Uche header dents Barca's title hopes

MADRID, Spain -- Barcelona's hopes of overhauling Spanish league leaders Real Madrid were severely damaged when Kalu Uche headed an 85th minute goal to give Almeria a 2-2 draw at the Estadio del Mediterráneo on Sunday.

Barca had a great chance to trim Real's advantage to five points after the leaders crashed 1-0 at Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday, but finished up seven adrift.

Barca played the last 18 minutes a man short after Gabriel Milito picked up a second yellow card.

Bojan Krkic put Barcelona in front in the 17th minute after Andres Iniesta's low shot that was saved Diego Alves, only for the rebound to go straight into the path of Krkic.

Almeria equalized from a corner kick in the 33rd minute, Ruben Pulido heading past Victor Valdes.

Three minutes after replacing Edmilson, Thierry Henry moved past right back Aitor Lopez Recarte with his first touch before setting up Samuel Eto'o to send Barcelona into a 57th minute lead.

Barcelona lost Milito who tripped Juan Manuel Ortiz in the 72nd minute.

The 10 men hung on until Nigeria striker Uche nipped ahead of defender Eric Abidal and headed in a corner.

Uche almost snatched a winner two minutes later, but headed over the bar.

Villarreal extended their good run with a 2-0 win over Zaragoza. Nihat Kahveci controlled Marcos Senna's long ball with his knee in the 11th minute then curled a right-footed shot over goalkeeper Julio Cesar Sanchez.

Giuseppe Rossi added the second goal from the penalty spot in the 65th minute to stretch Villarreal's unbeaten streak to seven games.

Getafe and Racing met just four days before the second leg of their Copa del Rey semifinal match, with Getafe holding a 3-1 lead.

They came out on top again by a 2-1 margin.

Jaime Gavilan headed in the winning goal in the 77th, moments before Racing goalkeeper Antonio Rodriguez was dismissed for swinging at Braulio Nobrega, who was also sent off for a second yellow card.

Two minutes earlier, Racing's Pablo Alvarez was ejected for protesting from the sidelines.

Getafe are unbeaten in 11 matches in all competitions and improved to 39 points.

Getafe substitute Ikechukwu Uche volleyed home Pablo Hernandez's cross at the far post the 65th to even it after Euzebiusz Smolarek's header had given Racing a 54th-minute lead.

Luis Garcia scored twice to revive Espanyol in a 2-1 defeat of Mallorca. The Spain forward scored from the penalty spot in the 59th before heading in the winner in the 89th.

Daniel Guiza slotted a high flick-on from Juan Arango past goalkeeper Inaki Lafuente in the 13th for his fourth goals in three games. Guiza is even with Zaragoza's Diego Milito with 15 goals, the second highest total in the league.

Mallorca defender Sergio Ballesteros was red carded for protesting in the last minute.

Portugal forward Simao Sabrosa scored one and set up one of Diego Forlan's two goals to send Atletico Madrid past last-place Levante 3-0 and into fourth place with 47 points.

Simao headed in a loose ball in the 25th before centering to Forlan in the 39th. The Uruguay striker was in the perfect position to meet Sergio Aguero's rebound in the 53rd for his 13th goal of season. E-mail to a friend