Football
8y

Ronaldo misses penalty in Real Madrid draw; Atleti held goalless by Villarreal

Cristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty as Real Madrid slipped even further behind leaders Barcelona in the Primera Division title race by drawing 1-1 at Malaga.

The Portuguese headed the Merengues in front late in the first half at La Rosaleda but just a minute later had a spot-kick saved by Carlos Kameni, and in the second half Malaga grabbed a deserved equaliser through centre-back Raul Albentosa.

The hosts might even have snatched a winner late on had it not been for some great goalkeeping by Madrid's Keylor Navas, but Zinedine Zidane's side fall nine points behind Barcelona with 13 games left of the campaign.

Atletico Madrid's hopes of catching Barcelona suffered a setback on Sunday evening as they were held to a 0-0 draw by Villarreal at the Vicente Calderon.

Diego Simeone's side were shut out by the visitors' rock-solid defence and could carve out barely any clear chances. They end the weekend eight points behind Barca -- who also have a superior head-to-head record -- with 13 games remaining.

The result also saw Marcelino's men record a fifth straight clean sheet in all competitions. They still occupy the fourth Champions League spot, eight points ahead of nearest rivals Sevilla.

Valencia secured their third straight win in a week under head coach Gary Neville with a 2-1 victory at Granada.

Midfielder Daniel Parejo broke the deadlock early in the second half and substitute Santi Mina added a late second before Granada pulled one back through Edgar Mendez deep in time added on.

Valencia clinched their first league win under Neville at the 10th attempt last weekend with a 2-1 home success against Espanyol and followed it up by thrashing Rapid Vienna 6-0 in the Europa League on Thursday.

Rayo Vallecano fought back from two goals down to draw 2-2 and deny Sevilla a first away win of the season.

Unai Emery's men looked set to finally end their away hoodoo when Steven N'Zonzi opened the scoring after 10 minutes and Vicente Iborra doubled the lead in the 20th minute.

The visitors missed chances to add to their advantage and were pegged back before half-time through Manucho's goal. Miku then tapped in from close range midway through the second half to make it 2-2 and preserve Rayo's six-game unbeaten run.

Paco Jemez's side move three points above the relegation zone, while Sevilla stay fifth.

Brazilian striker Jonathas fired his fourth goal in three matches to clinch Real Sociedad a 1-0 win at Basque derby rivals Athletic Bilbao.

Jonathas struck the game's only goal in the first half with a thumping finish as Sociedad maintained their climb up the table with a fourth consecutive league win.

The two sides produced a goalless stalemate in their previous meeting at the Anoeta in September, but both carved out a series of chances before the hosts ran out of steam in the closing stages.

^ Back to Top ^