Brazilian super-sub Kaka ended a six-week injury absence by grabbing the winner for Real Madrid in a 2-1 victory over Real Zaragoza on Saturday to keep his side on the shoulders of Barcelona at the top of La Liga.
The onus was on Real after Barcelona had earlier beaten Xerez 3-1 at the Camp Nou to open up a four-point lead and the night started badly when they lost Rafael van der Vaart to injury.
Raul, who came on for the Dutchman, saw a shot come back off the post in the first half, before putting Real into the lead after the break and the visitors appeared to be comfortably in control when Zaragoza were reduced to 10 men after Matteo Contini was red-carded.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Adrian Colunga rounded goalkeeper Iker Casillas to equalize, however, and Zaragoza continued to stretch the Real defense on the counterattack.
Real were reduced to shots from distance as they desperately sought the winner, until Kaka came off the bench to score with just eight minutes left.
Real coach Manuel Pellegrini praised his side’s battling qualities.
“We had two or three very good chances in the first half which we did not take, but the team kept going until the final minute. It is always worrying to see the team nervous, but we were able to overcome this to win,” Pellegrini said.
Barcelona striker Thierry Henry struck his first goal in more than two months as defending champions Barcelona beat nine-man Xerez.
Coach Pep Guardiola sent out a makeshift side, with several players rested ahead of this week’s Champions League semi-final clash with Inter, while Dani Alves was suspended.
Following an opener from Jeffren Suarez, Henry, given a rare start, then found the back of the net for the first time since he scored against Racing Santander in mid-February.
A minute later, Mario Bermejo brought bottom-side Xerez back into the game and the visitors had several chances to equalize at the start of the second half, before Zlatan Ibrahimovic converted a Yaya Toure cross to give Barcelona a two-goal cushion.
Xerez lost their composure in the final minutes, with Matias Alustiza and Fabian Orellana both dismissed.
“It was a dangerous game because of everything that was at stake. Mentality was the key, rather than tactics because of the importance of the game last Tuesday [against Inter] and the upcoming match on Wednesday,” Guardiola said.
A David Villa penalty saw Valencia beat Deportivo La Coruna 1-0 to put them a step closer to Champions League soccer next season with four games left.
Valencia are now eight points clear of fifth placed Sevilla after a comprehensive victory over an injury-plagued Depor side who have now gone nine matches without a win.
Valencia were struggling to convert their domination into goals when they were gifted the opener, with Jose Ze Castro blatantly handling the ball in the penalty area. Villa stepped up to calmly stroke home the spot-kick.
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