Barcelona's Eto'o goes from villain to victor
African Footballer of the Year Samuel Eto'o is a notoriously mercurial talent and he showed both facets of his playing skills in Barcelona's 4-1 win over Real Zaragoza.
African Footballer of the Year Samuel Eto'o is a notoriously mercurial talent and he showed both facets of his playing skills in Barcelona's 4-1 win over Real Zaragoza.
A shocking back pass from Eto'o after 14 minutes put David Villa in the clear and the Zaragoza striker, who got 17 goals last season, made no mistake to put the visitors ahead.
But the Cameroon captain then made amends in ample fashion by getting two goals to get Barca back in front.
Eto'o restored Barca to level terms 12 minutes after his monumental gaffe with a piece of individual brilliance, trapping a long ball forward on his chest and then taking three touches before unleashing a right foot thunderbolt from the edge of the area.
His second strike was less spectacular but equally effective, finding the net from close range just one minute into the second half, connecting with a Ronaldinho cross from wide out on the left.
Spanish international Xavi Hernandez emphasised Barca's dominance after their early scare by cracking home their third from 25 years after 67 minutes.
Barcelona could easily have had a fourth just moments later when Ronaldinho hit the post and it was due to the Brazilian's good work that Giovanni van Bronckhurst completed the rout, the Dutch defender getting a rare goal 12 minutes from time.
The win preserved Barcelona's unbeaten record and moves them up to second place, with 10 points from four games and just behind Valencia on the number of goals scored.
Eto'o had been under fire before the game, with his only goal of the season coming from the penalty spot in Barca's opening game of the season.
The Catalan media had been crying out for Eto'o to be dropped in favour of fellow summer signing Henrik Larsson, but Barca coach Frank Rijkaard showed again that it takes more than public pressure for him to change his mind.
"All Samuel needs is a goal to settle him. A bit of patience is all that is required," said Rijkaard on Wednesday.
Patience is not a virtue of the Nou Camp faithful, but just like last season when he took Barca from mid-table mediocrity to second in the Spanish first division, Rijkaard stuck by his guns and on Thursday it paid off.
Reigning Spanish champions Valencia showed that they are not going to give up their crown easily with a 5-1 thashing of fellow Champions League side Deportivo La Coruna, put them back on the top of the league on Wednesday.
It was the worst home defeat suffered by Deportivo in seven seasons.
"We had all the good luck and everything just went wrong for them. What happened out there wasn't normal," said Valencia coach Claudio Ranieri.
Real Madrid are in third with nine points following their unconvincing 1-0 win over Osasuna on Tuesday, the only goal of the game coming from a David Beckham free kick for the second time this season.