with Labaka and Ansotegi repelling everything that comes their way, Manzano will do well to instruct his players to keep the ball on the deck as much as possible in the second half.

The match suddenly sprung to life in the 23rd minute as Diego Rivas curled in a beautiful opener past the outstretched arm of Andres Palop. Xabi Prieto, as ever, was the creator, finding the midfielder on the edge of the area with a measured lay off. Prieto really has made a name for himself this season and you can really see why many are comparing him with a young Xabi Alonso, who also started his career at Real Sociedad.

The lead only lasted two minutes for Real, with Sevilla replying immediately through Frederic Kanoute. A deep corner from Perotti was headed back across goal by Luis Fabiano and straight onto the right boot of Kanoute who slammed in on the volley. After a quiet start, the two goals have provoked a spell of end-to-end football, with both teams looking dangerous. There could well be a few more goals in this one.

Timid start at Anoeta, as Sevilla look to continue their positive start to 2011 with an away win at Real Sociedad, a team that has blown hot and cold of late, but is always a tough proposition on their home patch. Jesus Navas continues his return to the starting XI after his long injury lay off, but up to now he has been well-shackled by left-back Mikel Gonzalez, with Sevilla looking to involve their dimunitive winger at every opportunity. Upfront for Sevilla, it’s Luis Fabiano and Frederic Kanouté, with Alvaro Negredo relegated to the bench.

Luis Fabiano has had a snap shot that rolled just wide of Bravos left post and Joseba Llorente couldn’t quite get on the end of Francisco Sutils teasing cross for Real as both teams play out a very even opening to the match. Exciting winger Antione Griezmann is out for Real Sociedad through suspension, and at the moment they look to be missing his pace and invention in attack. As always, the home side will be looking to their main man Xabi Prieto for inspiration. All in all a quiet opening 15 minutes.

After last week’s 3-0 road destruction of Malaga, people are starting to think that Gregorio Manzano might have finally gotten the immense talent at Sevilla to work together. They have a long way to go to get back up into the top four to qualify for UEFA Champions League, but last week’s result was a good start. They’re only in 10th place, but being four points behind a European place and eight points behind fourth isn’t awful, considering how poor they have been for much of the season. All of their main rivals for third and fourth spot have shown dents in their armor, save for Villarreal.

This week, they have a chance to move further up the table in a match with Real Sociedad, where they should be favorites. Since their big win over Athletic Bilbao, they have dropped their last three in a row, including a heartbreaker against Valencia and a poor performance against Real Zaragoza. They’re much tougher at home than on the road, but they might have trouble dealing with a confident Sevilla team.