Ruud, Raul and Robinho retain Real's lead

MADRID: Real Madrid endured some nervous moments but hung on to its Spanish league lead and retained its 100 percent home record this season with a 3-1 win over Deportivo La Coruna on Sunday.

Goals by Ruud van Nistelrooy, club captain Raul Gonzalez and Robinho produced a slightly flattering scoreline and moved the Spanish giants up to 22 points from their nine games.

"The arrival of Raul midway through the second half was decisive. It woke us up and helped us get the victory," reflected Real coach Bernd Schuster, with Real drawing 1-1 at that point.

Deportivo made a dream start just over a minute into the game when Xisco Jimenez put the visitors ahead with a right-foot shot from 10 yards out.

Real had only themselves to blame after Deportivo goalkeeper Dudu Aouate sent a huge punt forward and the Madrid defenders left Sergio Gonzalez free to pull the ball back to the unmarked Xisco.

"The truth is, I wanted to stop Real conceding this type of goal this season. This is something that has got to be sorted out," added Schuster, hinting at his side's lack of concentration at the start.

However, Real was back on level terms barely five minutes later when van Nistelrooy equalized from the penalty spot after the Dutchman had his legs swept away from under him by Mexican midfielder Jose Guardado.

Having recovered from the early blow, Real then went on the offensive with Sergio Ramos roaming forward to have two good chances, only to be thwarted by the acrobatic Aouate.

Deportivo didn't throw in the towell, though, and came out fighting after the break with Juan Rodriguez and Xisco both having opportunities early in the second half.

However, the introduction of the inspirational Raul after 65 minutes galvanised Real.

Midweek two-goal hero Robinho hit the crossbar with 20 minutes to go before Raul finally gave the reigning Spanish champions the lead after 78 minutes, latching on to an inch-perfect pass by Jose Maria Gutierrez.

Deportivo endured further misery two minutes later when Sergio was sent off for his second yellow card and Robinho got his first goal this season in the league right at the end of regulation time.

Barcelona kept up the pressure on Real with a 2-0 win over Almeria on Sunday to move up to second place, two points behind its bitter rival.

Thierry Henry opened the scoring after 37 minutes but can consider himself a little lucky to have gotten his fourth goal of season.

Giovanni Dos Santos took the ball into the Almeria area only for the goalkeeper David Cobeno to smother the Mexican teenager's shot. But the ball spun loose to the feet of Henry who was presented with an open goal.

Lionel Messi then got Barca's second from the penalty spot nine minutes from time after Bruno Saltor was controversially judged to have fouled Dos Santos.

"We created a lot of chances but we didn't finish them off well," reflected Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard. Real Zaragoza inflicted a 4-1 thrashing on Villarreal, who slipped back to third place.

AFP

(China Daily 10/30/2007 page23)