Four first-half goals lead Barcelona over Nou Camp

Nov 8, 2008 - 11:25 PM By PA SportsTicker

Samuel Eto'o struck four first-half goals as Barcelona thrashed Real Valladolid, 6-0, at the Nou Camp on Saturday night.

The Cameroon striker was left on the bench for Tuesday night's Champions League draw at home to Basle but was restored to the starting lineup for this match by coach Pep Guardiola and fired a brilliant quadruple in the first half to set Barcelona on its way to an eighth successive Primera Liga victory.

Eto'o opened the scoring after 12 minutes, adding a second on the half-hour mark and completing his hat trick in the lead-up to halftime.

The African striker then added a fourth goal a minute before the interval to round off a superb first half for the Catalan side.

Eidur Gudjohnsen and Thierry Henry also netted a late one to complete a fantastic win for Guardiola's side.

Gonzalo Higuain struck all four goals as 10-man Real Madrid won an astonishing encounter, 4-3, against Malaga at the Bernabeu.

Higuain was the star man on a crazy night in the Spanish capital, which saw Madrid trail three times and have Sergio Ramos sent off in the first half before the champions finally prevailed to claim its seventh win of the season.

The match was a rollercoaster affair that also produced three penalties, eight yellow cards and enough incident to ensure the encounter will be talked about for a long time to come.