Real Madrid's flawless start to the season came to an end with a 1-1 draw away to mid-table Valladoid on Sunday.
Pedro Lopez put Valladoid ahead in the 69th minute with a stunning 30-yard drive which had Iker Casillas clutching at thin air.
However late substitute Javier Saviola equalized for the visitors just four minutes from the end of the match following an assist from Ruud van Nistelrooy, amid Valladolid claims that the goal was offside.
PHOTO: AFP
Real, who defeated Werder Bremen 2-1 in the Champions League last Tuesday, now have 10 points under new German coach Bernd Schuster, one point ahead of both Valencia and arch rivals Barcelona, who defeated Sevilla 2-1 on Saturday.
"I am not surprised. I knew we were going to suffer and in the end we have to content ourselves with one point," Schuster told reporters after the match when asked if he was caught off-guard by Valladoid's strong performance.
UEFA Cup contenders Atletico Madrid, who outspent all their league neighbors bar Real when buying new talent in the pre-season, claimed their first win of the season defeating 10-man Racing Santander 4-0.
PHOTO: AFP
Midfielder Raul Garcia opened the scoring against Racing, who had yet to lose a match this season, from the edge of the area in the 12th minute.
Argentina's Sergio Aguero, Uruguay's Diego Forlan and Portugal's Simao Sabrosa, who came on as a substitute, added three more goals for Atletico after Racing lost midfielder Jordi Lopez to a red card in the 65th minute.
"If we continue along these lines we will be a fighting force. The team was very well positioned," Atletico's Mexican coach Javier Aguirre said.
Champions League hopefuls Valencia extended their winning streak in La Liga with a 2-1 away win over Real Betis, their third consecutive league victory.
Valencia's Portuguese international Miguel, who earlier this week extended his contract with the club until 2012, opened the scoring in the 69th minute with a powerful low drive.
Former Betis star Joaquin Sanchez made it 2-0 for Valencia seven minutes from time but did not celebrate even as he got a standing ovation from the stands.
The 26-year-old, who spent seven years at the club, had said before the match that scoring against Betis would "be the saddest goal."
Four minutes later Rafael Sobis scored for Betis with a long ball over the top that ended up being nothing more than a consolation goal.
Villarreal, who have had one of their strongest-ever starts to a season, beat Murcia 2-0 at home with two goals in the dying moments of the match from Giuseppe Rossi.
Rossi teamed up with Guille Franco to open the scoring in the 85th minute and netted a second goal four minutes later with an assist from Matias Fernandez.
UEFA Cup contenders Zaragoza claimed their first win of the season with a 2-1 defeat of Osasuna with goals from Matuzalem and Diego Milito.
Athletic Bilbao defeated minnows Levante 2-1 with two goals from Aritz Aduriz.
Getafe and Deportivo Coruna were held to a goalless draw while Almeria and Mallorca drew 1-1.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to