© EuroFootball.com
On Sunday, the matches in Spain were not characterized by productivity - even three games ended goalless. The most productive match took place in Barcelona, where European champions "Barcelona" defeated Spain's league outsiders "Gimnastic" from Tarragona 3-0 and returned to the top of the league table, which they now share with "Sevilla" and Madrid's "Real," who narrowly beat "Mallorca" with a one-goal difference on Sunday.
In San Sebastian 0 - 1 29` [0 - 1] David Villa
In the match in San Sebastian, Valencia players had the initiative, but the first goal was scored by the hosts when Gari Uranga redirected the ball into the goal after Darko Kovacevic's pass from the flank in the middle of the first half. However, the goal was disallowed for offside.
The only goal of the match was scored in the 29th minute when David Villa scored with a great shot. However, the goal scorer was substituted at the end of the first half, after being fouled for the second time in the match and unable to continue.
It is worth mentioning that in the second half, Brazilian newcomer Savio from "Real Sociedad" failed to capitalize on two good opportunities to equalize: once the ball hit Roberto Ayala, and the other - the crossbar.
3 - 0 Tarragona 18` [1 - 0] Javier Saviola 68` [2 - 0] Ludovic Giuly 81` [3 - 0] Andres Iniesta
In the starting lineup of "Barcelona," Argentine Javier Saviola started a match for only the second time this season, earning Frank Rijkaard's trust with six goals in the last three matches. However, Mexican Rafael Marquez, who has been making more mistakes than usual lately, did not make it to the starting lineup, and French Lilian Thuram returned to the lineup after an injury.
The hosts dominated the field from the first minute and took the lead in the 17th minute when Javier Saviola justified the coach's trust, being the first to react to a rebounding ball after a shot by Oleguer.
As the first half was coming to an end, the Argentine nearly doubled the score when to the amazement of all fans, he jumped over the covering defender and headed Deco's cross towards the goal, but the ball hit the crossbar.
In the second half, the score became 2-0 when after a melee in the penalty area, the ball bounced off the crossbar, and after Ludovic Giuly's shot, the ball bounced off "Gimnastic" defender Cesaro Navas and flew into the goal.
"Barcelona" continued to dominate the match and solidified their lead with less than ten minutes left when after a precise passing exchange with Eidur Gudjohnsen, Brazilian Ronaldinho tried to chip the "Gimnastic" goalkeeper. The goalkeeper managed to block the ball, but Andres Iniesta was the first to react and made the score crushing.
After this victory, "Barcelona" tied points with "Sevilla," who played a draw on Saturday, but lead due to a better goal difference. In addition, the European champions still have postponed matches against Seville's "Betis."
0 - 1 Madrid 76` [0 - 1] Jose Antonio Reyes
Although the match was more actively started by the home team, "Real" quickly took control and threatened the "Mallorca" goal with Robinho and Ruud van Nistelrooy within about ten minutes, but the latter failed to hit the ball.
In the second half, "Real" created two very dangerous episodes in a row: first, the Real newcomer Gonzalo Higuain forced the goalkeeper of the Reds to dive, and during the next attack, a shot by Sergio Ramos' head shook the crossbar.
The only goal of the match was scored with more than ten minutes left to play when a penalty kick was awarded to the "Mallorca" goal. Jose Antonio Reyes, who took the kick, accurately shot into the top corner of the goal, making the score 1-0.
Although "Mallorca" tried to attack more, they were completely unable to overcome the heavily fortified "Real" defense, so the score remained unchanged until the end of the match.
Statistics
"Deportivo" La Coruna 0 - 0 Barcelona "Espanyol"
"Getafe" Madrid 1 - 0 Vigo "Celta" 1` [1 - 0] Manu Del Moral 90` Pablo Contreras was sent off from the field ("Celta")
Valencia "Levante" 0 - 0 Bilbao "Athletic"
Seville "Betis" 1 - 1 Santander "Racing" 85` [0 - 1] Ezequiel Garay (pen.) 87` [1 - 1] Xisco
"Zaragoza" 0 - 0 Huelva "Recreativo"
Table
