Henry’s hat-trick leads Barcelona to win

December 7, 2008

Thierry Henry’s hat trick led near-perfect Barcelona past Valencia 4-0 to extend its lead in Spain and stretch its unbeaten run to 20 games on Saturday.

An energized Henry, in one of his best performances away from Arsenal, opened in the 20th minute as the France striker used a quick touch to float in Yaya Toure’s long pass on the hop.

Henry ran onto a leading pass from Alexandre Hleb - who he also teamed with at Arsenal - eight minutes later and curled past goalkeeper Renan Soares. Henry’s last, in the 79th, was the easiest as he pushed in substitute Bojan Krkic’s pass for his seventh league goal.

Asked the secret to his improved form, Henry said, “I don’t know. Let’s hope it can stay like this, we’re enjoying it.”

Barcelona’s high-scoring attack has notched 44 goals from 14 games to lead Villarreal by six points with 35.

Earlier, Giuseppe Rossi scored a late equalizer as Villarreal rallied from a three-goal deficit to draw 3-3 with Getafe, and Sergio Aguero and Diego Forlan scored twice each as Atletico Madrid defeated Sporting Gijon 5-2 to stretch its unbeaten run to 12 games.

Real Madrid and Sevilla meet on Sunday with the loser in danger of slipping further in the title race. Two-time defending champion Madrid has 26 points and Sevilla 24, the same as Atletico.

Barcelona has hardly missed suspended striker Samuel Eto’o, who leads the league with 14 goals, as Daniel Alves held off Asier del Horno in the 46th minute to reach Xavi Hernandez’s precise through ball and score the third.

“We knew before the result of Getafe-Villarreal so we wanted to win this game,” Henry said. “We did it and we did it well.”

Xavi hit the post after two minutes while Renan denied clear chances from Lionel Messi and Hleb before coming out to poke away Messi, who came in clear on goal in the 68th

Barcelona’s defense, which has allowed only nine goals, cleared nearly every Valencia threat, with Villa coming closest with a wide header just after Henry’s opener. The Spain striker also hit over in the 67th.

Barcelona and Madrid meet in the league classico next Saturday with the Catalan club undefeated since a 1-0 opening day loss to 18th-placed Numancia.

“We haven’t won anything. We need to keep going and see what we can do,” Henry said.

Valencia, which lost for the first time on the road, has 27 points.

At El Molinon, Aguero found the net with a bicycle kick from close range two minutes after Mate Bilic had scored for Sporting in the fifth minute.

In the 41st, Aguero slid in the rebound from Diego Forlan’s hard shot for his seventh goal of the season.

Forlan stole the ball from Diego Camacho in the 57th to score with an angled shot under goalkeeper Ivan Cuellar, while Maxi Rodriguez continued the rout in the 72nd by poking in Aguero’s pass after both players had gone through on goal.

Forlan looked offside in the 82nd when he went clear to score his 10th goal of the season in a near identical copy of his first on Saturday.

Sporting’s David Barral scored from a hard shot in the 62nd.

At El Madrigal, Getafe went ahead when Esteban Granero chested Juan Angel Albin’s flicked-on cross in the 10th to volley into the far corner past goalkeeper Diego Lopez.

Seven minutes later, Jaime Gavilan volleyed home Cosmin Contra’s floating cross to deflate the hosts, who came in with an injury-hit squad and a leaky defense. Javier Casquero stepped up to slot Gavilan’s pass in at the far post to make it three in the 30th.

Getafe goalkeeper Roberto Abbondanzieri cleared straight into Robert Pires, who was credited with the 55th-minute goal before Uruguay international Eguren scored in the 83rd.

Italy striker Rossi swiveled to equalize in the 86th before hitting just wide of the far post four minutes later.

In Sunday’s other games, it’s: Mallorca vs. Recreativo Hueva; Osasuna vs. Valladolid; Deportivo La Coruna vs. Malaga; Numancia vs. Almeria; Racing Santander vs. Athletic Bilbao; and Real Betis vs. Espanyol.