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On Sunday, in the 33rd round of the "La Liga" matches played, home team Madrid's "Real" defeated the second-placed "Sevilla" footballers in a fierce and heated battle 3-2 and surpassed them.
At the "Santiago Bernabeu" stadium, the guests took the lead first when Italian Enzo Maresca scored a fantastic goal from outside the penalty box at the end of the first half. However, in the second half, captain Raul's field presence changed the course of the match.
Initially, the Spaniard made a great pass between several "Sevilla" defenders to let Ruud van Nistelrooy break through, and the Dutchman, finding himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper, successfully leveled the score. Soon after, for unknown reasons, a red card was shown to Brazilian Luis Fabiano sitting on the "Sevilla" bench.
Fifteen minutes later, in a very similar situation, Guti again split the entire "Sevilla" defense with a pass to Robinho, contributing to the second goal. Meanwhile, the Brazilian, celebrating his goal passionately, received referee's displeasure - he was shown a red card.
However, "Sevilla's" numerical advantage was very short-lived as defender Aitor Ocio saw a red card for fouling in the penalty box while waiting for a penalty kick.
With five minutes left to play, a shot from former "Sevilla" player Sergio Ramos was parried by Andres Palop from a sharp angle, but R.van Nistelrooy, the first to reach the ball, easily doubled "Real's" lead from a few meters away.
Although Uruguayan Javier Chevanton softened the score with an excellent penalty kick from more than 20 meters at the end of the match, it was all that "Sevilla" managed to achieve in the tense game.
"Zaragoza" had to settle for a draw with "Racing Santander," while "Valencia," currently in fourth place and aiming for a spot in next year's UEFA Champions League, is now five points ahead of fifth-placed "Zaragoza."
Meanwhile, on the other side of the standings, a significant step towards survival in the league was taken by "Levante," who defeated Taragona's "Gimnastic" 2-0 at home. The latter now need a miracle to avoid relegation to a lower league.
Madrid's "Getafe" entered the battle for spots in the UEFA Cup by defeating local rivals "Betis" 2-0 in Seville on Sunday. Interestingly, this was the first away win for Bernd Schuster's team since January.
Unexpectedly, "Mallorca" secured a home victory, defeating UEFA Cup semi-finalists Pamplona's "Osasuna" 3-1.
Meanwhile, Madrid's "Atletico," currently in sixth place, continued to drop points by losing 2-1 to UEFA Cup finalists Barcelona's "Espanyol."
Match statistics for Sunday:
Valencia's "Levante" 2 - 0 Tarragona's "Gimnastic" 28` [1 - 0] Cesar Navas 40` [2 - 0] Riga Mustapha
"Mallorca" 3 - 1 Pamplona's "Osasuna" 37` [1 - 0] Fernando Varela 60` [1 - 1] Raul Garcia 66` [2 - 1] Jonas Gutierrez 81` [3 - 1] Bosko Jankovic
Seville's "Betis" 0 - 2 Madrid's "Getafe" 16` [0 - 1] Daniel Guiza 34` [0 - 2] Francisco Casquero
"Zaragoza" 0 - 0 Santander's "Racing"
Huelva's "Recreativo" 0 - 0 Bilbao's "Athletic" 68` Fernando Amorebieta ("Athletic") sent off from the field
"Villarreal" 1 - 0 Vigo's "Celta" 68` [1 - 0] Guillermo Franco
Barcelona's "Espanyol" 2 - 1 Madrid's "Atletico" 9` [1 - 0] Moha 75` [2 - 0] Walter Pandiani 90+3` [2 - 1] Martin Petrov
63` Ito ("Espanyol") sent off from the field
Madrid's "Real" 3 - 2 "Sevilla" 41' [0 - 1] Enzo Maresca 63' [1 - 1] Ruud van Nistelrooy 78' [2 - 1] Robinho 85' [3 - 1] Ruud van Nistelrooy 90' [3 - 2] Ernesto Javier Chevanton
74' Luis Fabiano ("Sevilla"), 79' Robinho ("Real"), 83' Aitor Ocio ("Sevilla") sent off from the field
Tournament standings: [table=3]
