Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo reacts after a missed opportunity against Villarreal during their Spanish first division match.
DPA/Madrid
Spanish leaders Real Madrid were held 1-1 at home Sunday by sixth-placed Villarreal, a result which left them just two points ahead of second-placed Barcelona, who won 3-1 Saturday at lowly Granada.
In Madrid, Villarreal fielded a reserve-packed team with Wednesday’s cup semi-final against Barca in mind. Real dominated from start to finish but were kept at bay by Villarreal keeper Sergio Asenjo.
Midway through a quiet first half, Real winger Gareth Bale hit the Villarreal crossbar with an interesting centre.
Real were given a disputed penalty seven minutes into the second half, for an alleged hold by Villarreal defender Eric Bailly on Cristiano Ronaldo.
The world player calmly converted his ninth penalty of the season to make it 1-0, with his 30th goal.
But 12 minutes later Villarreal youngster Gerard made it 1-1 with a low left-foot drive after a mistake by Real’s Toni Kroos.
Asenjo pulled off several spectacular saves in a frenetic finale, in which Villarreal just managed to hold out for a draw.
“We wanted to win but Villarreal fought a lot and they ran themselves into the ground,” said Real defender Pepe.
“We fought and we came up against a very good team; we have to keep fighting. We’re still top and we have to keep working until the end of the season.”
Meanwhile, Villarreal coach Marcelino Garcia said: “I am very proud of what my players have done today, they were magnificent.
“We had our chances to win the game but so too did they. In the end, I think the draw is a fair result.”
Earlier Sunday, Atletico Madrid kept third place with a tight, tense 0-0 draw at fifth-placed Sevilla.
Sevilla were in the driving seat for most of the match but failed to find a way through the well-drilled Atletico defence.
Atletico are five points behind second-placed Barcelona and seven behind leaders Real Madrid.
Atletico are now just one point above fourth-placed Valencia, who maintained their good form with a 2-0 home defeat of midtable Real Sociedad thanks to a quickfire brace from Argentine winger Pablo Piatti.
The diminutive winger broke the deadlock in the 53rd minute by turning in a centre from Dani Parejo, then made it 2-0 three minutes later with his trusty left foot after being set up by Sofiane Feghouli.
“I think this is a very important win,” Valencia coach Nuno Espirito said.
“We read the game well, and the fans helped us a lot with their support. We deserved to win.”
Meanwhile, Sociedad boss David Moyes said: “I expected a bit more from my team, to be completely honest. We gave away the two goals very cheaply and from then on it was difficult to get back into the match.”
Also Sunday, Athletic Bilbao won 1-0 at Basque rivals Eibar, on a goal from veteran Carlos Gurpegui.
“We really needed to win today, after going out of the Europa League Thursday (against Torino),” Bilbao coach Ernesto Valverde said
