Barcelona extended its unbeaten streak to 16 matches in the Spanish league with a 3-1 home win against Mallorca on Saturday. Barcelona's 14th win in 17 matches stretched its lead in the standings to 13 points ahead of Valencia, which overtook Sevilla after beating Atletico Madrid 3-1. Mallorca scored first through Aritz Aduriz, and Barcelona's reply came from Thierry Henry, Andres Iniesta and Yaya Toure in the league's first game following the annual winter break. Aduriz stole the ball in midfield, deftly dribbled past defenders Yaya Toure and Victor Sanchez and outpaced both before lobbing the ball over goalkeeper Victor Valdesin the 15th minute. After a period of sustained Barcelona pressure, Henry equalized in the 31st when he controlled a corner cross and shot from the left of the penalty area inside the far post. It was the French forward's ninth goal this season. Iniesta's second goal of the season in the 75th converted a cross from Iceland international Eidur Gudjohnsen. Iniesta had replaced Hleb only about five minutes earlier for his first match since he injured his right leg on Nov. 4. Mallorca's Jose Miguel “Josemi” Gonzalez was ejected for a second yellow card offense when he fouled Xavi Hernandez in the 90th, then Toure capped a good night for the home team in the second minute of injury time after skillfully dribbling past Mallorca's defense. Belarus and former Arsenal midfielder Alexandre Hleb was in Barcelona's starting lineup on the right wing instead of Lionel Messi, who returned late from an end of year break with his family in Argentina and had not been able to train fully for the match. Messi and Brazil's Dani Alves had reportedly been held up returning from South America after problems with their flights. Messi watched the match from the VIP stand, where he sat next to Diego Maradona, who was greeted warmly by Johan Cruyff before the match at Camp Nou Stadium. Samuel Eto'o, the league leading scorer with 15 goals from 16 matches, was coach Pep Guardiola's starting choice as striker after the Cameroon international returned three days early from holiday. On Sunday, it's: Real Madrid vs. Villarreal; Athletic Bilbao vs. Espanyol; Almeria vs. Real Betis; Recreativo Huelva vs. Numancia; Valladolid vs. Racing Santander; Malaga vs. Sporting Gijon; Sevilla vs. Osasuna and Getafe vs. Deportivo La Coruna.
