Date:16/03/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/03/16/stories/2004031603652200.htm

Sport - Football

Another jolt for Madrid

LONDON, MARCH 15. Arsenal stayed on track for a possible treble and AC Milan won again on Sunday, but Real Madrid suffered another setback as football returned to Spain after a deadly terrorist attack. The English Premier League leader blanked Blackburn 2-0 to extend its unbeaten run to 28 matches. Thierry Henry and Robert Pires scored the goals for the Gunners.

Real Madrid's lead in Spain was cut to four points after being held to a 1-1 home draw by Zaragoza.

It was the first league match in Spain since 200 people were killed in a terrorist attack on Thursday.

Javier Portillo, leading Madrid's attack in the absence of the injured strikers Ronaldo and Raul Gonzalez, scored the first goal, but Delio Toledo equalised.

England: Southampton 2 (James Beattie, Kevin Phillips) bt Liverpool 0; Tottenham Hotspur 1 (Andrew O'Brien - own goal) bt Newcastle United 0; Manchester City 4 (Robbie Fowler, Jonathan Macken, Trevor Sinclair, Shaun Wright-Phillips) bt Manchester United 1 (Paul Scholes); Wolverhampton Wolves 0 lost to Aston Villa 4 (Thomas Hitzlsperger, Olof Mellberg, Juan Pablo Angel 2).

Spain: Real Madrid 1 (Javier Portillo) drew with Zaragoza 1 (Delio Toledo); Real Sociedad 2 Valery Karpin - penalty, Diego Simeone - own goal) bt Atletico de Madrid 1 (Veljko Paunovic); Real Betis 1 (Benjamin Zarandona) drew with Osasuna 1 (John Aloisi); Espanyol 0 lost to Racing de Santander 1 (Fernando Moran); Valladolid 2 (Jonathan Martin, Jesus Sanchez - penalty) bt Sevilla 0; Mallorca 4 (Fernando Correa, Ivan Ramis, Samuel Eto'o - penalty, Jesus Perera) bt Deportivo de La Coruna 2 (Pedro Munitis, Djalminha); Villarreal 2 (Fabrizio Coloccini, Sonny Anderson) bt Albacete 1 (Antonio Pacheco); Malaga 2 (Jose Juan Luque, Salva Ballesta) bt Athletic de Bilbao 1 (Aitor Larrazabal - penalty); Murcia 0 lost to Barcelona 2 (Javier Saviola, Ronaldinho); Celta de Vigo 0 lost to Valencia 2 (Francisco Perez Rufete 2).

Italy: Juventus 1 (Ciro Ferrara) lost to AC Milan 3 (Andriy Shevchenko, Clarence Seedorf 2); Inter Milan 0 drew with Chievo 0; Lazio 2 (Roberto Muzzi, Simone Inzaghi) drew with Udinese 2 (Lucas Castroman, Vincenzo Iaquinta); Parma 2 (Benito Carbone, Marco Marchionni) drew with Brescia 2 (Luigi Di Biagio, Roberto Baggio); Perugia 1 (Ze Maria - penalty) drew with Modena 1 (Fabio Vignaroli); Reggina 0 drew with AS Roma 0; Siena 3 (Enrico Chiesa, Simone Vergassola, Rodrigo Taddei) bt Ancona 2 (Christian Bucchi, Milan Rapaic); Sampdoria 3 (Sergio Volpi - penalty, Aimo Diana, Giacomo Cipriani) bt Bologna 2 (Beppe Signori, Carlo Nervo); Empoli 0 drew with Lecce 0.