Barcelona beats Osasuna 2-0 to go clear at top

MADRID (AP): Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Bojan Krkic scored as Barcelona beat Osasuna 2-0 to provisionally go three points clear at the top of the Spanish league Wednesday.

The Sweden striker stretched to tap Maxwell's cross in from close range in the 72nd minute, his first goal in open play since Feb. 14.

Krkic, who replaced Ibrahimovic for the last 20 minutes, met Andres Iniesta's cross in the 88th to make sure of the win. Barcelona has 71 points, with Real Madrid on 68 ahead of its visit to Getafe on Thursday.

"We have to make sure we get three points each game," said Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta. "We have to win whichever way we can because right next to us is a team that is playing very well."

Also Wednesday, David Villa scored his 18th goal of the season as Valencia beat Malaga 1-0. Valencia stayed third on 53 points.

Lionel Messi started alongside Ibrahimovic and Thierry Henry at the Camp Nou, despite reports that the Argentina striker might be rested after scoring 10 goals in four games.

Ibrahimovic came close in the second minute when he fooled his marker and curled a shot toward goal that Ricardo Lopez saved.

However, Barcelona struggled to find its usual passing game and the visitors had the best chances early on.

In the fourth, Victor Valdes had to pull off a fine save to deny the unmarked Krisztian Vadocz.

Barcelona's defense was then nearly caught out again when Masoud Soleimani crossed

unmarked from inside the area and Carles Puyol intercepted.

Barcelona eventually started to take control of possession and Ibrahimovic was unlucky when his goalbound shot bounced off a defender and over the bar in the 30th.

However, a well-organized Osasuna managed to keep Messi unusually quiet for much of the game as well as frustrating Henry, who was replaced by Pedro Rodriguez at halftime.

The substitution nearly broke the deadlock immediately, when Messi just failed to connect with Pedro's pass over the Osasuna defense.

The hosts started to threaten more often and Yaya Toure was well placed to shoot when he failed to control a wall pass off Ibrahimovic.

Twenty minutes from the end Seydou Keita came on for Sergio Busquets, who was on a yellow card.

The Mali midfielder drew a save from Lopez within seconds of coming on, when he headed Andres Iniesta's cross.

Messi's best chance of the game came when he cut inside and struck the post with his curling left-foot shot.