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In the Sunday's matches of the Spanish league, eight games of the 20th round were played, after which the league leaders "Barcelona" and "Sevilla" increased their lead over pursuers by three points each. "Getafe" jumped to seventh place, absolute underdog "Gimnastic" unexpectedly achieved a crushing victory, while "Valencia" lost to "Betis" in Seville.
The first of the leaders to play was the team of "Sevilla", which traveled to Valencia to meet the local "Levante". The guests were taken ahead in the 35th minute by the league's top scorer Frederic Kanoute, and after the break, the lead of "Sevilla" was further increased by the goals of the new team member Aleksandr Kerzhakov and a goal by Damiano Tommasi into his own net.
"Levante" did not give up, and with two quick goals from Frederico Dehu and Gustavo Reggi, they regained hope. However, soon "Sevilla" secured the victory in the same way with a goal from Alejandro Alfaro. After this victory, which was the first of the year, the Sevilla team temporarily rose to the first place, but only until the match ended in Barcelona.
There, at the "Nou Camp" stadium, the title holders "Barcelona" met Vigo's "Celta", which was struggling at the bottom of the league table. In the first half, the Catalonians were taken ahead by a header from Javier Saviola, but in the middle of the second half, the score was leveled by Nene's penalty kick.
However, in the 78th minute, Sebastian Tamas fouled against Giovanni van Van Bronckhorst and "Barca" also earned a penalty, which was scored by Ronaldinho. As the match neared its end, Ludovic Giuly secured a 3-1 victory for the hosts after a counterattack. The Catalan club maintained its leadership position and now leads by one point against "Sevilla" and four points ahead of Madrid's "Real", which suffered another defeat on Saturday.
In the latest round of matches in Seville, the local "Betis", unexpectedly among the underdogs this year, played against "Valencia", who were fighting for a place in the top four. The visitors took the lead after David Villa's goal in the 10th minute, but just five minutes later, Brazilian Robert equalized, and 69 minutes into the game, the same home team player scored again and decided "Betis" victory.
Statistics of all Sunday's 20th round matches:
"Gimnastic" 4 - 0 "Espanyol" 9' [1 - 0] Javier Garcia Portillo 19' [2 - 0] Alejandro Campano (penalty) 26' [3 - 0] Antonio Pinilla 43' [4 - 0] Cesar Navas
"Real Sociedad" 0 - 2 "Athletic Bilbao" 12' [0 - 1] Andoni Iraola 69' [0 - 2] Andoni Iraola
"Levante" 2 - 4 "Sevilla" 35' [0 - 1] Frederic Kanoute 55' [0 - 2] Aleksandr Kerzhakov 66' [0 - 3] Damiano Tommasi (own goal) 68' [1 - 3] Frederic Dehu 73' [2 - 3] Gustavo Enrique Reggi 77' [2 - 4] Pablo Alfaro
"Zaragoza" 1 - 1 "Deportivo" 20' [0 - 1] Sebastian Taborda 78' [1 - 1] Diego Alberto Milito (penalty) 79' Sebastian Taborda ("Deportivo") sent off
"Getafe" 2 - 0 "Osasuna" 26' [1 - 0] Daniel Guiza 45' [2 - 0] Daniel Guiza 78' Josetxo ("Osasuna") sent off
"Mallorca" 2 - 1 "Recreativo" 38' [1 - 0] Sergio Ballesteros 45' [2 - 0] Jose Carlos Nunes 49' [2 - 1] Javi Guerrero 80' Sergio Ballesteros ("Mallorca") sent off
"Barcelona" 3 - 1 "Celta" 34' [1 - 0] Javier Saviola 67' [1 - 1] Anderson Nene (penalty) 78' [2 - 1] Ronaldinho (penalty) 86' [3 - 1] Ludovic Giuly
"Betis" 2 - 1 "Valencia" 10' [0 - 1] David Villa 15' [1 - 1] Robert 69' [2 - 1] Robert
