Raul saves Real derby blushes

THE cheers in the Santiago Bernabeu that greeted Real Madrid’s 5-1 Champions League win over Dynamo Kiev in midweek turned to jeers yesterday as they were held to a 1-1 draw by local rivals Atletico Madrid.

Real went behind after seven minutes when Mista Ferrer put Atletico ahead with his first goal since his signing from Valencia.

The hosts then levelled when Real club captain Raul Gonzalez got an equaliser after 33 minutes.

Luis Fabiano put Sevilla ahead after 30 minutes and last season’s UEFA Cup winners ran out 1-0 winners over Getafe to keep them well in contention with leaders Barcelona.

Champions Barcelona continue to make the pace after a 3-1 win at struggling Athletic Bilbao with goals from Eidur Gudjohnson and Javier Saviola and an own goal from Bilbao defender Ustaritz Aldekoatalora after Francisco Yeste put the Basques ahead after 11 minutes.

Valencia still unbeaten, hammered newly-promoted Gimnastic Tarragona on Sunday night. Fernando Morientes scored the opener before a David Villa brace and a Miguel Angulo goal sealed a 4-0 win.

Racing Santander are still winless after drawing 1-1 with Celta Vigo. Giant Serb striker Nicola Zigic put Racing ahead with a header from a corner after 22 minutes but Celta equalised through Brazilian Iriney.

Diego Forlan scored twice in five minutes to help Villarreal to a 2-1 win over Real Mallorca.

Real Sociedad slump to the foot of the table after conceding two goals in the last 12 minutes at Deportivo La Coruna, who won 2-0.

In Serie A, Roma beat Empoli 1-0 on Sunday to replace title favourites Inter Milan as leaders.

Vincenzo Montella’s first-half headed goal sealed a hard-fought victory while Inter were held to a 1-1 draw at Cagliari.

AC Milan, who started on minus eight points, were held to a 0-0 draw at home to Siena.

Fiorentina, stung by a minus 19-point start for rigging matches, thrashed Catania 3-0, while Sampdoria grabbed a 3-2 win at home to Parma.

Lazio, who started the season with minus 11 points, moved closer to wiping out their deficit with an emphatic 4-0 win at Torino.

Reggina, docked 15 points for match-fixing, drew 1-1 at Atalanta.

In France defending champions Lyon continue to set the pace with a 1-0 win at Sochaux.

Substitute Sylvain Wiltord’s 70th minute strike sealed the win for Gerard Houllier’s side, who have picked up 22 out of a possible 24 points.

Marseille notched up a 3-0 home victory over Toulouse yesterday to keep on the heels of high-flying Lyon.

Last season’s runners-up Bordeaux stumbled to another defeat, a 2-0 setback at Valenciennes. Lille went third with a 1-0 win at home to Nice.

Hertha Berlin went top of the Bundesliga after a 2-2 draw with Stuttgart yesterday.

German champions Bayern Munich slipped off the summit after a shock 1-0 defeat to lowly Wolfsburg.

In Holland Ajax’s 3-2 win at FC Utrecht coupled with a 2-2 draw for AZ Alkmaar against Den Haag was sufficient to see Ajax top of the Eredivisie. Kenneth Perez snatched victory for Ajax. Champions PSV were held 0-0 at Heerenveen while Feyenoord beat NAC Breda 3-2.