ARJEN Robben's superb run and curled shot gave Real Madrid a 1-0 victory over Villarreal at the Bernabeu to move the Spanish champions up to third in the Primera Liga yesterday.
The Dutch winger, who received a standing ovation when he was replaced near the end, was rampant throughout and
broke the deadlock just after the half hour, charging in from the right, evading several challenges and curling the ball high past D
iego Lopez into the top-left corner.
The result leaves Real 12 points behind Barcelona, who top the standings with 44 points from 17 matches after their battling 3-1 win over Real Mallorca at the Nou Camp on Saturday.
Valencia, who beat Atletico Madrid 3-1 at the Mestalla on Saturday, are in second with 33, one ahead of Real. Atletico have 30 points in fifth and Villarreal are on 29 in sixth. Sevilla, in fourth, were able to reclaim second spot if they beat club Osasuna later last night.
Andres Iniesta came off the bench to score for Barcelona against struggling Real Mallorca,
but only after Aritz Aduriz had stunned the home fans with a quarter of an hour gone when he gave the visitors a shock lead.
After robbing Yaya Toure in midfield, he outpaced defender Victor Sanchez and clipped the ball over the onrushing Victor Valdes into the net.
Thierry Henry equalised soon after with a neat finish from Xavi's deep corner before Barca coach Pep Guardiola introduced Iniesta in the second half after his eight-week injury lay-off.
The Spain international was at the far post to tap home Eidur Gudjohnsen's low cross in the 75th minute and Toure made amends for his earlier mistake with a well-taken goal in added time.
Valencia saw off rivals Atletico at the Mestalla thanks to two goals from David Silva and a David Villa penalty.
The home side took the lead with just over half an hour gone after the referee ruled that Raul Garcia had brought down Ruben Baraja in the area, and Villa sent Leo Franco the wrong way to score.
Miguel Monteira created a second for Valencia shortly after when he played in Silva, who poked the ball past the goalkeeper, before Uruguayan striker Diego Forlan pulled a goal back with a penalty.
Silva added a third midway through the second period when he arrowed a powerful left-foot shot past Franco.
Elsewhere, Fourth division Romorantin and second division Ajaccio provided the biggest upsets in the French Cup round of 64 by knocking out Ligue 1 sides Nancy and Auxerre respectively.
Romorantin held visitors Nancy to a goalless draw after extra time and won a shootout 4-2.
Benoit Pedretti put home side Auxerre in front after 26 minutes but Ajaccio equalised nine minutes later through Cedric Uras and the game remained evenly balanced at 1-1 until the end of extra time. The Corsican club then won 3-1 on penalties.
Strugglers St Etienne put their league worries aside to knock Girondins Bordeaux out thanks to a late Bafetimbi Gomis goal in one of the day's four all-Ligue 1 clashes.
Stade Rennes went through by winning 1-0 at Sochaux thanks to a first-half goal by Moussa Sow.
Nantes twice fought back from a goal down at home against Caen to make it 2-2 after extra time but the visitors won 5-3 on penalties.
Toulouse also advanced by knocking out Ligue 1 rivals Valenciennes 5-4 on penalties after a goalless tie.
The full article contains 596 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
