Samuel Eto'o scored two first-half goals to help Barcelona defeat Sporting Gijon 3-1 on Sunday and maintain its 12-point lead at the top of the Spanish league. Daniel Alves also netted in Barcelona's win at Camp Nou, its 10th straight victory which extended its unbeaten run to the 21 league games since its opening-round defeat against Numancia in August. With 16 games of the season remaining, Barcelona has 59 points and is firm favorite to win its first league title for three seasons. Defending champion Real Madrid, which has won its past seven matches, is next with 47. Earlier, Diego Forlan scored twice and Sergio Aguero added the other goal to give Atletico Madrid a 3-0 victory over Recreativo Huelva and a winning start for new coach Abel Resino. Also Sunday, it was: Villarreal 2, Numancia 1; Malaga 3, Almeria 2; Valladolid 2, Athletic Bilbao 1; Getafe 1, Espanyol 1; and Mallorca 1, Deportivo La Coruna 1. In a late game, Osasuna beat Valencia 1-0. Barcelona won 6-1 in Gijon in the corresponding fixture last September and the league leader had the chances to repeat the scoreline. Striker Eto'o broke the deadlock in the 23rd minute after Xavi Hernandez had mounted a swift counterattack before supplying Thierry Henry on the left. The France striker sent the ball across the goal for Eto'o to score from close range. The goal was Barcelona's 100th in official competitions this season. Eto'o doubled the lead in the 40th when he angled his shot home from a pass by Lionel Messi, taking his tally to 21 goals this season. Right back Alves lashed a rising shot home from an angle after a charge into the penalty area to make it 3-0. Gijon midfielder Kike Mateo trimmed Barcelona's lead with a low shot from the edge of the area three minutes later. Resino, a former Atletico goalkeeper who left second division Castellon this week to replace the fired Javier Aguirre, saw Aguero open the scoring in the fourth minute of the game at Recreativo's Nuevo Colombino stadium. Aguero's passes then provided Forlan with angled shots which brought further goals in the 28th and the 36th minutes against a Recreativo side which had won its previous four home games. Atletico's victory was its first in six matches and lifted it into sixth place with 35 points. Villarreal striker Giuseppe Rossi scored twice to help his fifth-place team beat struggling Numancia for only its second win in nine league games.
