Barça make Madrid pay for Betis slip

FC Barcelona took advantage of a slip by Primera División leaders Real Madrid CF by winning at Real Zaragoza with a late Ronaldinho penalty and cutting the gap at the top.

Penalty award
Frank Rijkaard's side finished the day within five points of the defending Spanish champions after Ronaldinho converted an 83rd-minute spot-kick which had been awarded against an impressive home team. Zaragoza had rallied through Ricardo Oliveira's 52nd-minute strike which cancelled out Thierry Henry's first-half opener.

Madrid misery
Kicking off before Barcelona, Madrid had suffered their second defeat in three matches – and only their third league loss all season – at struggling Real Betis Balompié. Bernd Schuster's men appeared to be comfortable when Royston Drenthe put them into a sixth-minute lead, but two quick goals before the break changed the game. Edu headed the equaliser before Mark González nodded in what proved to be the winning goal. These were Betis's first points in three games.

Best of six
Meanwhile, Sevilla FC moved into sixth place by beating RCD Espanyol 4-2 in Barcelona. Betis's city rivals stamped their authority on the contest with early strikes from Luis Fabiano and Frédéric Kanouté before Luis García reduced the deficit. The second-half scoring also favoured Sevilla, with efforts from Christian Poulsen and Diego Capel sandwiching a Coro goal. For Espanyol, stuck in fifth position, it was a fourth defeat in five matches.