Zaragoza 1 - Betis 0

Zaragoza: Juanmi; Sundgren, Paco, Aguado, Cuartero; Aragón, Acuña, Garitano; Juanele, Vellisca; Milosevic. 4-3-2-1.
Betis: Prats; Merino, Crosa, Filipescu, Luis Fernández; Cañas, Karhan, Alexis; Romero, Alfonso, Denilson. 4-3-3.

Team changes: Zaragoza: Cuartero for Pablo / Betis: Cañas, Romero for Vidakovic, Gálvez.

Goals:
1-0. 46. Yordi. Picked up pass from Paco, turned defenders and ran on to score.

Zaragoza made it a three horse race for the title with a laboured victory over a Betis side fighting for survival. A single goal from Yordi only a minute after he came on as a second half substitute for Vellisca made the difference. Fans were only just settling back into their seats when Paco hit a speculative long ball forward from inside his own half. Milosevic failed to connect, but the ball fell to the young striker, who turned his man and sped on to drive a shot past Prats from the edge of the penalty area. Zaragoza manager Txetxu Rojo only made one change from the team that won at Alavés last week, Cuartero being preferred to Solana to replace the injured Pablo. Hiddink stuck to his 4-3-3 formation, with Merino switching to full back and Cañas coming in to midfield for a rare start. With Finidi returning to Nigeria to follow a course of treatment for his injury, Hiddink brought in Romero on the wing in place of Gálvez, who was disappointing last week. The first half belonged to Zaragoza, with Betis content to defend and hold on to a point. Chances were however few and far between, with Milosevic failing to connect with a Juanele cross early on. The Yugoslavian striker has not scored now in five weeks, and Roma (rumoured to have already signed the player for next season) must be considering asking for a discount if he doesn't start to find the net again. Apart from that the best chance of the half fell to Acuña, who only just returned in time after playing for Paraguay midweek, his shot just brushing the post. Shortly after the goal Hiddink replaced Merino with Benjamín, and when they still made no inroads he took off his other full back Luis Fernández to put on an extra forward Cuéllar. Benjamín put two chances wide when he could have done better, and Juanmi saved well from a Filipescu free kick near the end. Zaragoza defender Sundgren was sent off by referee Esquinas Torres in the last minute for a second bookable offence, and he was joined by Betis assistant manger Rogelio who was shown a direct red card by the referee in injury time. Sundgren will miss the next match at Valladolid, as will Cuartero who picked up his fifth yellow card, and with Pablo still injured, Rojo will have to put together a makeshift defence for that match. Although their objective is a Champions League place, they would dearly love to finish in the top two (automatically qualifying for a first round league place) to avoid a tricky play off in the pre season in August. In any case they are a lot happier than Betis, who stay a point above the drop zone in 17th place. Their only consolation is that city rivals Sevilla are eight points behind them, but as they say here, 'bad for everyone, consolation of fools' (it loses a bit in the translation, mind).

Real Sociedad 1 - Real Madrid 1

Real Sociedad: Alberto; Fuentes, Corino, Gurrutxaga, Loren, López Rekarte; Sa Pinto, Khokhlov, Aranburu, Aranzábal; Jankauskas. 5-4-1.
Real Madrid: Casillas; Michel Salgado, Iván Campo, Karanka, Roberto Carlos; McManaman, Iván Helguera, Redondo, Guti; Savio; Raúl. 4-4-1-1.

Team changes: Sociedad: Rekarte for De Pedro / Madrid: Savio for Zárate.

Goals:
0-1. 03. Savio. Toe-poked past keeper after Redondo free kick squared by Raúl.
1-1. 60. De Paula. Header across goal after cross from Sa Pinto on right.

In the pre-match interviews, the two managers were clear on one thing: a draw would be no use at all. Real Sociedad needed to build on their run of four home victories in a row to move away from the relegation zone, and Real Madrid needed a victory to keep in touch with the leaders. In the end however they had to make do with a point each as Real Sociedad came back in the second half to cancel out an early goal by Madrid. Javier Clemente went back to his defensive line up with three central defenders, López Rekarte coming in at left back and Aranzábal moving forward to midfield to cover for the suspended De Pedro. Real Madrid's injury problems are easing slightly, with Savio and Balic finally returning after missing many games, although Hierro, Sanchis and Morientes are still out, with only Morientes having any chance of returning to play against Manchester United midweek. The Nicolas Anelka soap opera completed another episode last week, the controversial striker apologising in public to the club and supporters for his unacceptable behaviour in refusing to train. The club decided to reinstate him, maintaining the fine of six weeks salary (a snip at 60 million Pesetas) but allowing him to train by himself at first, then with the rest of the squad next Wednesday after the Champions League match. Del Bosque decided to play Raúl alone up front, with Savio supporting him in front of the four in midfield. The decision appeared to be well-founded, with the Brazilian opening the scoring in only the third minute of the match after a set piece free kick. Roberto Carlos made as if to take the kick to the left, but he stepped over it and Redondo swung it round to Raúl on the edge of the penalty area on the right. His square pass caught the defence half asleep, and Savio got in first to stab the ball past Alberto. After that it was Madrid who went to sleep, as Real Sociedad came out looking for the equaliser. For almost the rest of the match it was the Iker Casillas show, as the young Madrid keeper made stop after stop from the frustrated home team forwards, including Sa Pinto, Khokhlov and Loren. On the half hour mark they almost scored as Khokhlov's cross was headed down on to his own post by Iván Campo, but the ball bounced clear and McManaman put it out for a corner. Immediately after the break the visitors had their best chances of the match, with Raúl bringing a good save out of Alberto. Clemente went for broke and brought on De Paula for Fuentes, and the striker finally managed to beat Casillas, placing a header from Sa Pinto's cross wide of the outstretched keeper. Gómez came on for Gurrutxaga and the home side continued their attacks, but once again Casillas was there to dive at the feet of De Paula and to save twice from Sa Pinto. Both teams went home to watch Sunday's results to see where they would end up at the end of the weekend. Madrid slip a little further behind the leaders, and with their interest split between three competitions they may end up overextended. Real Sociedad have a difficult programme ahead of them, with their last three home matches against local rivals Bilbao, Málaga and Barcelona and with Numancia, Deportivo and Valencia to play away before their last game at Oviedo. They have had a 32 year continuous run in the first division, and it could boil down to that last match as to whether they stay up or not.