Ten-man Real Madrid made light work of beating CD Numancia in the late game in Spain, with Raúl González scoring the opener in a 2-0 victory to maintain their grip on second place in the table, and there were also celebrations for Athletic Club Bilbao.
With Barcelona racing away at the top of the table, Juande Ramos’s Madrid stayed at the head of the chasing pack, with Raúl opening the scoring after Numancia goalkeeper Juan Pablo could not hold Gonzalo Higuaín’s shot shortly after the break. Any chance of a comeback for relegation-threatened Numancia fizzled out as Arjen Robben rampaged through their defence to score a second a few minutes later. Fernando Gago’s dismissal 12 minutes from time put paid to some of Madrid’s attacking ambition thereafter.
Elsewhere, Athletic Madrid won 3-2 against another mid-table side, Malága CF, in the early game in Spain, with Markel Susaeta’s goal four minutes from the end settling matters.