Spanish La Liga Weekend Review
Barcelona maintained their lead at the top of the table while Real Madrid and Valencia kept pace with the Catalan side.
On Sunday, Real Zaragoza's heavy investment during the January transfer window continued to pay dividends after they upset high-flying Sevilla, for whom Spain international Alvaro Negredo had a night to forget.
Zaragoza brought in seven new faces last month in a bid to turn their fortunes around, and that is now looking to be an inspired move with Sunday's victory following on from last weekend's triumph over fellow strugglers Tenerife.
Those two triumphs have helped lift Zaragoza out of the relegation zone, and they are now two points above 18th-placed Real Valladolid.
But while Zaragoza celebrate another important victory, Sevilla will wonder if the match could have gone any worse as they slumped to a fifth league defeat in seven games.
Negredo in particular had a miserable time, scoring the own goal that would end up giving Zaragoza victory before receiving a straight red card in the 82nd minute after kicking out at Zaragoza's other goalscorer, Matteo Contini.
That was one of three dismissals in the final 10 minutes of an incident-packed encounter, with Sevilla defender Marius Stankevicius also earning a straight red for scything down Ander Herrera, while Zaragoza's Adrian Colunga earned a second yellow from fouling Jesus Navas.
Fredi Kanoute cancelled out Contini's opener but it was not enough to prevent Sevilla slipping out of the top four.
Real Mallorca have replaced them after improving their stunning record at the Ono Estadi to 10 wins from 10 games with a 1-0 defeat of Villarreal, Jose Carlos Nunes grabbing a late winner.
The result meant it was a losing start for new Villarreal coach Juan Carlos Garrido.
Sixth-placed Deportivo La Coruna held on for a 0-0 draw at Malaga despite playing for 53 minutes with 10 men following the first-half dismissal of Pablo Alvarez while Athletic Bilbao had to work hard to edge out Xerez 3-2.
Despite trailing to Iker Muniain's early goal, La Liga's bottom side responded valiantly to take a half-time lead thanks to strikes from Vicente Moreno and Mario Bermejo.
But Spain forward Fernando Llorente brought Athletic back on level terms before hitting the winner four minutes from time to snatch the points for the home side.
Carlos Aranda scored the only goal as Osasuna continued their climb up the table with a slender victory over relegation-threatened Tenerife at Estadio Reyno de Navarra.
Almeria came from behind to beat Sporting Gijon 3-1.
Diego Castro gave the visitors the lead but Albert Crusat levelled the scores soon after and Domingo Cisma gave the hosts the lead shortly before half-time.
Guilherme wrapped up the points with the third goal 10 minutes from time as Juan Manuel Lillo's men prevailed in a game of three dismissals.
Almeria's Jose Chico was dismissed just 12 minutes in with Sporting's David Barral and Arnolin Gregory also seeing red in the final 10 minutes.
In the late match, Racing Santander failed to gain revenge for their Copa del Rey humbling against Atletico Madrid after a fiercely-fought draw at El Sardinero.
The hosts were thrashed 4-0 at the Vicente Calderon in the first leg of their semi-final tie in midweek, rendering the return in Santander as surely nothing more than a formality for the capital club.
And while Racing were the better side for much of the contest, Miguel Angel Portugal's men were unable to build on Gonzalo Colsa's 37th-minute equaliser after Diego Forlan had put Atletico ahead after 24 minutes.
On Saturday, Barcelona remained five points clear of second-placed Real Madrid at La Liga's summit after both triumphed.
Barca maintained their impressive home record in La Liga with a 2-1 victory over Getafe - despite finishing the game with nine men following the dismissals of Gerard Pique and Rafael Marquez.
Pique was sent off for a cynical lunge on Rafa Lopez after 24 minutes, although Barca were already a goal to the good by then thanks to Lionel Messi's brilliant early strike.
Pep Guardiola's side never really looked in danger, despite Pique's departure, and their dominance finally paid off as Xavi all but sealed a 17th league win of the season in the 67th minute.
Roberto Soldado's stoppage-time penalty pulled a goal back for the visitors after Marquez was sent off for the foul on Kepa Blanco which led to the spot-kick.
That result temporarily took Barca eight points clear, but Madrid immediately reduced the deficit back to five points by beating Espanyol 3-0.
First-half goals from Sergio Ramos and Kaka put Madrid in control, and substitute Gonzalo Higuain added a brilliant third late on as Manuel Pellegrini's men made it 11 out of 11 at the Bernabeu.
In Saturday's early game in Spain, first-half goals from Ever Banega and David Villa saw Valencia cruise to a 2-0 home win over struggling Real Valladolid to boost their hopes of a return to the Champions League.
Banega struck after eight minutes and Villa added the second just before the half-hour mark to secure the three points for Unai Emery's side and consolidate third place in La Liga after 21 rounds of matches.
Match Reports
Sunday
Racing Santander 1-1 Atletico Madrid
Malaga 0-0 Deportivo La Coruna
Saturday
Powered by Disqus
Join us on Facebook