Third-placed Real Madrid closed to within two points of leaders Barcelona with a 2-0 home win over Osasuna in the Primera Liga on Sunday.
Striker Raul scored after 24 minutes and late in the second half Robinho broke away to seal the side's third win in a row.
The victory allowed them to make the most of slip ups from the leading two this weekend, moving on to 54 points.
Barcelona have 56 after falling 1-0 at Real Zaragoza on Saturday. Second-placed Sevilla could only draw 0-0 at home with Racing Santander, and moved on to 55.
"We are still behind but we have closed the points gap and are in high spirits. We are improving and this will be vital in the coming decisive games," said Real coach Fabio Cappello.
There are nine matches left this season.
Sevilla, who rested key players ahead of their UEFA Cup quarter-final return against Tottenham Hotspur, had the best of their game but missed the chance to go top.
Racing goalkeeper Tono pulled off a string of top class saves and when Sevilla did finally manage to beat him Daniel Alves's 30-metre shot hit the crossbar.
Zaragoza are fourth on 50 points the same as Valencia, who lost 1-0 at Athletic Bilbao on Saturday.
Three points further back are sixth-placed Atletico Madrid who ground out a 1-0 away win at Villarreal with a header from Brazilian defender Fabiano Eller.
SWEPT ASIDE
Recreativo Huelva are seventh on 45 points after sweeping aside struggling Celta Vigo 4-2 with two goals from Romanian forward Laurentiu Rosu.
The bottom three are Gimnastic, Real Sociedad and Celta Vigo, who all lost.
Real started brightly in the Bernabeu forcing Osasuna goalkeeper Ricardo into sharp saves from Gonzalo Higuain and Ruud van Nistelrooy.
UEFA Cup quarter-finalists Osasuna were depleted with suspensions and injury and although David Lopez forced Iker Casillas into a fine one-handed save in the 10th minute, offered little.
Real took the lead when Mahamadou Diarra's lofted pass was nodded down in the area by Emerson for the arriving Raul to steer home.
After the break, Ricardo saved well from an Emerson header and a long range effort from Sergio Ramos before lively Brazilian forward Robinho broke from an Osasuna corner in the 80th minute.
He fed Higuain on the right and as Ricardo flapped at the Argentine's return cross drilled home his third goal in as many games.
© 2024 Rediff.com -