Real Madrid wasted a chance to keep the pressure on the top two in the Spanish Primera Liga with a 2-2 draw away to Osasuna that was overshadowed by Sergio Ramos being sent off for the 18th time in his career and record signing Gareth Bale being substituted.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side began confidently on Saturday, having won their last five league games and scoring 24 goals in the process, but they were undone by two first-half headers from Oriol Riera.
Ramos, who was returning from suspension and whose discipline has been questioned, was red carded after 43 minutes for a second bookable offence, but Isco gave Madrid hope with a strike on the stroke of half time.
Bale was taken off 10 minutes into the second half as they searched for an equaliser that eventually came from a Pepe header after Osasuna were also reduced to 10 men with Francisco Silva dismissed.
Bale, Madrid’s world record €100 million (Dh505m) signing, scored a hat-trick in his last league game against Valladolid, but he was unable to make an impact against Osasuna.
The hosts were no pushovers, having also managed to earn a draw against league leaders Barcelona earlier in the season.
“The first 20 minutes were very good, and it is incredible that we went 2-0 down and had 10 men. We responded well, but we suffered a lot,” Ancelotti told a post-match news conference.
“We were showing quality and rhythm and we lost control after the first goal, but we did show character and the right attitude to battle back.”
Madrid zipped the ball around with pace and confidence early on, with Osasuna at full stretch to contain Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema.
So it was a shock when Osasuna took the lead with Riera left totally unmarked to head in Marc Bertran’s cross.
The goal took the wind out of Madrid’s sails, and they again failed to mark properly when Damia Abella won a header which goalkeeper Diego Lopez beat away, only for Riera to nod in the rebound.
It went from bad to worse as Ramos then received a second yellow card for a foul on Roberto Torres. The first yellow card, shown for dissent after he was harshly adjudged to have fouled Alvaro Cejudo, might have been unlucky, but he could have seen a straight red for the second offence, swinging an arm in the face of Torres.
The dismissal was the 18th of the 27-year-old Spanish defender’s career.
Isco pulled a goal back, finding the corner with a drive from the edge of the area.
Bale was replaced by Angel Di Maria after the restart and it was Osasuna who looked more like scoring again.
The match changed, however, when Silva was also dismissed following a foul on Ronaldo and Isco’s free kick was headed in by Pepe. “The team demonstrated it has a good attitude, but a draw is like a loss for us,” the Madrid defender Marcelo said. “We knew that the result wasn’t good enough, but we reacted too late.”
Not only did Madrid’s five-game winning streak come to an end, Ronaldo was unable to extend his eight-game scoring run for club and country.
Elsewhere in Spain, Granada moved into the top half of the league table with their 2-0 win at Rayo Vallecano, who finished the error-plagued match with 10 men after Nacho Martinez was dismissed. Fran Rico opened the scoring after 35 minutes, with Riki rounding out the scoring in the 89th.
In one of Saturday’s late kick offs, Barcelona weathered a scare from Villarreal to win 2-1 at Camp Nou. Neymar gave Barca the lead on the half-hour mark and restored that advantage in the 68th minute after Mateo Musacchio had levelled for the visitors.
Barcelona lead the league with 43 points, three clear of Atletico Madrid, who host Valencia on Sunday night, while Real Madrid sit five points off the top. Villarreal remain fifth on 28 points
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