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On Sunday, the remaining matches of the 18th round of the Spanish championship ("La Liga") were played. The first points at home this season were lost by Pamplona's "Osasuna", while the intriguing duel between "Villarreal" and Madrid's "Real" ended goalless.
The goalless draw at "El Madrigal" stadium reflects the picture on the pitch - both teams failed to capitalize on several created opportunities and now "Villarreal" lags behind leaders "Barcelona" by 12 points, and "Real" - by 13 points.
"Villarreal's" star could have put the hosts ahead midway through the first half, but his shot was deflected off the post. Soon after, Diego Forlan also failed to capitalize on opportunities. Meanwhile, the best chances to score within "Real" came from Zinedine Zidane and Julio Baptista. Not only did "Real" lose two points, but their mood was further worsened by the return of the Brazilian Ronaldo's injury. Playing with partially healed injury, the Brazilian left the field before the end of the first half, and he was replaced by Brazilian right-back Cicinho, making his debut for "Real".
Unexpectedly, the first points at home this season were lost by the surprise of the season, Pamplona's "Osasuna", which played 1-1 against "Racing Santander", who defeated Madrid's "Real" footballers in the previous round.
The French goalkeeper put the hosts ahead in the middle of the first half with an impressive penalty kick, but Santander's forward Antonito equalized after Damia Abella's pass just before the end of the first half, signaled by the referee's whistle.
In the last round of matches in Madrid, "Atletico" and "Valencia" failed to score, allowing "Barcelona" to distance themselves by five points from second-placed "Osasuna", and by ten points from third-placed "Valencia".
Surprisingly, on Sunday, the bottom-ranked "Cadiz" players celebrated a minimal victory over the Madrid-based "Getafe" team, who have surprised experts this year.
"Malaga" took advantage of the opponents' failures and defeated "Sevilla" 3-1, bringing them closer to the teams occupying the third to sixth places in the table, undoubtedly aiming to fight for spots in the European tournaments.
Victories were also achieved on Sunday by "Zaragoza", who defeated the tournament's underdogs Vitoria's "Alaves" 2-0 as guests, and Vigo's "Celta", who won at home with a minimal result against "Real Sociedad" by 1-0. Meanwhile, the match between "Mallorca" and "Sevilla" ended in a 1-1 draw.
Sunday's Stats:
0 - 0 Madrid's "Real"
1 - 0 Madrid
35' [1 - 0] Nenad Mirosavljevic (penalty kick)
79' Fabian Estoyanoff ("Cadiz") and David Belenguer ("Getafe") were sent off
Pamplona 1 - 1
29' [1 - 0] Ludovic Delporte
45' [1 - 1] Antonito
1 - 1 Seville
29' [1 - 0] Jonas Gutierrez
36' [1 - 1] Robert
Vitoria 0 - 2
46' [0 - 1] Diego Milito
85' [0 - 2] Ewerthon
3 - 1
33' [1 - 0] Enzo Marseca
49' [1 - 1] Salva Ballesta
66' [2 - 1] Adriano Correia
69' [3 - 1] Ivica Dragutinovic
Vigo 1 - 0 San Sebastiano
25' [1 - 0] Nestor Fabian Canobbio
Madrid 0 - 0
Top Scorers:
1. Samuel Eto'o (Barcelona) - 18 goals;
2-3. David Villa (Valencia) - 10;
2-3. Ronaldinho (Barcelona) - 10;
4-5. Ronaldo (Real Madrid) - 9;
4-5. Diego Tristan (Deportivo) - 9;
6-9. Juan Roman Riquelme (Villarreal) - 7;
6-9. Fernando Baiano (Celta) - 7;
6-9. Diego Milito (Zaragoza) - 7;
6-9. Ewerthon (Zaragoza) - 7;
League Table
