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After a few weeks of festive break, the battle in the Spanish championship was renewed and on Saturday the 17th round matches were played, in which unexpected results were recorded. The championship leaders "Sevilla" had to admit defeat to the hosts "Zaragoza", Madrid's "Atletico" at home failed to overcome the tournament outsider Taragona's "Gimnastic", and San Sebastian's "Real Sociedad" ended Pamplona's "Osasuna" winning streak.
In the match held in Saragossa, the hosts took the lead already in the 14th minute, when former Madrid "Real" defender Carlos Diogo directed the corner kick into the goal with his head after the Argentine Andrés D'Alessandro lifted the ball.
Less than ten minutes later, the visitors could have equalized, but Luis Fabiano's shot from a sharp angle flew past the goal, and before the end of the first half, the top scorer of the Spanish championship Frederic Kanoute had two good opportunities, but once the "Zaragoza" goalkeeper defended the goal, and in the next episode the striker of the Mali national team missed the target.
Although the championship leaders had territorial advantage and attacked more, after the break the second goal fell into their net. Following the counterattack initiated by C. Diogo and the pass from the side, Diego Milito's shot was deflected by Andrés Palop, but he failed to successfully punch the ball, and the Argentine scored his 12th goal of the season. However, Sevilla's fans were unhappy with the referee's decision, as they believed that D. Milito's ball was stopped by hand.
After ten minutes, the score did not become overwhelming, as in a situation very similar to the first goal, Juanfran shot over the goal.
Realizing that they could lose their leadership position, the Sevilla players attacked even harder, and halfway through the second half, only the "Zaragoza" goalkeeper Cesar defended the goal after Luis Fabiano's header.
However, after a few minutes, after a brilliant run by Daniel Alves on the right side and an even better pass from the side, L. Fabiano softened the result with his second attempt.
Sevilla could have equalized, but with ten minutes left to play, after F. Kanoute's pass with the ball towards the goalkeeper, L. Fabiano decided not to pass to the more open J. Chevanton, but outsmart the goalkeeper himself. However, Cesar reacted well and took the ball from under the Brazilian's feet.
Although Sevilla heavily besieged Cesar's goal, they failed to score the equalizing goal, and at the end of the match emotions erupted on the sidelines, as the goal scorers C. Diogo and L. Fabiano clashed. Both were shown a red card, and their actions will be further evaluated by the disciplinary committee.
In the match held in Madrid, "Atletico" dominated against their opponents from Taragona, but the reliable goalkeeper Ruben Perez did not allow players like Fernando Torres and Mista who had two good opportunities each, nor the goalkeeper's reaction was tested by Sergio Aguero, Mariano Pernia, Jurado and Luciano Galletti. Moreover, the visitors were close to scoring after Dias' shot, but his attempt was successfully blocked by Leo Franco.
In the emotionally charged third Saturday matches, "Real Sociedad" managed to beat the higher-ranked "Osasuna" from Pamplona. The hosts could take the lead already in the 14th minute, but Ricardo defended in time against Aramburu and Jesuli's attacks.
However, Ricardo could do nothing after five minutes, when a penalty kick of eleven meters was awarded against him for the foul on Darko Kovacevic, which was successfully converted by the goalkeeper Xabi Prieto.
"Osasuna's situation worsened in the middle of the first half when their coach Jose Angel Ziganda saw a red card. The Spaniard stopped a ball that had not yet gone out of the field and was expelled to the stands. For defending his coach, Madrid's "Real" player Roberto Soldado also received a yellow card.
The second half started with dangerous attacks from the hosts, but after receiving passes from Flano and S. Milosevic, the goalkeeper from the Iranian national team, Javad Nekounam, missed the goal.
The visitors managed to equalize in the second half after playing for ten minutes, when the young star of "Osasuna" Raul Garcia defeated the "Real Sociedad" goalkeeper Claudio Bravo with a long shot.
Although the visitors attacked more and had territorial advantage, "Real Sociedad" often sent high balls into the penalty area, where S. Milosevic often posed a threat. "Real Sociedad" smiled in the final minutes of the match, when M. Aranburu defeated Ricardo from close range, and the goal was counted despite the protests of the fans and "Osasuna" players regarding the missed offside.
Statistics:
Madrid's "Atletico" 0 - 0 Taragona's "Gimnastic"
88` Gabi sent off the field ("Atletico")
San Sebastian's "Real Sociedad" 2 - 1 Pamplona's "Osasuna"
20` [1 - 0] Xavier Prieto (penalty)
56` [1 - 1] Raul Garcia
89` [2 - 1] Mikel Aranburu
"Zaragoza" 2 - 1 "Sevilla"
13` [1 - 0] Carlos Diogo
51` [2 - 0] Diego Milito
70` [2 - 1] Luis Fabiano
90` Carlos Diogo sent off the field ("Zaragoza")
90` Luis Fabiano sent off the field ("Sevilla")
Sunday matches:
Villarreal - Valencia
Deportivo - Real
Betis - Celta
Mallorca - Athletic Bilbao
Espanyol - Recreativo
Levante - Racing Santander
Getafe - Barcelona
Standings:
