Skip to main content

Late Malaga equalizer shocks Real Madrid

March 18, 2012 -- Updated 2344 GMT (0744 HKT)
Malaga players celebrate Santi Carloza's last-gasp equalizer against Real Madrid.
Malaga players celebrate Santi Carloza's last-gasp equalizer against Real Madrid.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • A last-gasp Santi Carloza free-kick earns Malaga a 1-1 draw at Real Madrid
  • The result sees Real's La Liga lead over Barcelona reduced to eight points
  • AC Milan remain four points ahead of Juventus in Italy after both won Saturday
  • The top four teams all win in Germany with Dortmund still five points clear

(CNN) -- Real Madrid have had their lead over Barcelona at the top of Spain's La Liga cut from 10 points to eight, after a stunning last-gasp Santi Carzola free-kick earned Malaga a 1-1 draw at the Bernabeu on Sunday.

Jose Mourinho's side went into the match on the back of 11 straight league victories.

And they looked on course to make it 12 wins in a row when French striker Karim Benzema headed them into a 35th minute advantage.

But big-spending Malaga refused to give in and a stunning free-kick from Spanish international Carloza in the second minute of injury time left the home crowd shocked and gave Barca a glimmer of hope with 11 matches and 33 points still to play for this season.

Real lie on 71 points in La Liga, with Barca on 63 following their 2-0 success at Sevilla on Saturday.

Xavi Hernandez sent the defending champions on their way with an 18th minute free-kick and Lionel Messi claimed his 31st league goal of the season just seven minutes later, producing another of his trademark lobs after playing a one-two with Andres Iniesta.

Elsewhere in Spain, a hat-trick from Roberto Soldado saw third-placed Valencia claim a superb 3-0 win at Athletic Bilbao, who had outplayed Manchester United in the Europa League on Thursday.

Valencia are six points clear of Levante and Malaga, who share fourth place. A late goal from Xavi Torres gave Levante a 1-0 win over struggling Villarreal, a result which saw led to the dismissal of Villarreal coach Jose Francisco Molina after just four months in charge of the club.

Meanwhile, there is no change in Italy's Serie A after the weekend's fixtures, with AC Milan and Juventus both winning away from home on Saturday.

Defending champions Milan claimed a 2-0 victory at Parma to remain four points clear of Juve, who crushed Fiorentina 5-0.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored his 20th league goal of the season from the penalty spot for Milan, while Urby Emanuelson also found the target with a superb solo effort, as Milan moved onto 60 points with 10 matches remaining.

Five different players were on target for a Juventus side that was always in control once Fiorentina had Alessio Cerci sent off in the first half.

Despite remaining unbeaten after 28 games, Juventus have only won half of their matches to leave themselves chasing their rivals.

Third placed Lazio are now eight points behind after losing 1-0 at improving Catania, with a further point back to Napoli and Udinese, who drew 2-2 on Sunday.

Elsewhere in Europe, the top four teams in Germany's Bundesliga all won over the weekend, and the destination of the league title looks destined to go to one of the quartet with just eight matches remaining.

Shinji Kagawa's eighth minute goal was enough to give leaders and defending champions Borussia Dortmund a 1-0 home win over Werder Bremen, and they remain five clear of Bayern Munich.

Bayern's recent goalscoring surge continued with a 6-0 thrashing of Hertha Berlin, with Dutch winger Arjen Robben scoring two penalties in his hat-trick.

Moenchengladbach's superb season continues and they are a further three points back in third after a late 2-1 win at fifth-placed Bayer Leverkusen.

And fourth-placed Schalke completed a good weekend for the leading sides, thumping Kaiserslautern 4-1 on Sunday after going behind to an early goal, to lie a further point back.

ADVERTISEMENT
Part of complete coverage on
CNN Football Club
Be part of CNN's coverage of European Champions League matches and join the social debate.
April 24, 2013 -- Updated 1434 GMT (2234 HKT)
Luis Suarez's biting of Branislav Ivanovic is the latest episode of moments of madness when soccer stars behave badly.
March 29, 2013 -- Updated 0938 GMT (1738 HKT)
Former South African president and Nobel peace prize laureate Nelson Mandela joins guests at his home in Cape Town, on August 20, 2008 to celebrate his 90th birthday year, at an event organised by the Mandela Rhodes Foundation (RODGER BOSCH
Sunderland's partnership with the Nelson Mandela Foundation is part of its bid to woo the African market.
March 28, 2013 -- Updated 1558 GMT (2358 HKT)
South African children play football in a township in Bloemfontein on June 21, 2010. South Africa will face France in their final Group A, 2010 World Cup, first round football match on June 22.
Each year as many as 700 Cameroonian young footballers leave Africa in search of a professional career abroad.
May 6, 2013 -- Updated 1201 GMT (2001 HKT)
Referees across Europe are feeling the heat. Insulted, threatened, chased off the field, attacked, hospitalized and, tragically, killed.
March 6, 2013 -- Updated 1345 GMT (2145 HKT)
A red card for Manchester United's Nani during Tuesday's loss to Real Madrid sparks huge social media reaction.
February 26, 2013 -- Updated 1225 GMT (2025 HKT)
A real human brain being displayed as part of new exhibition at the @Bristol attraction is seen on March 8, 2011 in Bristol, England. The Real Brain exhibit - which comes with full consent from a anonymous donor and needed full consent from the Human Tissue Authority - is suspended in large tank engraved with a full scale skeleton on one side and a diagram of the central nervous system on the other and is a key feature of the All About Us exhibition opening this week.
Footballers have a battery of physios, fitness trainers and doctors all striving to fine-tune their physique -- but are they missing a trick?
February 26, 2013 -- Updated 1424 GMT (2224 HKT)
No Englishman has won the EPL title in over 20 years, while a leading manager reveals that English coaches are now "not respected abroad."
May 13, 2013 -- Updated 0933 GMT (1733 HKT)
Football supporters demonstrate in front of Italian TV RAI after the match between A.C.Milan and Lazio Roma was cancelled 11 November 2007. The spectre of football violence resurged in Italy on Sunday as the shooting dead of a fan sparked nationwide disturbances which forced the suspension of several Serie A matches. Banner reads 'Racism can stop League but death of tifosi has no signification.
Hardcore Italian football "ultra" Federico is a Lazio supporter who happily admits directing monkey chants at black players.
March 5, 2013 -- Updated 1123 GMT (1923 HKT)
When Jupp Heynckes made his Bundesliga debut as a player in 1965, the name of Bayern Munich was a new one for the nascent German league.
February 19, 2013 -- Updated 1902 GMT (0302 HKT)
Football's world governing body FIFA has confirmed it will use goal-line technology at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
February 19, 2013 -- Updated 1403 GMT (2203 HKT)
Match-fixing has become a worldwide issue, with hundreds of matches under investigation -- but how do you actually fix a football game?
February 18, 2013 -- Updated 1700 GMT (0100 HKT)
U.S soccer star Robbie Rogers has "come out" as gay on the day he retired from the game, making the announcement on his blog.
February 11, 2013 -- Updated 2231 GMT (0631 HKT)
The wealth of owners like Chelsea's Roman Abramovich often fuels success, but for other clubs such backers prove a mixed blessing.
January 31, 2013 -- Updated 1740 GMT (0140 HKT)
Brand Beckham is moving from the "City of Angels" to the "City of Light" as the football icon signs a short-term deal and offers to give away his pay.
January 31, 2013 -- Updated 1247 GMT (2047 HKT)
Fireworks inside his own house, a car crash in his first week at Manchester City, that iconic t-shirt -- the EPL will miss Mario Balotelli.
January 30, 2013 -- Updated 1342 GMT (2142 HKT)
The Secret Footballer reveals the complex issues surrounding racism in the English Premier League.
January 30, 2013 -- Updated 1543 GMT (2343 HKT)
The death of 73 football fans in Port Said tragedy continues to haunt Egypt.
ADVERTISEMENT