Jan. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Lionel Messi scored a late winner as Spanish league leader Barcelona rallied to beat bottom club Osasuna 3-2, while David Beckham made his Serie A debut in AC Milan’s 2-2 draw against AS Roma yesterday.
With Barcelona trailing 2-1 entering the last 10 minutes, Xavi put the teams level in his 300th league appearance before Argentina forward Messi unleashed an 84th-minute left-footed shot into the corner to secure the victory.
“The third goal was all about Messi and his quality,” Barca coach Pep Guardiola told Agence-France Presse after Messi’s 11th goal of the season.
Barcelona remains 12 points ahead of Real Madrid and, with one game to play, has matched Madrid’s record of 47 points halfway through the season. Defending champion Madrid set the record last campaign.
Madrid striker Raul scored on his 500th Primera Liga appearance for the club to help the defending champion to its first away win since October, a 3-0 victory at Mallorca. Arjen Robben and Sergio Ramos also got goals.
Madrid moves to 35 points, the same as Sevilla, with Valencia on 34, and Atletico Madrid, Villarreal and Deportivo La Coruna on 30 points.
In Saturday’s games, Sevilla beat Deportivo 3-1, while Valencia drew 3-3 against Villarreal. Atletico suffered a 3-2 home defeat yesterday to Athletic Bilbao.
Numancia beat Getafe 2-0, Malaga won 2-1 at Real Betis, Sporting Gijon defeated Valladolid 2-1, while Racing Santander and Recreativo Huelva drew 1-1. Espanyol drew 2-2 with Almeria.
‘Enjoyed It’
Beckham, on loan to Milan from L.A. Galaxy, was a surprise starter in Rome and played most of the draw at the Olympic stadium. He was substituted in the 88th minute.
“I enjoyed it immensely, I was surprised to start the game but given the chance I really enjoyed it,” Beckham told AFP.
Also yesterday, Juventus beat Siena 1-0 to cut Inter Milan’s Serie A lead to four points. Alessandro Del Piero scored from a 34th-minute free kick in Turin as Juventus took advantage of Inter being held to a 1-1 home draw by Cagliari a day earlier.
“There’s still a long way to go in the championship and we have to show that we deserve to be in this position,” Del Piero told AFP. “Today we won through stubbornness despite not playing very well.”
Inter has 43 points from 18 of 38 matches, Juventus has 39, AC Milan has 34 points and Napoli has 33 points.
Napoli beat Catania 1-0, Lecce won 2-1 at Fiorentina, Palermo defeated Atalanta 3-2, Udinese drew 1-1 against Sampdoria, while Lazio won 3-2 at Reggina. Bologna tied Chievo 1-1, and in Saturday’s other match, Genoa beat Torino 3-0.
