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Real Madrid score 6, Barcelona held to surprise draw

Other News Materials 4 October 2010 02:31 (UTC +04:00)
Real Madrid cruised up to third in La Liga on Sunday with a 6-1 slaughter of bottom team Deportivo Coruna, with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring two handsome goals, dpa reported.
Real Madrid score 6, Barcelona held to surprise draw

Real Madrid cruised up to third in La Liga on Sunday with a 6-1 slaughter of bottom team Deportivo Coruna, with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring two handsome goals, dpa reported.

"It was a wonderful night," said the Portuguese winger.

"I'm pleased that we have finally played well and given the fans a good night."

The whites now have 14 points from six games. They are one point behind Villarreal - who beat Racing Santander 2-0 earlier on Sunday - and two behind leaders Valencia, who ovecame Athletic Bilbao 2-1 on Saturday.

Real are one point ahead of fourth-placed Barcelona, who were surprisingly held 1-1 by defiant Mallorca on Sunday.

Ronaldo gave Real the lead after just five minutes by heading in a corner. Twenty minutes later Oezil made it 2-0 with his left foot, his first goal in Spain.

Di Maria headed in the third on a centre from Higuain, who added a fourth after being set up by Di Maria. To make matters worse for poor Deportivo, defender Ze Castro then scored a silly own goal. Ronaldo completed the rout with the best goal of the night after brushing past two weary defenders.

Deportivo coach Miguel Angel Lotina might be sacked after this pathetic performance. The Galicians have made their worst start ever in the top flight and have just three points.

Earlier on Sunday, Barcelona were held to a shock 1-1 home draw by Mallorca despite Lionel Messi giving them an early lead and despite creating endless chances in the first half.

Barca have dropped five points in their three home matches. To make matters worse, little winger Pedro limped off with a torn muscle in his left thigh and will miss Spain's upcoming Euro 2012 qualifiers against Lithuania and Scotland.

The match was preceded by a minute's silence for Barca's 1950s hero Eduard Manchon, who died on Wednesday.

Barca set off like an express train and Messi made it 1-0 in the 21st minute with a curling low left-foot shit, after taking a header from Pedro.

But the champions failed to increase their lead in the first half and Nsue levelled two minutes from half-time by heading home a corner.

Barca completely lost their stride in the second half and created few chances. Even so, Bojan hit the post with 13 minutes left.

Barca coach Pep Guardiola said that "there are no excuses, we should have won...We should have finished it off in the first half."

Also on Sunday, Villarreal consolidated themselves in second place with a straightforward 2-0 home defeat of Racing Santander, with early goals from Nilmar and Guiseppe Rossi.

League top socrer Nilmar shot the yellows ahead in the 9th minute, Rossi made it 2-0 five minutes later with his left foot.

Santander never looked capable of turning the match around, and Villarreal should really have scored more goals in the second half.

Sevilla moved up into fifth place after beating seventh-placed Atletico Madrid 3-1 on Sunday, with goals from Alvaro Negredo, Diego Perotti and Frederic Kanoute.

Diego Costa pulled a goal back for Atletico but Sevilla had few problems in holding out for the win, which continues the dream start of coach Gregorio Manzano.

Sevilla are one point above Getafe, who moved up to sixth on Sunday with a 3-0 thrashing of Hercules, who had midfielder Abel Aguilar sent off.

Sunday's other early matches were 1-1 draws between Osasuna and Levante and between Almeria and Malaga.

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