First defeats for Madrid and Barcelona

First defeats for Madrid and Barcelona

The unbeaten Primera División records of Real Madrid CF and FC Barcelona both came to an end with respective defeats by RCD Espanyol and Villarreal CF on Saturday evening.
Sublime Tamudo

Madrid had only dropped two points this season but were always up against it at Espanyol from the moment Alberto Riera was allowed to head in a first-minute corner from six metres. Raúl Tamudo, who opened the scoring for Spain in Denmark last Saturday, doubled the lead with a sublime chip over Iker Casillas from outside of the penalty area seven minutes after the interval. Bernd Schuster's side were given a glimmer of hope in the final minute when Sergio Ramos volleyed in Guti's corner but Espanyol held on to move within three points of the champions.
Penalty double

At El Madrigal the home side did the damage with three goals in the opening 34 minutes with Santiago Carzorla making the breakthrough after just two minutes. Villarreal's Marcos Senna was on target twice from the penalty spot either side of a strike from Bojan Krkić, who became Barcelona's youngest ever league goalscorer in the process.
Morientes double

The defeat meant Frank Rijkaard's side dropped to fourth in the table with Villarreal climbing to second and Valencia CF third - both just a point behind Madrid - after Valencia's 4-2 win at RC Deportivo La Coruña. Again, four goals came in the first half as a Joaquín penalty and Rubén Baraja established a two-goal lead for the visitors. Xisco pulled one back but any hopes of a recovery were ended by Fernando Morientes, who struck in the 37th and 73rd minutes.
Fabiano relief

Levante UD, yet to triumph all season in the league, and Sevilla FC were both desperate for three points ahead of their meeting and the visitors made the perfect start to assist their bid to rise back up the table. Sevilla, who play FC Steaua Bucureşti in UEFA Champions League Group H on Tuesday, took an early lead when Luis Fabiano's low shot skipped in off the far post and he was on target again after 13 minutes, this time from the penalty spot following a handball from Iñaki Descarga, as Sevilla arrested a run of four straight league losses.
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