Beckham red-carded as nine-man Real Madrid crash (AFP) Updated: 2005-10-24 08:45
MADRID (AFP) - England skipper David Beckham was sent-off as Real Madrid
crashed to a 2-1 defeat to Valencia, leaving city neighbours Getafe to take top
spot in the Spanish championship.
Real Madrid's David
Beckham (C) screams at referee Dauden Ibanez (L) after being expelled
during a Spanish League football match between Real Madrid and Valencia at
the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid. Valencia won 2-1.
[AFP] | Getafe, in only their second season of top
flight football, beat Real Zaragoza 5-2 while Real's four-game winning streak
came to an end with their home defeat.
To compound their misery, Real ended the game with nine men as Danish
midfielder Thomas Gravesen was also sent-off.
Real threw away a chance to take the lead after 10 minutes when Zinedine
Zidane put his penalty against the post and they were punished 12 minutes later
when Ruben Baraja fired home a curling free kick from more than 20 metres.
Raul Gonzalez equalised for Real after 35 minutes but Valencia again got
their noses in front three minutes later, from a David Villa penalty after a
Pablo Aimar shot had hit Real defender Sergio Ramos on the elbow.
Real, who slipped to third in the table, had Gravesen dismissed for a wild
tackle on Vicente Rodriguez eight minutes from time and, shortly afterwards,
Beckham got two quick-fire yellow cards for dissent.
Both men will miss Wednesday's match at Deportivo La Coruna.
Meanwhile, Getafe coach Bernd Schuster, whose team has 17 points from eight
games, was delighted by his team's convincing win.
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