Madrid: Barcelona survived a tough contest and the absence of Lionel Messi as David Villa's second-half goal earned the Spanish champions a 1-0 win over Sporting Gijon on Wednesday.
Daniel Alves played Villa through on goal in the 50th minute and the Barcelona striker made no mistake as he shot over goalkeeper Ivan Cuellar for the only goal at the Camp Nou stadium.
Barcelona dominated play but lacked the cutting edge in front of goal that Messi usually provides, as the Argentina forward missed the match with an ankle injury. "A player like Leo you always miss, there's no doubt," Villa said.
Aritz Aduritz scored with an 84th-minute header as Valencia rallied for a 1-1 draw against Atletico Madrid, which had gone ahead through Simao Sabrosa's goal in the 18th.
Valencia joined leader Real Madrid, which beat Espanyol 3-0 on Tuesday, on 10 points as the pair lead Barcelona by one in the standings. Sevilla, Atletico Madrid and Athletic Bilbao have seven each.
Sergio Gonzalez scored with a fierce shot at the edge of the area in the 39th minute to give Levante its first victory of the season in a 1-0 result at Almeria, which remained in the bottom three without a win.
Zaragoza is also still looking for a first win following a 0-0 draw against Hercules, which has not won since its shock victory over Barcelona.
Like Madrid a night earlier, Barcelona had difficulty imposing itself on its opponent in the first half as it played the first of at least two games without Messi, who was injured against Atletico on Sunday.
Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola said recent international breaks and a busy schedule were taking their toll on Barcelona and rival Madrid. "The big teams are used to this. More than games, we're lacking training time but the calendar is such," Guardiola said before applauding his opponent. "Sporting were extraordinary in defense."
The Catalans dominated possession but couldn't beat Cuellar, who kept out Villa's deflected shot in the sixth and another effort by the Spain striker in the 20th with Sporting striker Mate Bilic rolling a chance wide in-between.
Maxwell was tripped up along the Sporting goal line but play continued in the 29th as Sporting survived while looking dangerous on the counter. "Xavi and Andres were well-marked in the first half and left with little space to move," Villa said.
Villa flashed another chance across goal in the 32nd and then found the side netting in the 44th after Andres Iniesta put him clear. Tempers flared at halftime after a number of tough challenges, including one by Bilic on Carles Puyol for a yellow card.
Puyol struggled with a leg problem and was replaced by Gerard Pique at the restart, as Daniel Alves' perfectly curled through ball left Villa one-on-one with Cuellar to open the scoring.
Xavi and Daniel Alves provided runs for Villa and substitute Pedro Rodriguez while Sporting didn't manage one shot to trouble Victor Valdes. Sporting smothered many of the hosts' chances as Villa was the main offensive threat with Messi watching from the stands.
"The important thing is to have chances," said Villa, who scored his second of the season. "And when you have them sometimes they go in and sometimes they don't."
Atletico was without striker Sergio Aguero (leg) and midfielder Tiago at the Mestalla stadium. But it was goalkeeper David De Gea who saved a point for Atletico with late stops after the visitors had gone ahead when Diego Forlan curled a long ball to Antonio Lopez to center to Simao for the Portuguese player's second of the season.
A confident Atletico then limited Valencia to a shot by Juanma Mata that rolled wide in the 42nd. Valencia 'keeper Cesar Sanchez denied Forlan in the 56th as the action raced from end-to-end, with Joaquin Sanchez feeding Mata right after only for De Gea to tip the Spain forward's hard shot wide.
Hedwiges Maduro poked away from Forlan as he looked to race clear on Sanchez in the 59th before De Gea made back-to-back saves from Robert Soldado, showing quick reflexes to stop a 74th-minute header.
Mata was booked soon after as he appealed for a penalty after a run-in with De Gea over a loose ball. The teenage goalkeeper was helpless as Aduritz got over Luis Perea to turn David Albelda's cross into the bottom corner.
"We played a great game in a tough stadium," De Gea said. "The team worked well and that early goal helped us."
In Tuesday's other games, Athletic Bilbao beat Mallorca 3-0 and Osasuna was a 3-1 winner over Real Sociedad. On Thursday, it's: Sevilla vs. Racing Santander; Getafe vs. Malaga; and Villarreal vs. Deportivo La Coruna.
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