Deportivo 1 - Real Madrid 0

Deportivo: Dudu Aouate; Manuel Pablo, Lopo, Pablo Amo, Coloccini, Filipe; Wilhelmsson, Sergio (Antonio Tomás 86'), De Guzmán, Lafita (Guardado 79'); Xisco (Riki 65'). 5-4-1.
Madrid: Casillas; Miguel Torres, Pepe, Cannavaro, Heinze (Baptista 77');Sneijder, Guti, Diarra, Drenthe (Robinho 67'); Soldado (Higuaín 67'), Raúl. 4-4-2.

Team changes: Deportivo: No change / Madrid: Cannavaro, Sneijder, Drenthe, Soldado for Marcelo, Higuaín, Baptista, Robinho.

Goals:
1-0. 57. Pepe (own goal). Deflected cross from Filipe past Casillas into own net.

Another twist in this topsy-turvy league, leaders Real Madrid losing 1-0 to Deportivo on Saturday night. Bernd Schuster surprised everyone including Soldado and Drenthe in his starting line up, but his side hardly managed a shot on target all night. As usual in recent games, Lotina played with five at the back and only Xisco up front. But led by Lafita the locals had the better chances in the first half, Filipe causing problems with a couple of free kicks and Wilhelmsson unable to beat Casillas when through on goal.

Raúl sent a shot way over the top at the start of the second half, but a few minutes later Depor got what was to prove the only goal of the match, Pepe deflecting a cross from Felipe into his own net. Schuster threw on Robinho, Higuaín and then Baptista, but their only chance came with a long shot wide of target from Sneijder late on. And the Galicians could have won by a bigger margin had they converted chances late on, Filipe, Riki and Guardado all failing to test Casillas when presented with chances in the final minutes.

A sixth defeat of the season for Madrid, who have not won in the Riazor stadium for 17 years, and Barcelona now have a chance to close the gap on Sunday. Depor have now taken seven points from three difficult games, and they move away from the danger zone up to twelfth pending Sunday's games.