Real Madrid open up 9-point gap
Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Real Madrid has stolen a march on Barcelona to move nine points clear of their arch rivals at the top of La Liga with a win over third-placed Villarreal. Barca's title hopes were severely dented as the Catalans were held to a 1-1 draw at Athletic Bilbao.

Real took the lead after only nine minutes.Jose Maria Guti threaded a perfectly weighted ball through for Robinho and the Brazilian made no mistake.

Villarreal equalized, though, seven minutes later. Giuseppe Rossi thundered this spectacular shot past Iker Casillas.

After the break, there was a chaos in the Villarreal defence. Goalkeeper Diego Lopez made two fine saves but he was unable to save Robinho's instant effort. The 'Yellow Submarine', however, restored parity once more when Joan Capdevila turned in a corner by Marcos Senna.

But Real sealed the emphatic win through Wesley Sneijder's goal in dying minutes. The 3-2 victory moved Real nine points clear overall.