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Ronaldo ends goal drought

(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-03-23 09:10

MADRID, March 22 - Ronaldo ended his goalscoring drought by grabbing a last-gasp equaliser to earn Real Madrid a dramatic 1-1 draw at Real Zaragoza on Wednesday.

Real Madrid's Ronaldo (2nd L) and Real Zaragoza's Gabriel Milito (R) fight for the ball during their Spanish First Division soccer match at Zaragoza's La Romareda stadium March 22, 2006. At left is Real Madrid's Thomas Gravesen. [Reuters]

The Brazilian drilled home from 10 metres after pouncing on a loose ball in the area a minute into stoppage time to score his first Primera Liga goal in seven games and cancel out a second-half strike from Argentine forward Diego Milito.

It was Real's first goal in four games in all competitions but did not stop them dropping to third place, a point behind Osasuna who had earlier notched up their third win in a row with a 2-0 victory at home to struggling Real Sociedad.

"I scored again and it will allow me to be a little more relaxed in the forthcoming matches," Ronaldo told Canal Plus television.

"We fought to the end. The team is showing its character. We are fighting despite all the bad luck at the moment surrounding us. We must keep it going like this."

Valencia slipped to fourth spot after being held to a 1-1 draw by regional rivals Villarreal, who could have snatched the win had Santiago Canizares not saved a late penalty from Juan Roman Riquelme.

With nine games left Barcelona, who came from a goal down to beat Getafe 3-1 at home on Tuesday, lead the standings on 67 points, 12 ahead of Osasuna and 13 clear of arch-rivals Real.

Valencia occupy the final Champions League berth a further point back and enjoy a seven-point cushion over Deportivo Coruna who moved up to fifth after a 2-1 win over basement side Malaga -- their first home victory in over three months.

Osasuna gained the edge in the race for runners-up spot behind Barca after a stunning sixth-minute volley from midfielder Inaki Munoz and a late penalty from Patxi Punal.

Sociedad's defeat saw them slip into the relegation zone two points adrift of Real Betis, Alaves and Athletic Bilbao.

Betis got a vital 1-0 home win over Racing Santander, Bilbao scraped a last-gasp draw against visiting Espanyol and Alaves sneaked a late 1-0 victory at home to high-flying Celta Vigo.