Real Madrid missed the chance to move four points clear of Barcelona at the top of La Liga after being held to a 1-1 draw by Villarreal on Sunday.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s early second-half penalty looked to have Madrid on course for a fourth consecutive win, but Gerard Moreno’s thunderous equalizer 26 minutes from time earned the visitors a deserved point.
Villarreal were without a host of first-team regulars as coach Marcelino continues to prioritize progress in the Copa del Rey and the UEFA Europa League.
Photo: Reuters
However, the visitors started the brighter and should have been in front on 12 minutes when Iker Casillas made a fine save from Moreno and then Dani Carvajal headed Moi Gomez’s follow-up effort off the line.
The European champions began to bombard the Villarreal defense with crosses as the half developed and Gareth Bale came close to an opener when his header from a Toni Kroos corner flashed wide.
From the Germany World Cup winner’s next set-piece delivery, Raphael Varane went even closer with a header that also just missed the target.
Photo: Reuters
Ronaldo saw his first effort on target of the evening well saved by Sergio Asenjo three minutes into the second half, but there was nothing the goalkeeper could do to prevent the World Player of the Year opening the scoring from the penalty spot after he had been pulled down inside the area by Eric Bailly.
Ronaldo should have doubled his tally moments later when he latched onto a wonderful through-ball by Bale, but Asenjo rushed from his goal-line to make a brave block.
The roles were reversed two minutes later when Ronaldo teed up Bale, but the Welshman’s off night in front of goal continued as he blasted well over.
Photo: EPA
That miss was to prove costly when Villarreal leveled thanks to a wonderful low finish by Moreno.
Ronaldo had the chance to restore Madrid’s lead four minutes later when he showed Bailly a clean pair of heels, but was once again denied by Asenjo and the former Atletico Madrid stopper made his best stop of the night seconds later to turn Ronaldo’s powerful header over.
Asenjo nearly undid all of his good work when he flapped at Marcelo’s cross six minutes from time, but was grateful to see Jese Rodriguez slot the rebound wide.
Photo: AFP
Casillas then had to make another great save of his own at the other end to prevent Luciano Vietto heading home a winner for Villarreal, before Ronaldo nodded over one last chance in a frantic finale.
Earlier on Sunday, Sevilla and Atletico Madrid seemed to suffer a hangover from their European encounters last week at the Sanchez Pizjuan in a tense game short on clear-cut chances.
Sevilla had the better of the first period as Vicente Iborra struck the post and Miguel Angel Moya in the Atletico goal made a couple of smart stops.
However, the introduction of Koke and Fernando Torres from the bench gave the visitors a boost after the break.
Torres had the best chance to win the game when he broke clear seven minutes from time, but the former Liverpool and Chelsea striker saw his shot slide across goal and beyond the far post.
Champions Atletico failed to gain any ground on the leaders as they battled to a 0-0 draw.
Fourth-placed Valencia are now just a point adrift of Atletico after they were comfortable 2-0 winners over David Moyes’ Real Sociedad thanks to a double from Pablo Piatti.
Athletic Bilbao ran out 1-0 winners away at Sociedad Deportiva Eibar’s Estadio Municipal de Ipurua.
LIGUE 1
Reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain missed the opportunity to overtake Olympique Lyonnais at the top of Ligue 1 after they were held to a 0-0 draw at AS Monaco on Sunday.
Javier Pastore missed the best chance to break the deadlock in the second half when, fed by Marco Verratti, he shot just wide of the near post.
The Argentina international said PSG had lacked concentration against resilient Monaco, who were confident after their UEFA Champions League success against Arsenal last week.
“It depended on us to win and once more we didn’t get top spot,” the Argentine told Canal+ Television.
Earlier on Sunday, OGC Nice found the back of the net for the first time in five games, but could not keep their lead as they slumped to a 2-1 defeat against Montpellier Herault.
A Yacine Bammou strike handed Nantes their first victory of the calender year when they defeated En Avant de Guingamp 1-0 in a hard-fought Brittany derby to move them up to eighth place.
SERIE A
SSC Napoli missed the chance to move level with second-placed AS Roma as they lost 1-0 at Torino in Serie A on Sunday.
Kamil Glik scored to boost Torino’s chances of qualifying for Europe and ensure Napoli remained three points behind Roma, who were due to play Italian league leaders Juventus yesterday.
SS Lazio closed in on third place with the race for the final UEFA Champions League spot gathering pace, closing the gap on Napoli to two points with a 3-0 victory at US Sassuolo, with goals from Felipe Anderson, Miroslav Klose and Marco Parolo.
Mohamed Salah was on target again as ACF Fiorentina remained a point behind Lazio following a 1-0 victory at Inter, while UC Sampdoria were three points further back after coming from behind to triumph 2-1 at Atalanta BC.
In Sunday’s other Serie A games, Hellas Verona won 2-1 away to Cagliari, AC Cesena edged visitors Udinese 1-0 and Empoli held hosts US Citta di Palermo to a 0-0 draw.
BUNDESLIGA
Borussia Moenchengladbach edged past promoted SC Paderborn 07 2-0 on Sunday thanks to two deflected goals to tighten their hold on third place and a UEFA Champions League spot next season.
US international Fabian Johnson struck in the 18th minute and substitute Patrick Herrmann added another nine minutes from time as Paderborn went forward for the equalizer, the ball again bouncing off a defender’s legs to surprise goalkeeper Lukas Kruse.
Herrmann, who had come on in the 73rd minute, still had time to rattle the post with a powerful shot after a turbo-charged run past two defenders in the final minute.
Moenchengladbach goalkeeper Yann Sommer had earlier done well to protect their lead, soaring high to turn an Alban Meha shot wide at the start of the second half.
Moenchengladbach stayed third with a four-point gap to fourth-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen.
VfL Wolfsburg cut Bayern Munich’s advantage at the top to eight points after they beat in-form Werder Bremen 5-3 in an eight-goal thriller.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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