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Seydou Keita was the unlikely hero for Barcelona as his goal edged the Spanish champions past Real Zaragoza and ten points clear at the top of La Liga.

Keita struck two minutes before the break after Lionel Messi’s cross fell to him seven yards from goal and he swept it low into the net to give the Catalans a 1-0 victory at the Nou Camp.

Barcelona carved out a succession of chances but couldn’t find what would have been a decisive second, as Zaragoza offered them little danger on the counter attack.

It signalled a fourth straight victory for Pep Guardiola’s side who again extended the gap between themselves and Real Madrid in second. Jose Mourinho’s men can close to within seven points when they take on Racing Santander on Sunday.

Villarreal had their hopes of breaking into the top three of the Primera Division checked by a 3-1 defeat to Atletico Madrid at the Vicente Calderon.

Jose Antonio Reyes got the ball rolling after five minutes for Atletico before the dangerous Giuseppe Rossi brought parity to proceedings 10 minutes before half-time. Atletico’s highly-rated front two of Diego Forlan and Sergio Aguero then made their presence felt, scoring within four minutes of each other to ensure the home win.

Pablo Hernandez struck both goals as Valencia came from behind to win 2-1 against Real Mallorca to ensure they would finish the weekend still in third place in the standings.

Mallorca took a 31st-minute lead through an Ivan Ramis penalty but Valencia needed just two minutes to get back on level terms thanks to Pablo, who then struck the winning goal 11 minutes into the second half.

The victory means Valencia, who lost 1-0 at home to Barcelona on Wednesday, provisionally moved four points clear of fourth-placed Villarreal, who face a tough game at Atletico Madrid later on Saturday.

Mallorca, meanwhile, missed the chance to climb to within one point of the European places after slumping to their third defeat in four games.

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Luis Suarez has said derailing Manchester United’s title bid “would be a prize” for Liverpool ahead of the teams’ meeting at Anfield on Sunday.

Liverpool, trailing fourth-placed Chelsea by nine points, will need to take all three points if they are to maintain any realistic hope of qualifying for the Champions League, but Suarez has emphasised that the games provides the Reds with the chance to prevent United securing a record 19th title.

“Of course, we know how important this game is,” he said in the Liverpool Echo. “We know how important it is that United don’t win the title because of the rivalry between the teams. We have the same amount of titles. It would be a prize for us to stop them winning the league.

“I remember many years ago watching this game on television and being impressed by the partnership between Gerrard and Fowler. They were very good together.”

Suarez also revealed his Uruguay team-mate Diego Forlan, who famously scored both United’s goals in a 2-1 win over Liverpool in the 2002-03 season, had talked up the North-West derby.

“Diego told me that it is the most important game of the year for them as it is for us,” he said. “I know that of all the games in the season this is the one that both most want to win.

“To score in a game like this and help the team to win is something that as a player you always dream of, but my main objective is that the team keep on getting points.

“That the United fans still sing that for Diego shows the power of the fixture. It shows it is a very important game. I have played a lot of big derbies in Holland, Uruguay and for the national team against Argentina and Brazil, so I am calm.

“I am used to playing derbies, and these are the class of games you most want to play in in any competition – a derby between two really big teams both going for European places. That is why I came here.”

Andy Carroll, who joined Liverpool alongside Suarez at the end of the January transfer window, is expected to make his debut at the weekend.

“My impression is that he has a lot of quality,” Suarez said. “It is down to us as a group of players to help him fit in and ease him back.”

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Gareth Barry says his Manchester City team mates are 100% behind Kolo Toure who missed the 1-0 Premier League win over Wigan after failing a drugs test.

Toure, whose former manager Arsene Wenger had reported had taken a slimming tablet belonging to his wife, watched from the stands at the City of Manchester Stadium as David Silva scored the only goal.

Barry told ESPN: “Something like this doesn’t happen too often. We’re all behind Kolo and supporting him, we’re backing him 100%.”

Barry admitted Wigan had caused City problems after the break. “In the second half they really pinned us back,” he said. “There were signs the amount of games we’ve played in a short period of time might have caught us up.”

Team-mate Micah Richards added: “That’s why you need a big squad and that’s what we are trying to do here. The three points is what we deserve in the end.”

City manager Roberto Mancini admitted his players had lagged in the second half. “We played well and we had four or five chances to score but in the second half we were tired,” he said. “I think Wigan played very well in the second half.”

The main assist in the game came from Wigan goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi, who inexplicably allowed Silva’s shot to squirm from his grasp just before half-time, an incident that distressed the Oman custodian according to his manager Roberto Martinez.

“He was upset,” Martinez said. “He has been fantastic for us and will be again. Football is a game of errors and accidents happen. Now it is about how you react.”

For the second Saturday running, Martinez was complaining about the failure of an official to spot the severity of a foul on his player. The latest incident was nothing like as clear-cut as Wayne Rooney’s elbow on James McCarthy.

However, Martinez was adamant Micah Richards should have been sent off for a robust challenge on Tom Cleverley that only brought a yellow card.

“It was a straight red,” he said. “The result is so disappointing because the performance was really good. We controlled the tempo of the whole game. If we carry on with those standards until the end of the season, we will get the points we need.”

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Sunderland deny Gunners

Arsenal missed the chance to move within a point of Premier League leaders Manchester United as they were held to a 0-0 draw at home to Sunderland.

The Gunners, who saw United beaten in midweek, made a slow start and Wojciech Szczesny made a couple of early saves. Arsenal exerted more pressure on the game in the second half but found Sunderland ‘keeper Simon Mignolet in brilliant form. Mignolet made superb saves to thwart Nicklas Bendtner and Samir Nasri, while Marouane Chamakh thudded a header against the bar and Andrei Arshavin shot wide.

Banned Manchester City star Kolo Toure was in the stands to watch the Blues claim a 1-0 win against Wigan at Eastlands and close the gap on the Gunners.

The Ivorian has tested positive for a banned substance and could face anything up to a two-year suspension. But at least the scoreline would have lifted his spirits as goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi let David Silva’s shot squirm from his grasp seven minutes before the break.

City offered little after the break and, although Antolin Alcaraz hit the post and Conor Sammon had a great chance for Wigan at the death, the home side held their lead to secure all three points.

West Ham‘s revival in fortunes continued with a 3-0 win over a disappointing Stoke City. The Hammers were in real trouble at Christmas but have shown signs of life in recent weeks and they hauled themselves out of the bottom three with victory at the Boleyn Ground.

The opening goal on 21 minutes was a shade fortunate for the Hammers as Stoke ‘keeper Asmir Begovic came flying off his line only to get his wires crossed with Marc Wilson, and Demba Ba was on hand to tap home. There was nothing fortunate about the second as Thomas Hitzlsperger whipped in a free kick and Manuel Da Costa rose to head home.

Hitzlsperger has sparked a revival in West Ham since his return from injury and he crashed in a trademark bullet finish on 83 minutes to put some gloss on the scoreline.

Ashley Young missed a penalty as Bolton twice came from behind before snatching a 3-2 win over Aston Villa.

Darren Bent appears to be justifying his substantial transfer fee following his move from Sunderland and he fired Villa ahead early on, but the plaudits were taken by Kyle Walker who skipped between tackles before laying the ball on a plate for Bent.

Bent crashed a header against a post later in the first half and Villa were made to pay for not increasing their lead as Gary Cahill marched on to a Martin Petrov corner to level. Villa came out for the second half with real purpose and just past the hour mark Stewart Downing surged down the flank and teed up Marc Albrighton to level.

Young had a chance to seal the points when winning a penalty off David Wheater and taking it himself, but Jussi Jaaskelainen proved his equal by keeping it out.

Young was made to pay as Cahill grabbed his second of the game on 75 minutes. He powered a header from a corner which was superbly saved by Brad Friedel but Cahill reacted quickest to volley home – and it got worse for Villa four minutes from time as Ivan Klasnic netted the winner.

Everton battled back from a goal down to claim a 2-1 win at Newcastle. Toffees ‘keeper Tim Howard will be a relieved man as he spilled a shot from Kevin Nolan into the path of Leon Best who opened the scoring. But the magical feet of Mikel Artena created the equaliser. The Spaniard burst into the box and cut the ball back for Leon Osman to level.

Newcastle have for so often shown a frailty at set-pieces and they were undone on 36 minutes as Leighton Baines whipped in a devilish free-kick and Phil Jagielka drove in at the far post to slot home off the underside of the bar. Best thought he had rescued a point with a goal 10 minutes from time but his effort was ruled out for a foul.

Damien Duff scored twice against his former club and it helped Fulham claim a 3-2 win over Blackburn Rovers.

The last time Duff scored a brace was in 1997, when he was a Blackburn player, but he has shown real sharpness in front of goal this season and he opened the scoring on 37 minutes. Rovers were level a minute before the break when a free kick from Grant Hanley took a huge deflection off Brede Hangeland and beyond Mark Schwarzer.

Duff lashed home a fine drive on 59 minutes but they were pegged back again when David Hoilett levelled. However, Fulham continued to press forward and they were awarded a late penalty – which substitute Bobby Zamora slammed down the middle to clinch the three points.

Roy Hodgson celebrated his first win as West Brom boss as Birmingham suffered a massive Carling Cup hangover in the relegation battle – losing 3-1 at St Andrew’s. With West Ham winning, Birmingham tumbled into the bottom three.

Goals from Youssouf Mulumbu, James Morrison and Paul Scharner enabled the Baggies to leapfrog their local rivals in the battle for Premier League survival. All the home side could manage was a consolation effort from Jean Beausejour, as they paid the price for some uncharacteristic but sloppy defensive play.

The game burst into life at the start of the second half when Peter Odemwingie, who later missed a sitter, teed up Mulumbu for the opener. The celebrations had barely subsided when Beausejour drew Blues level. West Brom continued to carry the greater threat and Morrison fired home a stunner from 20 yards and with 18 minutes remaining Scharner headed home at the far post, although questions will be asked of keeper Ben Foster.

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EPL – Arsenal v. Sunderland – HIGHLIGHTS – 21 Mins – SETANTA – HTTP

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