Real Madrid 1 - Zaragoza
0
Madrid: Casillas;
Michel Salgado, Pavón, Woodgate (Mejía 23'), Roberto Carlos;
Beckham, Diogo (Soldado 61'), Sergio Ramos, Guti; Robinho (Raúl Bravo
89'), Raúl. 4-4-2. Zaragoza: César; Ponzio, Gabriel
Milito, Alvaro, Toledo; Generelo (Zapater 74'), Celades (Movilla 80'); Cani
(Oscar González 80'), Ewerthon, Savio; Diego Milito. 4-2-3-1.
Team changes: Madrid:
Pavón, Beckham for Iván Helguera, Pablo García / Zaragoza:
Alvaro, Generelo, Celades for Chus Herrero, Zapater, Movilla.
Goals: 1-0. 78. Roberto
Carlos (penalty). After Robinho pulled down by Ponzio in area.
Real Madrid held on to third
place after a 1-0 win over Zaragoza, although it was not a convincing victory
and it took two penalties for them to do so. Luxemburgo's injury problems
continued, aggravated by a one match ban for Pablo García, and the coach
packed his bench with B team players. And things got worst midway through the
first half when Woodgate, who had headed just wide the best chance of the match
a few minutes earlier, limped off with a leg muscle injury. Up to that point
only Robinho had caused any problems for returning keeper César, and the
first half finished almost without incident.
The game only started to
liven up though after the restart, when Raúl headed a Beckham cross just
wide of the target. The visitors almost went ahead at the other end though when
Diego Milito picked up a pass from Savio and bounced a shot against the
crossbar. For the next few minutes Casillas had to be at his best to keep out
the Zaragoza attack. But with a quarter of an hour to go Robinho picked up a
pass from Guti and was pulled over in the area by Toledo. The Brazilian striker
insisted on taking the kick himself, but César (who had been playing
with an injury since the first half) dived to his right and saved the kick.
Just three minutes later
though referee Muñiz Fernández pointed to the spot for a second
time when Robinho went down again under a challenge from Ponzio, and the
youngster picked up the ball again. But between Roberto Carlos and Luxemburgo
they persuaded him not to take the kick himself, and Roberto Carlos stepped up
to drill a shot past the keeper. There was still time for Movilla to test
Casillas for a last time, but there was no way through. Madrid had the three
points in the bag, and they go in to the big derby game with Barcelona just one
point behind them. |