Summary....
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First division, day 15
A bomb scare at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium ended the match between
Real Madrid and Real Sociedad three minutes from the end. The Basque terrorist group ETA apparently made a phone call to a local paper warning them that an explosive device had been placed at the ground, and in the light of the recent bombing campaign throughout Spain, the match was called off and the ground was evacuated. It later turned out however that it was a false alarm. At the point the match was abandoned the scoreline was 1-1, Ronaldo putting the home side ahead before the break and Nihat equalising in the second half. A decision will now be made in the next few days as to how the situation will be resolved, although according to league rules the remaining minutes will have to be played out at a later date.
Espanyol moved up to second place in the table after a 2-1 win over Mallorca in the last game on Sunday evening. The Catalans took the lead in the first half through Pochettino, who headed the ball back into the goal after David Cortés had cleared an effort from Dani off the line. Jorge López had a chance to level the scores from the penalty spot minutes later, but Kameni saved his kick and reacted quickly enough to deflect his follow up shot onto the post. And soon afterwards Oscar Serrano made it two on the rebound after De la Peña ran through from the half way line and chipped a shot onto the crossbar. Pereyra pulled one back after the break with a header from Campano's free kick.
Valencia beat Numancia 1-0 to make it five victories in a row for Ranieri's side, taking them up to third place in the table pending the outcome on Real Madrid's match. It could have been a bigger margin though if the local forwards had taken their chances, and if the referee had not disallowed two goals by Corradi and Xisco after the break. The only goal came from Marchena in the twentieth minute, the Spanish international heading the ball back into the net after Juanma could only push out Fiore's free kick from the left wing. Only Lee Chun Soo went close for the visitors, who stay bottom of the table having not picked up a single point away from home.
Barcelona moved twelve points clear at the top of the table pending Sunday's games after beating Albacete 1-2. They needed the luck of champions to do so though, Xavi volleying home the winning goal five minutes from the end after the Manchegans had missed more than one opportunity to take the three points. Iniesta returned to his home town to put the visitors ahead in only the second minute of the game after Peña gave the ball away, but they were unable to build on their lead after that. Albacete went close a couple of times before Mark González headed the equaliser from Pacheco's free kick in the second half, and Puyol had to clear off the line from Mikel a few minutes later with Valdés beaten. But with the game heading towards a draw, Xavi struck the winner to keep up the momentum at the top of the table.
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Source
Barcelona vs.
Valencia
