The Hindu : Sport / Football : Real Madrid suffers sixth defeat of the season

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Friday, Dec 23, 2005

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Sport - Football

Real Madrid suffers sixth defeat of the season

MADRID: Ayoze Diaz and Felipe Melo scored first-half goals as Racing Santander beat Real Madrid 2-1, sending the Spanish powerhouse to its sixth loss of the season and fourth at home.

Ronaldo's ninth goal of the season in the second half at Santiago Bernabeu stadium couldn't save Real in its final game of the year on Wednesday.

``We had a lot of chances but things are not going well for us at home,'' Ronaldo told Spanish national radio. ``We need to keep quiet, train hard and work hard so that when we return from our vacation we can do better.''

The loss dropped Madrid to fifth place, 11 points behind league leader Barcelona after 17 games.

Real Madrid's loss came two days after it announced that caretaker coach Juan Ramon Lopez Caro, who replaced Vanderlei Luxemburgo on December 4, would remain in charge until the end of the season.

Lopez Caro is Madrid's fifth coach in two and half years during which the team hasn't won a major trophy.

In other 17th-round games, Villarreal drew 0-0 against Malaga,

Valencia thrashed Mallorca 3-0 and Deportivo la Coruna lost 2-1 against visiting Espanyol.

Barcelona ahead

Barcelona leads the table with 40 points. Osasuna has 35 while Valencia is third with 32, two more than Villarreal. Madrid and Deportivo each have 29.

Santander, which began its match against Real in 14th place, stunned the home side in the 21st minute when defender Ayoze swept in a left-footed free kick from outside the area.

Brazilian forward Melo added a second goal six minutes later when he burst past the defence and steered the ball past Iker Casillas.

A defensive slip by Santander allowed Ronaldo to reduce the deficit in the 67th minute with a close-range header. As with other recent home games this season, Real was jeered off the field by its irritated supporters at half-time and after the final whistle.

The results:

Spanish league: Racing Santander bt Real Madrid 2-1; Malaga drew with Villarreal 0-0; Getafe bt Sevilla 1-0; Real Sociedad bt Cadiz 2-0; Espanyol bt Deportivo la Coruna 2-1; Zaragoza bt Athletic Bilbao 3-2; Real Betis bt Alaves 3-0; Valencia bt Mallorca 3-0.

English League Cup (quarterfinals): Arsenal bt Doncaster 3-1 on penalties (regulation and extra time 2-2); Blackburn bt Middlesbrough 1-0.

Italian league: Ascoli bt Treviso 1-0; Juventus bt Siena 2-0; Fiorentina bt Palermo 1-0; Inter Milan bt Empoli 4-1; Lecce drew with Lazio 0-0; AC Milan bt Livorno 3-0; Messina bt Reggina 1-1; Parma bt Cagliari 1-0; AS Roma bt Chievo Verona 4-0; Udinese bt Sampdoria 2-0. — Agencies

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