Ruud ends Barca run
Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Goals early in each half from Raul and Ruud van Nistelrooy earned Real Madrid a 2-0 win over Barcelona at the Bernabeu last night to end the Spanish champions' unbeaten record this season.

Real skipper Raul dealt the first blow in the third minute when he rose high to head in at the far post after right back Sergio Ramos had swept the ball in after a slickly worked counter-attack.

Barca recovered well from the setback and proceeded to dominate possession, Eidur Gudjohnsen and the electric Lionel Messi spurning clear chances to equalize midway through the half.

But the Catalans were unable to find any way through the muscular Real Madrid midfield and Van Nistelrooy hit Barca once again seven minutes into the second half, bravely volleying past keeper Victor Valdes after a great cross from the live-wire Robinho.

The European champion continues to head the table despite the defeat, but is now level on 16 points with Valencia, which beat Osasuna 1-0 at home.

Sevilla are a point behind in third after a double strike from Frederic Kanoute gave them a 2-1 home win over Gimnastic Tarragona. The Mali striker is now joint top scorer in the league, with seven.

Real's win lifted it to fourth in the table, level on points with Deportivo Coruna, which edged out Atletico Madrid 1-0 at home on Saturday.

In Italy, Palermo moved into first place in Serie A after beating AC Milan 2-0 last night. Mark Bresciano slipped past Alessandro Nesta to score Palermo's first goal in the 48th minute, and Amauri added the other in the 73rd off a rebound.

Palermo improved to 15 points, ahead of Inter Milan on goals scored.

Milan remains on four points following its first loss of the season. The team began the campaign with an eight-point penalty for its role in the Italian match-fixing scandal.

And in France, two Juninho goals helped Olympique Lyon tighten its stranglehold on Ligue 1 with a crushing 4-1 win at second-placed Olympique Marseille last night that took it eight points clear.

Brazilian set-piece artist Juninho opened the scoring 20 minutes into the top-of-table clash with a superb free kick from 20 meters; young striker Karim Benzema then doubled the advantage with an angled volley from inside the box hree minutes into the second half.

Marseille kept fighting, however, and reduced the arrears in the 70th minute through substitute forward Habib Bamogo.

But eight minutes later, Juninho was on target again, and Sweden midfielder Kim Kallstrom completed the demolition with three minutes remaining.

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