Barca blitz Sociedad 5-0 to maintain slim lead

MADRID (AP):

Barcelona blitzed Real Sociedad 5-0 yesterday to remain Spanish leaders thanks to a ninth straight victory after Real Madrid had applied some pressure earlier with a 3-1 win over Zaragoza.

David Villa, Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi and substitute Bojan Krkic were the scorers as Barcelona put on an exhibition of the quick-touch football that guided them to the last two league titles.

Messi threaded the ball to Pedro Rodriguez in the ninth minute and Villa was alone inside the box to redirect the centred pass into the roof of goal for his ninth of the season.

Iniesta charged into the area in the 33rd, laying off to Pedro who returned it for the Spain midfielder to beat Claudio Bravo with a low shot inside the near post while never breaking stride.

The Spanish champions had their way inside Sociedad's area as their crisp passes into little space always seemed to find a teammate.

Sociedad looked like just another Camp Nou spectator at times as Xavi Hernandez, Messi and Iniesta - all shortlisted for the world player of the year award - orchestrated attack after attack, with Villa and Pedro often denied by Bravo or scrambling defenders.

"It may look easy but it's not," Messi told Canal Plus TV. "The truth is that things are working out and we're playing at such a high level."

Third goal

Messi started the third goal from just inside the Sociedad half in the 47th, the Argentina forward exchanging several passes with Daniel Alves before slotting home.

Messi, who hit the post in the 78th, tied Cristiano Ronaldo's goal tally in the 87th with a typically clever run past four defenders inside the area before firing a left-footed shot past Bravo inside the far post. Messi has 27 goals in all competitions.

Bojan scored the last from an individual effort in injury time.

Outscored opponents

Barcelona, which have outscored opponents 26-0 in their last six games in all competitions, lead with 40 points from 15 games.

"We know that if we falter Madrid is there and they will catch us," said coach Pep Guardiola after his team extended its unbeaten run to 21 games overall.

Mesut Oezil, Ronaldo and Angel Di Maria scored for Madrid to stay two points behind.

Earlier, Fernando Llorente and David Lopez scored second-half goals as Athletic Bilbao rallied to beat Espanyol 2-1 and deny them the chance to move into third place.

Espanyol stayed on 28 points - two behind third-place Villarreal - while Athletic joined Sociedad in eighth with 22 points.

Also, David Trezeguet led Hercules' own second-half rally as the French striker scored the first of four goals over a 15-minute span in a 4-1 win over Malaga.

Also, Sporting Gijon rallied to draw against Levante 1-1 and Oscar Serrano returned from a seven-month knee injury layoff to score two minutes into injury time as Racing Santander won 1-0 at Mallorca.

Almeria and Malaga share 13 points in 17th, while Sporting are second from bottom with 11 and Zaragoza have nine as coach Javier Aguirre remained without a victory after four games.

Valencia will play Osasuna today.