Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo sliced open the defence with a quick exchange leaving the ball

Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo sliced open the defence with a quick exchange leaving the ball to Raul who finished off by scooping the ball over Garcia.The home side were given a double break at the start of the second half. Zaragoza centre-back Alvaro left his side with 10 men when he picked up a second booking for a challenge on Raul on the half-way line and a minute later Ronaldo headed in to put his side 2-1 up. Zaragoza were up in arms as Figo had appeared to receive the ball in an offside position, while they were left incandescent when the referee waved play on after Villa was hauled down in the area by Michel Salgado.Beckham looked more tuned in than in recent matches as he sprayed the ball to the wings, although he still struggled with his free-kicks. Lozanitos OmarMan of the match: David VillaAttendance: 70,000. Chris Sutton sent Celtic back to the top of the Scottish Premier League with a predatory finish at Pittodrie yesterday It was the former Chelsea striker’s 11th goal of the season.

It was the former Chelsea striker’s 11th goal of the season.
“It was a hard game, especially in the second half,” reflected Martin O’Neill, the Celtic manager. “I was pleased just to get the points, because against Aberdeen you will take anything.”Celtic made the breakthrough after 24 minutes. Sutton and John Hartson exchanged passes in the centre circle to release Stilian Petrov, whose low cross into the box found Sutton re-emerging to hit a venomous shot that was deflected by Philip McGuire to go beyond the Aberdeen goalkeeper Ryan Esson.Goals: Sutton (24) 1-0.Aberdeen (3-5-2): Esson; Anderson, Diamond, McGuire (Winter, 53); Hart, Adams (Tosh, 53), Heikkinen, Clark (Kristjansson, 76), McNaughton; Whelan, Mackie. The Zaragoza goalkeeper, Luis Garcia, however could have done better.The game also marked the debut for Owen’s former Merseyside rival Thomas Gravesen, who was given a huge cheer when he replaced Luis Figo and quickly made his presence felt with a few tough challenges.

“It was great to make my debut here,” said the former Everton midfielder. Michael Owen showed he has lost none of his sharpness while waiting on the sidelines at Real Madrid when he scored his seventh league goal of the season after coming on as a late substitute as his side came from behind to beat Real Zaragoza last night.
The striker latched on to a neat headed pass from his team-mate David Beckham, darted into the area and then threaded a shot between two defenders and inside the far post five minutes from time. As for Owen, every time he gets a chance he scores – it was a fantastic goal.”It wasn’t plain sailing, however, for Madrid who had fallen behind in the first half after a stunning virtuoso goal from striker David Villa. “We did really well to come back and it was like a dream come true for me.

Substitutes not used: Poom (gk), Welsh, Thornton, Lynch.Referee: P Crossley (Kent).Booked: Derby Johnson, Idiakez; Sunderland: McCartney, Robinson, Arca.Man of the match: Elliott.Attendance: 22,995.. Substitutes not used: Grant (gk), Boertien.Sunderland (4-4-2): Myhre; Wright, N Collins, D Collins, McCartney; Whitehead, Robinson, Whitley, Arca; Elliott (Brown, 72), Stewart. George Burley’s side have now lost their last three home games, a record that has undermined their own chances of clinching a play-off place.”We have given away bad goals at home and that is why we are not in the top six,” Burley said.Goals: Elliott (51) 0-1; Whitehead (66) 0-2.Derby County (4-4-2): Camp; Kenna, Mills, Johnson (Junior, 83), Jackson; Bisgaard (Taylor, 83), Idiakez, Huddlestone, Reich (Peschisolido, 61); Smith, Rasiak. It was the Irishman’s persistence on the left that kept the ball in play and Whitehead met his low cross with a thumping shot that struck Derby’s Michael Johnson but cannoned back into Whitehead and into the net.”The players knew there was some pressure to get a result after both Ipswich and Wigan had won on Saturday but I thought we deserved the points,” McCarthy said.”I think the top sides will keep cutting each other’s throats right up until the end of the season.”Derby, who had a first-half penalty claim turned down after Grzegorz Rasiak appeared to be brought down by Neil Collins, went closest when their Spanish midfielder, Inigo Idiakez, hit the bar with a second-half free-kick. Given his chance because of a long-term injury to Kevin Kyle, he has established himself as Sunderland’s leading goalscorer. Yesterday’s strike, pushed home from close range after Julio Arca’s shot had been parried by Lee Camp, took him to 12 goals for the season.Always a threat to a Derby defence that has leaked more goals at home than any in the division, Elliott then supplied the cross from which Whitehead – with some measure of luck – made the points safe.

The Wearsiders have now won five of their last six matches away from the Stadium of Light.
Stephen Elliott, the 21-year-old Republic of Ireland striker McCarthy signed from Manchester City last summer, was the key figure in a match characterised more by endeavour than quality, scoring his side’s opener six minutes after half-time before setting up Dean Whitehead for the second a quarter of an hour later.Elliott, who cost an initial £125,000 set by tribunal, is proving something of a bargain. Sunderland extended a fine run of away form yesterday to reinforce their prospects of claiming automatic promotion to the Premiership, two goals in the second half closing the gap between Mick McCarthy’s side and second-placed Wigan to three points. Substitutes not used: Doyle (gk), Nowland.Millwall (4-3-3): Stack; Phillips, Ward, Lawrence, Muscat; Dunne, Morris (Elliott, 83), Livermore; Dobie (Serioux, 90), Dichio, Hayles. Substitutes not used: Masterson (gk), Weston, Simpson.Referee: N S Miller (Co Durham).Booked: Nottingham Forest Johnson, Harris, Derry, Dawson, Commons; Millwall Livermore, Dunne.Man of the match: Commons.Attendance: 25,949.. Four minutes added on gave Forest hope, and only a back-pedalling tip-over from Stack prevented Commons snatching an equaliser with a measured lob-volley in injury-time.In the end, their surge came too late; with Forest in the relegation zone and seven points adrift of safety, the fear must be that the pattern of Saturday’s game will be projected on to the whole season.