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Real open five-point lead in La Liga as Barca lose

Real Madrid carved out a scrappy 3-2 win at Recreativo Huelva on Saturday to open up a five-point lead at the top of La Liga as rivals Barcelona crashed to a 4-2 defeat at Atletico Madrid.

In a wildly fluctuating game, Real were stunned when Recreativo defender Martin Caceres latched onto a Carlos Martins free kick to give the hosts a dream start after 16 minutes.

However, Recreativo had only themselves to blame for allowing Real to equalize after 27 minutes.

A poor clearance by Huelva defender Iago Bouzon went straight to the feet of Royston Drenthe and the Dutch winger sent in a high ball into the area for Real captain Raul Gonzalez to head home.

Recreativo were then reduced to 10 men just five minutes after the break when their Portuguese international defender Beto was sent off after reacting to a Gabriel Heinze challenge, stabbing a finger in the Argentine's face.

They only stayed at a disadvantage for five minutes before Sergio Ramos got his second yellow card.

The dismissals continued when Recreativo's Quique Alvarez was shown a direct red card by referee Eduardo Iturralde Gonzalez for a wild tackle on Arjen Robben after 67 minutes.

Robinho then put Real ahead after 72 minutes just seconds after coming on the pitch, picking up a loose ball and squeezing it between Recreativo keeper Stefano Sorrentino and his left post, and another a minute before the whistle.

Martins added Recreativo's second goal two minutes into injury time.

Atletico's win keeps them in fourth place, a position helped after Sevilla went down 2-1 at lowly Deportivo La Coruna.

Espanyol leap-frogged Sevilla into fifth place following their 2-0 win over slumping Valencia with a goal in each half from Luis Garcia.
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