Barcelona 1-0 win at Sporting, Real crush Espanyol

An early goal by Adriano proved enough for Barcelona to win 1-0 at Sporting Gijon on Sunday and return to the top of the Spanish league standings

Real Madrid kept pace at the top as Gonzalo Higuain netted a hat trick in a 4-0 win at Espanyol to stay a point behind Barcelona and surprise package Levante, which continued its fine start to the season with a 1-0 win at Real Betis.
Barcelona has 14 points, ahead of Levante on goal difference. Malaga and Valencia, which had wins over Getafe and Granada respectively on Saturday, are level with Madrid on 13 points.
Also Sunday, Sevilla drew 0-0 at Atletico Madrid and Athletic Bilbao won 2-1 at Real Sociedad for its first league victory of the season.
Adriano fired the winner in the 12th minute for Barcelona after Xavi's shot hit the post. Barcelona had few problems securing the win against the league's bottom club despite a lackluster second-half performance.
"There weren't any spaces because they kept it very tight,'' said Barcelona coach Josep Guardiola. "We had a good first half an hour. After, we weren't brilliant because of Sporting's good play, but we were in control and they didn't have any chances against us.''
Guardiola opted for the 3-4-3 formation he has experimented with several times this season for the trip to Gijon.
Captain Carles Puyol started on the bench after picking up a right side injury in the Champions League last week, with usual center back partner Gerard Pique, who has had his own injury problems recently, also a substitute.
David Villa seemed the most likely candidate to give Barcelona an early lead as he looked for a goal against the club where he began his career as a youth player.
Villa thrashed a left-footed shot narrowly over the bar in the 10th and was denied twice in less than a minute shortly after when Sporting goalkeeper Juan Pablo blocked his shot and the Spain striker screwed a shot wide from a follow-up chance.
Sporting had barely touched the ball when Barcelona scored. Xavi received the ball 30 yards (meters) from goal and cracked a shot that hit the post and rebounded to Adriano to finish first time into the far corner.
"The important thing is the victory. This team at home always makes for a difficult match and we knew we would have to fight until the end,'' said Adriano. "We suffered a bit, but it was worthwhile. We came out with three golden points.''
Barcelona monopolized possession as expected, but Sporting striker Oscar Trejo headed weakly wide in the 22nd minute and Roberto Canella finally gave Victor Valdes some exercise with a shot in first-half stoppage time.
Barcelona had drawn its last two away matches and seemed content to hold the ball in a second half of few clear openings.
Eric Abidal limped off with an apparent thigh injury and was replaced by Maxwell in the 56th to add to Barcelona's injury woes. Pique replaced Pedro soon after as Guardiola reverted to a more familiar 4-3-3 formation to see the game out.
Real Madrid was made to work hard to get the better of Espanyol but accelerated in the latter stages to stay in touch at the top.
"One point is one point, not 10. While we are separated by few points there's no reason to worry too much,'' said Madrid coach Jose Mourinho. "Obviously, I'd like to be a point in front, but a point is nothing. The team that deserves all the attention is Levante.''
Mourinho kept faith with Brazilian striker Kaka alongside Mesut Oezil in the attack, with Sergio Ramos and Raul Albiol chosen in the center of defense.
The opening goal came from a counter attack, with Kaka feeding Cristiano Ronaldo and the Portuguese forward rolling the ball into Higuain's path for a first-time finish in the 16th minute.
Espanyol had almost taken the lead moments before when Romaric lashed a loose ball at goal from just inside his own half. Iker Casillas was well off his line and well beaten but the ball went just wide.
Sergio Garcia and Javi Marquez forced saves from Casillas as Espanyol proved a handful for the Madrid defense in the first half.
Higuain gave Madrid breathing space with another first-time rocket into the top corner from Alvaro Arbeloa's pass in the 66th to break the Espanyol resistance.
"The 4-0 is a result of the 2-0,'' Mourinho said. "That finished the game. They tried, they took risks and with the spaces it was easier to increase the advantage.''
Ronaldo laid on the third for Jose Callejon in the 82nd and Higuain rounded off victory with a deft chip just before the end to consign his injury-interrupted start to the season to memory.
"I suffered a lot to get back playing, I recovered as soon as I could and now I'm happy to be able to play a game like this,'' Higuain said.
Earlier Sunday, a first-half goal by Juanlu gave Levante a 1-0 win at Real Betis on Sunday in a match between two surprise early pacesetters in the Spanish league.
Juanlu scored in the 33rd minute to moved Levante to 14 points - equal with Barca and one ahead of Malaga and Valencia, which both had wins on Saturday.
"It's nice (to be top of the league), but it's anecdotal,'' said Levante coach Juan Ignacio Jimenez. "The run we are in is super-difficult and above all today against an opponent that has such a good team.''
Newly promoted Betis started the weekend as league leader but remained on 12 points after its first home defeat of the season.
Sevilla also moved to 12 points after a scoreless draw at Atletico Madrid.
Former Arsenal forward Jose Antonio Reyes had a clear opportunity to break the deadlock for Atletico, but curled his shot wide despite having time and space, 12 yards (meters) out.
"We put out more onto the pitch than Sevilla and we were worthy of the victory, but analyzing the work of the team, I can only thank my players for the effort they made,'' said Atletico coach Gregorio Manzano, who moved from Sevilla to Madrid in the offseason.
The draw left Atletico in midtable with eight points.
In San Sebastian, Llorente opened the scoring in the 34th minute with a smart turn in the box to give Athletic a halftime lead in the Basque derby against Sociedad.
Inigo Martinez scored the equalizer with an impressive effort from the halfway line in the 61st, but Llorente gave Athletic coach Marcelo Bielsa his first league win since joining the club in the offseason with his second from a 70th-minute volley.
In Saturday's results, it was: Racing Santander 1, Rayo Vallecano 1; Villarreal 2, Zaragoza 2; Osasuna 2, Mallorca 2; Valencia 1, Granada 0 and Malaga 3, Getafe 2.