Barcelona reeled off their seventh successive win to reach the summit of the Spanish first division but Saturday’s 4-1 win at Malaga was marred by racism directed at their Cameroon striker Samuel Eto’o.
African forward Eto’o was subjected to monkey chants by the home fans at the La Rosaleda before being booed when he was substituted late on as racism reared its ugly head once again.
Eto’o, 27, has become a major figure in soccer’s bid to kick racism out of the game after being on the receiving end of racist remarks in the past.
In February 2006, Eto’o had wanted to leave the pitch in a 2-0 victory against Real Zaragoza after being forced to listen to monkey cries and dodge peanuts thrown at him. Then coach Frank Rijkaard persuaded him to continue and Zaragoza were fined.
Eto’o was not on the scoresheet in Barca’s 4-1 win with Spain’s Euro 2008 hero Xavi Hernandez and a sixth goal of the season from Argentine Lionel Messi sealing the points on a rain-soaked pitch.
In the league Barca are a point clear of Villarreal at the top with the latter also winning 4-1 over Athletic Bilabo to maintain their unbeaten start to the season.
Valencia could have displaced Barca at the summit but fell to their first league defeat of the season with a 4-2 home loss against Racing Santander.
Congo striker Mohamed Tchite scored a sensational hat-trick to down Valencia who stay third, two points behind Barcelona.
It was only Racing’s second win of the season and they jump to 11th spot.
Elsewhere Argentine attacker Sergio “Kun” Aguero gave Liverpool something to think about ahead of tomorrow’s Champions League match at Anfield with a brace as Atletico Madrid defeated Real Mallorca 2-0 at the Vicente Calderon on Saturday.
Aguero was back in the starting XI after being rested for the past few matches and returned with a bang scoring a first half double.
It was Atletico’s first league victory since Sept. 24 and Javier Aguirre’s side climb to sixth.
Villarreal put their Kings Cup nightmare firmly behind them with a 4-1 triumph at Athletic Bilbao to go second.
Villarreal went into the match reeling from a 5-0 Kings Cup humiliation by minnows Poli Ejido but responded in the perfect way.
Goals from Giuseppe Rossi, veteran Robert Pires and Santiago Cazorla wrapped up the points for the visitors.
North Korea’s FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup-winning team on Saturday received a heroes’ welcome back in the capital, Pyongyang, with hundreds of people on the streets to celebrate their success. They had defeated Spain on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the U17 World Cup final in the Dominican Republic on Nov. 3. It was the second global title in two months for secretive North Korea — largely closed off to the outside world; they also lifted the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup in September. Officials and players’ families gathered at Pyongyang International Airport to wave flowers and North Korea flags as the
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