Madrid: Ronaldinho's late penalty gave
FC Barcelona a 2-1 victory over Zaragoza and pulled it within five points of
Spanish league leader Real Madrid, which was upset by Real Betis 2-1.
The Brazilian
midfielder converted in the 83rd minute, moments after Zaragoza defender Juan
Francisco Garcia received a yellow card for a dubious hand ball inside the area.
"I'm sure that
penalty would not have been called at other grounds. What's happened is very
interesting since the league is now down to five points," Zaragoza goalkeeper
Cesar Sanchez said.
Barcelona improved to
51 points, while Madrid fell to a lightly regarded team for the second time in
three weeks.
Real Madrid slide to 2-1 defeat at
Betis
Thierry Henry gave
Barcelona the lead in the 35th, chesting down Deco's long pass before sliding a
right-footed shot past Sanchez.
Zaragoza's Ricardo
Oliveira ran onto Sergio Garcia's precise pass along the right before firing
under Victor Valdes from a tight angle in the 53rd.
Zaragoza missed a
chance in the 43rd when Diego Milito sent his penalty kick over the bar.
Earlier, Edu Schmidt
scored for Betis, then set up Mark Gonzalez for the winner.
Edu leapt over
defender Marcelo in the 32nd to connect with Mariano Pavone's long cross and
head it in at the far post. Four minutes later, Gonzalez met the Brazilian's
cross to score with a near identical goal.
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