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Deportivo hold Barcelona to draw
Ronaldinho and Juan Rodriguez scored as Deportivo La Coruna held league leaders FC Barcelona to a 1-1 draw in the Spanish league on Saturday.
- Indo-Asian News Service
- Updated: February 25, 2007 10:37 AM IST
Read Time:2 min
Madrid:
Ronaldinho and Juan Rodriguez scored as Deportivo La Coruna held league leaders FC Barcelona to a 1-1 draw in the Spanish league on Saturday. The result extended Barcelona's advantage in the standings to two points, although Sevilla will climb into first place if it wins its home match with Osasuna on Sunday. Barcelona has 20 points, and Sevilla 18. Real Madrid is third with 17 points, one more than Zaragoza, Valencia and Getafe. Deportivo, which lost its perfect record at its Riazor stadium this season, is seventh with 15 points. In Saturday's other games, Levante downed last-place Real Sociedad 2-0 and Mallorca drew Atletico Madrid 0-0. Ronaldinho was wearing the captain's armband instead of Carles Puyol, who withdrew from the team on Friday after his father was killed in a labor accident. Barcelona also lacked striker Eidur Gudjohnsen, who was injured in Tuesday's 2-2 draw with Chelsea in the Champions League. Saviola gets in With Samuel Eto'o sidelined until February, Argentina's Javier Saviola was presented with his first league start for Barcelona since 2004. Midfielder Xavi Hernandez was also ruled out. Saviola lost his feet under defender Juanma Delgado's challenge, giving Ronaldinho the chance in the 40th minute to score his sixth goal of the season and his fourth from the penalty spot. Deportivo leveled following another penalty in the 73rd minute awarded when Edmilson was adjudged to have fouled midfielder Joan Verdu, a former Barcelona player. Substitute Fabian Estoyanoff saw his spot-kick parried by diving Victor Valdes but Rodriguez ran in to fire the rebound home, despite another valiant attempt by the goalkeeper. Sociedad winless Sociedad's defeat at Levante's Ciutat de Valencia stadium kept it winless in its opening nine games and continued its worst ever start to a season. The Basque club, which finished league runner-up in 2003, stayed with two points. It has lost both of its games since coach Miguel Angel Lotina replaced the fired Jose Mari Bakero on October 28. Cameroon forward Albert Meyong Ze, an off-season signing from Belenenses, pounced for Levante's opening goal in the 40th minute after Sociedad goalkeeper Claudio Bravo parried Felix Ettien's shot. French midfielder Laurent Courtois added Levante's second goal from Damiano Tomassi's pass in the 86th. Levante rose to 11th place with 12 points. Atletico's draw at Mallorca's Ono stadium left it without a goal in four games. The team has gained one point from its last three league encounters and recently lost to Levante in the Copa del Rey. Mallorca climbed to ninth with 13 points, while Atletico is eighth with 14. On Sunday, there's also Real Madrid vs. Celta Vigo; Zaragoza vs. Getafe; Espanyol vs. Valencia; Villarreal vs. Real Betis; Recreativo Huelva vs. Gimnastic Tarragona; and Athletic Bilbao vs. Racing Santander.Topics mentioned in this article
Football Barcelona
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