• La Liga

Barcelona's record winning streak comes to an end

February 12, 2011
Gerard Pique suffered without the aid of Carles Puyol in the heart of the Barcelona defence © PA Photos
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Barcelona's record run of 16 consecutive La Liga victories came to an end at El Molinon on Saturday night as the Spanish league leaders were held to a 1-1 draw by Sporting Gijon.

Poor defending from Gerard Pique and Gabriel Milito let Gijon striker David Barral in to score in the 16th minute and the relegation-threatened side had to withstand a barrage of Barcelona attacks for the rest of the match.

Barcelona were finally rewarded for their almost complete domination when David Villa scored with a brilliant chip with ten minutes remaining against his former club. Pedro hit the post late on but Sporting held on the deny Pep Guardiola's side all three points.

The defeat gives second-placed Real Madrid a chance to cut Barca's lead to five points with a win at Espanyol on Sunday. And, more importantly, the result could affect the Spanish champions' confidence ahead of Wednesday's Champions League first leg at Arsenal.

Sporting had lost 1-0 at the Camp Nou earlier this season, but were later accused by Madrid coach Jose Mourinho of facilitating a Barcelona victory by resting eight first-team players for that clash.

Sporting coach Manolo Preciado defended himself vehemently against those accusations, and Saturday's draw will go some way to silencing Mourinho's complaints.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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