Barca beat Gijon 3-1 without Messi

 　　MADRID, March 3 (Xinhua) -- FC Barcelona survived being without the suspended Leo Messi and playing the second half of their game with 10 men after Gerard Pique¹ was sent off to defeat Sporting Gijon 3-1 in the Camp Nou.

　　The win takes Barca to within seven points of Real Madrid, who entertain Espanyol on Sunday.

　　Sporting coach Javier Clemente began the game without a striker in his side and a packed defense² to try and stop Barcelona.

　　The Catalans had two good penalty appeals turned down in the first half before Andres Iniesta opened the scoring following a typical slide-rule move from the reigning³ league champions.

　　The game looked to be clearly going Barca's way, but it changed radically⁴ in the first minute of the second half, when Gerard Pique was sent off for supposedly bringing down Miguel de las Cuervas. It looked a harsh decision and more so when David Barral turned home a low cross from the resulting free kick.

　　Barca lost their shape and were unable to break down a well organized Sporting until Keita scored a fine left foot shot with 11 minutes remaining. It was his first league goal of the season.

　　Xavi Hernandez sealed the win after linking with Andres Iniesta two minutes from time. The midfielder took a magnificent through ball and clipped the ball over the keeper into the net.

　　Sevilla and Atletico Madrid drew 1-1 in a game between two sides with European ambitions. Eduardo Salvio scored a neat header after nine minutes to put the visitors ahead, but Baba Diawara equalized with his first goal for Sevilla eight minutes into the second half.

　　Rayo Vallecano came back from 2-0 down to notch⁵ an impressive 4-2 win at home to relegation⁶ haunted Racing⁷ Santander. Racing found themselves down to 10 men in just the second minute after goalkeeper Tono was shown a direct red card, but took a surprise lead through Marc Torrejon and Gustavo Colsa.

　　However, as they tired Rayo roared back into the game. Michu scored just before halftime and netted a second to level the game at 2-2, before Raul Tamudo and Piti assured the win.

　　Mallorca and Osasuna drew 1-1 with Emilio Nsue's second half strike cancelling out Alvaro Cejudo's opener for the visitors.

　　Meanwhile Malaga moved into the top four after fighting back from a goal down to win 3-1 in Getafe. Diego Castro put Getafe ahead towards the end of the first half, but magnificent goals from Eliseu Pereira, Jeremy Toulalan and Santi Cazorla gave Malaga their reward for a much improved second half display.

1 pique   

v.伤害…的自尊心，使生气 n.不满，生气

参考例句：

• She went off in a fit of pique.她一赌气就走了。
• Tom finished the sentence with an air of pique.汤姆有些生气地说完这句话。

2 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

3 reigning   

adj.统治的，起支配作用的

参考例句：

• The sky was dark, stars were twinkling high above, night was reigning, and everything was sunk in silken silence. 天很黑，星很繁，夜阑人静。
• Led by Huang Chao, they brought down the reigning house after 300 years' rule. 在黄巢的带领下，他们推翻了统治了三百年的王朝。

4 radically   

ad.根本地，本质地

参考例句：

• I think we may have to rethink our policies fairly radically. 我认为我们可能要对我们的政策进行根本的反思。
• The health service must be radically reformed. 公共医疗卫生服务必须进行彻底改革。

5 notch   

n.(V字形)槽口，缺口，等级

参考例句：

• The peanuts they grow are top-notch.他们种的花生是拔尖的。
• He cut a notch in the stick with a sharp knife.他用利刃在棒上刻了一个凹痕。

6 relegation   

n.驱逐，贬黜；降级

参考例句：

• Liaoning team lost this game, is still deeply avoid relegation zone. 辽宁队本场失利后，仍然深陷保级区。 来自互联网
• In society, relegation is based on your income. 社会上的规类是以你的收入为基准。 来自互联网

7 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。