Villarreal miss chance to challenge
MADRID, Spain — Villarreal missed the chance to close the gap on Barcelona in the Spanish Primera Liga as they were held to a goalless draw by visiting Osasuna on Sunday.
Villarreal are hanging on to slim hopes of splitting leaders Real Madrid and Barca, but the sterile draw leaves them still eight points adrift of the Catalans who suffered a shock defeat to Atletico Madrid on Saturday.
Real are five points clear after beating Recreativo Huelva.
The closest Villarreal came to breaking the deadlock came in the 66th minute when Osasuna goalkeeper Ricardo Lopez dived to stop striker Guille Franco’s angled shot.
Racing Santander moved into sixth place by beating Valladolid 1-0. Aldo Duscher lobbed in Oscar Serrano’s low cross in the 86th minute to boost Santander’s hopes of claiming a European place next season.
Getafe’s fine recent run came to an abrupt end as they let a two-goal lead slip in the second half to go down to a 3-2 loss to 10-man Real Mallorca.
Brazilian striker Edu scored his seventh headed goal in his last seven games as he helped Real Betis to a 4-0 win over Murcia.
The victory helped Real Betis pull further clear of the relegation zone where Levante are rock bottom but gave their fans some cheer with a 2-1 win over Real Zaragoza who are sliding into trouble. E-mail to a friend
