Kalu Uche headed in an 85th-minute equalizer on Sunday to give Almeria a 2-2 draw against 10-man FC Barcelona in the Spanish league.
The Nigeria striker got in front of defender Eric Abidal and headed in a corner that could damage Barcelona's title hopes.
Barcelona failed to take advantage of Real Madrid's 1-0 loss at Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday, only moving within seven points of their arch-rivals instead of five.
Madrid lead the league with 62 points, followed by Barcelona with 55 with 10 games remaining.
Bojan Krkic gave Barcelona the lead in the 17th minute. Andres Iniesta cut into the middle and hit a low shot that was saved Diego Alves, but the goalkeeper pushed the rebound straight into the path of Krkic.
Almeria equalized from a corner kick in the 33rd when Ruben Pulido sent an angled header past Victor Valdes.
Three minutes after replacing Edmilson, Thierry Henry beat Aitor Lopez Recarte with his first touch before feeding Samuel Eto'o in the 57th for a 2-1 lead.
But Barcelona were reduced to 10 men in the 72nd when Gabriel Milito tripped Juan Manuel Ortiz for his second booking.
Uche got over Carles Puyol two minutes after his goal but headed over the bar as ninth-ranked Almeria improved to 38 points.
Villarreal continued their good form with a 2-0 win over Zaragoza. Nihat Kahveci controlled Marcos Senna's long ball with his knee in the 11th then curled a right-footed shot over goalkeeper Julio Cesar Sanchez.
Giuseppe Rossi added the second goal from the penalty spot in the 65th to keep Villarreal, who are third with 53 points, unbeaten in seven games.
Getafe and Racing Santander met just four days before the second leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final match, with Getafe holding a 3-1 lead. Getafe beat Santander 2-1.
Jaime Gavilan headed in the winning goal in the 77th, moments before Racing goalkeeper Antonio Rodriguez was ejected for swinging at Braulio Nobrega, who was also sent off for a second yellow card.
Also on Sunday, it was: Espanyol 2, Mallorca 1; Valladolid 0, Osasuna 0.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite