Ruud hits real winner
Monday, November 18, 2006

Despite a harsh red card in the second half, Real Madrid held on to defeat Espanyol 1-0 on Sunday to move within two points of top spot in La Liga.

Madrid nearly went in front on the half-hour mark when Ruud van Nistelrooy had a clear look at goal, but young defender Marc Torrejón made an alert play to clear the ball behind for a corner kick.

However, the Dutchman would get on the scoresheet five minutes into the second half with a remarkable strike, turning on a shot inside the area from Guti's pass.

But Espanyol were let back into the game just a few minutes later when Fabio Cannavaro was wrongly given a second yellow card for what was deemed a handball, when in reality the ball struck the Italian defender in the face.

It didn't seem to matter, though, as the Galaticos still pressed forward and nearly had a second in the 72nd minute, but Guti wasted the good chance when he fired well high of the target.

But Espanyol finally awoke a bit later on, twice coming close to the equalizer through Raúl Tamudo, but in the end it wasn't to be for the Catalans.

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