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In the open match held at the "El Madrigal" stadium, both goals were scored in the second half, with goals from Robert Pires and Marcos. Meanwhile, the "Barcelona" players failed to break through the impressive goalkeeper Sebastiano Viera.
Before that, in the first half, the home team had good opportunities with Diego Forlan and Josico, but the most praise was deservedly earned by S. Viera, who in the first half saved three shots from Samuel Eto'o and defended against one attempt by Ronaldinho who broke through in front of the goalkeeper. In addition, in the first half, S. Eto'o missed with his head when free.
In the second half, after ten minutes of excellent combination play, the hosts were led by R. Pires. After the goal, "Barcelona" attacked, leaving more space in their own half. With six minutes left to play, the hosts took advantage of this, as Marcos scored to double the lead after a pass from Cani.
Although at the end of the match Ronaldinho beat S. Vieira with a penalty kick, the ball hit the crossbar.
"There is no clear favorite to win the title," said "Barcelona" coach Frank Rijkaard after the match. "We started the game well, had opportunities but failing to capitalize on them always creates problems."
After these matches, "Barcelona" remained the leaders of the championship, followed by "Sevilla" two points behind, Madrid "Real" two points further back having beaten "Valencia" 2-1 on Saturday. There are seven rounds left until the end of the championship.
In the matches held in Seville, in the ninth minute, Brazilian Luis Fabiano missed an eleven-meter penalty, but in the second half he redeemed himself - at first, he made an assist to Alexander Kerzhakov, then defender Antonio Puerta scored. With a productive pass, the Brazilian contributed to the third goal of the match, scored by Ernesto Chevanton, and towards the end of the match L. Fabiano scored himself, restoring a three-goal margin after Francisco Yeste had reduced the deficit.
Two goals from the Brazilian Ewerthon against Vigo "Celta" allowed "Zaragoza" to equal points with fourth-placed "Valencia". The striker appeared on the field only after a substitution but managed to score twice in four minutes of the second half.
A very important victory in the race for a spot in the UEFA Cup qualifiers was won at home by Huelva's "Recreativo", beating Racing Santander 4-2 who were previously above them in the standings.
The match in Barcelona between "Espanyol" and Seville's "Betis" was very tumultuous, with four players being sent off, and the equalizer was scored by the hosts in the fifth minute of stoppage time, converting a penalty kick.
Statistics:
"Villarreal" 2 - 0 "Barcelona"
56' [1 - 0] Robert Pires
85' [2 - 0] Marcos
"Sevilla" 4 - 1 "Athletic Bilbao"
49' [1 - 0] Alexander Kerhzakov
54' [2 - 0] Antonio Puerta
69' [3 - 0] Ernesto Chevanton
77' [3 - 1] Francisco Yeste
82' [4 - 1] Luis Fabiano
Deportivo La Coruna 1 - 0 Osasuna Pamplona
90' [1 - 0] Alberto Lopo
Levante Valencia 1 - 1 Getafe Madrid
4' [1 - 0] Riga Mustapha
57' [1 - 1] David Belenguer
Pablo Cavallero was sent off from the field in the 90th minute ("Levante")
Espanyol Barcelona 2 - 2 Betis Sevilla
9' [1 - 0] Albert Riera
45' [1 - 1] Edu
77' [1 - 2] Edu
90+5' [2 - 2] Raul Tamudo (penalty)
Walter Pandiani was sent off from the field in the 45th minute ("Espanyol")
Pedro Contreras and Miguel Angel were sent off in the 90+2 minute ("Betis")
Edu was sent off in the 90+4 minute ("Betis")
Mallorca 1 - 0 Gimnastic Tarragona
21' [1 - 0] Victor
Zaragoza 2 - 0 Celta Vigo
72' [1 - 0] Ewerthon
76' [2 - 0] Ewerthon
Recreativo Huelva 4 - 2 Racing Santander
2' [1 - 0] Ichechukwu Uche
8' [1 - 1] Gonzalo Colsa
32' [2 - 1] Pablo Amo
39' [3 - 1] Santi Cazorla
65' [4 - 1] Laurentiu Rosu
66' [4 - 2] Nikola Zigic
Ruben was sent off in the 77th minute ("Racing")
Tournament table
