Shaky Barca held by dogged Betis

Spanish La Liga: Real Betis 1, Barcelona 1Real Betis earned a precious point in their fight for survival as they held Barcelona to a draw in a hard-fought Primera Liga encounter in the Ruiz de Lopera last night.

The home side took the lead just before the break through Robert, but the visitors earned a share of the spoils when Rafael Marquez levelled in the second half.

Frank Rijkaard's side will be content with the draw as it edges them one point clear at the top of the table, but question marks will remain over the performance.

During the opening period, the visitors were far from convincing and allowed Betis to lift their game in front of fervent supporters who are desperate to help lift the team away from the drop zone.

Luis Fernandez has instilled some steel into the Andalucian outfit since his arrival during the Christmas break and they more than held their own in the first 45 minutes.

While Barca struggled to produce their familiar passing game, they instead picked up a series of warranted yellow cards for fierce tackles. Bookings for Thiago Motta, Deco and Giovanni Van Bronckhorst gave an insight into the frustrations that the Catalan team are experiencing.

Their feelings were compounded eight minutes before half-time when a deep corner was nodded back across goal by Nano and Robert was left unmarked to head Betis into the lead fom close range.

But on the hour mark a corner from right was met by Márquez who headed home.