The Madrid derby was a classic in the sense that it was packed with drama and incident, if not a great deal of beautiful soccer. Most of that was confined to the first minute, when Ruud van Nistelrooy swept in a lovely shot from 25 yards from an almost standing position to open the scoring for Real, and the last minute, when Simao equalized for Atletico with a sublime free-kick clipped over the Real wall and into the bottom corner.
In between there was plenty of foul play and a number of cards of both colors. Atletico's Colombian midfielder Luis Perea saw his second yellow in just the 31st minute for needlessly elbowing an opponent, while van Nistelrooy saw a straight red nine minutes later for taking out an Atletico player with a tackle several weeks too late. The goalscorer had been subject to some rough treatment, and was possibly just venting his frustration.
Simao's late free-kick wasn't the end of the matter. Seven minutes into stoppage time, Gonzalo Higuain converted an inarguable penalty kick to win the game for Real, 2-1. "The team proved that it can change the course of a match in its waning moments, but we could have won it a lot earlier," claimed Real coach Bernd Schuster. "There were some decisions taken to offset others," he added, implying that van Nistelrooy's red card was a make-up call, "but we overcame those challenges, which is typical of this team."
A Samuel Eto'o effort just past the hour sufficed to give a Barcelona side resting Leo Messi three points at Athletic Bilbao, 1-0. It was the Catalan side's fifth win in succession. David Villa scored twice in Valencia's 4-0 home win over Numancia, giving him eight for the season.
Elsewhere, second-placed Sevilla edged Almeira, 1-0, on the road through a second-half Adriano goal. Third-place Villarreal was held to a goalless tie at Espanyol, but was happy with a point thanks to a penalty save from goalkeeper Diego Lopez. Jozy Altidore made a cameo appearance for the final 11 minutes but couldn't change the scoreboard.
HIGHLIGHT (VIDEO): Damia Abella Perez's second-minute goal for Real Betis in its 3-0 home win over Mallorca. The player controlled a long mid-air pass with one touch, in the same move taking it forward into the penalty area for a right-footed slam-finish.
STANDINGS:
TEAM GP W T L F A P
Valencia 7 6 1 0 17 4 19
Sevilla 7 5 2 0 13 4 17
Villarreal 7 5 2 0 9 3 17
Barcelona 7 5 1 1 19 7 16
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Real Madrid 7 5 1 1 20 10 16
Almeria 7 3 2 2 9 8 11
Malaga 7 3 1 3 8 9 10
Atl. Madrid 7 3 0 4 13 12 9
Getafe 7 2 3 2 8 8 9
Espanyol 7 2 3 2 6 7 9
Dep. Coruna 7 2 3 2 6 7 9
Real Mallorca 7 2 2 3 5 10 8
Valladolid 7 2 1 4 6 8 7
Racing Santander 7 1 3 3 4 8 6
Sporting Gijon 7 2 0 5 10 21 6
Real Betis 7 1 2 4 7 8 5
Athletic Bilbao 7 1 2 4 4 10 5
Rec. Huelva 7 1 2 4 3 12 5
Osasuna 7 0 4 3 3 6 4
Numancia 7 1 1 5 5 13 4
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