Pro Eleven Headlines

Almeria surprises Real Madrid with late equalizer

Almeria took a major step toward another top- half finish in La Liga, drawing two-time defending champion Real Madrid 1-1 on Sunday at the Estadio Mediterraneo.

Pablo Piatti scored in the 82nd minute as Almeria overcame a first-half goal by Real captain Raul.

Almeria, coming off league losses to Sevilla and Barcelona, is still winless in four consecutive La Liga matches but sits 11th through nine weeks. Almeria was eighth last season in its first-ever season in La Liga.

Real Madrid wasted a chance to pull level with Barcelona atop the standings and sits two points back in third.

Raul gave his side the lead in the 38th minute, finishing a perfect cross from Gonzalo Higuain to the near side with a diving header at the edge of the six- yard box to the far post. Raul leads Real with six goals.

Madrid was comfortable until the closing 15 minutes when Almeria began to test Iker Casillas before finally solving the Spain international goalie.

Albert Crusat started the late onslaught in the 77th with a shot from the left side of the area that was save at the bottom right corner by Casillas.

Fernando Soriano followed with a header right at Casillas in the 78th and Julio Alvarez had a shot blocked by Real defender Christoph Metzelder in the 79th and drilled the rebound high.

Crusat finally helped Almeria break through in the 82nd, delivering a pin-point cross from the left side right to Piatti. Crusat's cross curled around a Madrid defender and Piatti ran into to direct the ball in with his left foot from the middle of the area.

Piatti nearly handed Almeria all three points two minutes later, but fired wide at the end of a quick counter attack on the last good chance by either side.

Sevilla also lost ground on the league leaders, blowing a two-goal advantage in a 3-2 loss to Valladolid. Renato and Jesus Navas scored in the first 24 minutes but, after a red card to Luis Fabiano in the 34th minute, Valladolid responded with three unanswered goals.

Jonathan Sesma started the comeback in the 44th and Fabian Canobbio scored two goals after the break to give Valladolid its third win of the season.

Sevilla started the season unbeaten in seven straight La Liga games, but is now winless in three straight overall - which includes a Copa del Rey loss to lower division club Ponferradina.

Also Sunday, Angel Lafita scored twice in a three-goal second half as Deportivo defeated Real Betis 3-0, Mate Bilic had a double in Sporting Gijon's 3-1 win over Numancia, Raul Tamudo scored in the 62nd minute to lead Espanyol to a 1-0 win over Osasuna and Juan Albin scored in the 82nd to give Getafe a 1-1 draw at Recreativo.



AC Milan Goes Top of Italy's Serie A for First Time Since 2005

AC Milan beat Napoli 1-0 on a late own goal to go top of Italian soccer's Serie A for the first time in 3 1/2 years, while Real Madrid missed the chance to pull even with Spanish leader Barcelona.

Napoli's Argentine forward German Denis gifted Milan all three points last night by heading into his own net with four minutes remaining at the San Siro stadium.

The victory lifted Milan to 22 points, one more than cross- town rival Inter and Udinese, which earlier missed the chance to go clear at the top when it was held 2-2 by Genoa. It's the first time Milan has headed the league standings since May 2005.

``It's been a bit too long since we were top, we've been under pressure for a long time,'' Milan midfielder Clarence Seedorf said in comments on the club's Web site. ``It's going to be a great title race right to the finish.''

Milan looked to have squandered the chance to secure the win against 10-man Napoli when Brazilian playmaker Kaka had his 84th-minute penalty saved by Gennaro Iezzo. Two minutes later, Denis flicked Ronaldinho's free kick past his own goalkeeper.

Udinese rallied from 2-1 down at home against Genoa. Gaetano d'Agostino gave Udinese a fourth-minute lead from the penalty spot before Diego Milito and Giuseppe Sculli put the visitors ahead. Fabio Quagliarella tied it after 78 minutes.

Also yesterday, Atalanta and Lecce drew 0-0 and Cagliari beat Bologna 5-1. Lazio, Sampdoria and Siena had 1-0 wins over Catania, Torino and Fiorentina, respectively. Palermo beat Chievo 3-0. Two days ago, Juventus beat Roma 2-0 and Inter Milan won 3-2 at Reggina with an injury-time goal by Ivan Cordoba.