First Division - Day 28

Real Madrid 3 - Almería 0

Madrid: Casillas; Sergio Ramos, Cannavaro (Metzelder 78'), Pepe, Heinze (Miguel Torres 84'); Robben, Lass (Gago 67'), Sneijder, Marcelo; Huntelaar, Raúl. 4-4-2.
Almería: Diego Alves; Bruno, Acasiete, Pellerano, Mané; Iriney (Nieto 84'), Juanito; Juanma Ortíz (José Ortíz 60'), Kalu Uche (Corona 68'), Crusat; Piatti. 4-2-3-1.

Team changes: Madrid: Cannavaro for Metzelder / Almería: Piatti for Negredo.

Goals:
1-0. 23. Marcelo. Drilled fierce shot past keeper from outside area.
2-0. 52. Huntelaar. Hooked ball in to net after corner not cleared.
3-0. 65. Huntelaar. Following up after Robben shot blocked.

Yellow cards: Pepe 29', Raúl 41', Sergio Ramos 48', Bruno 62', Iriney 71', Heinze 78', Gago 84'.

Real Madrid threw down the gauntlet to title rivals Barcelona with a 3-0 win over Almería on Sunday evening. Visiting coach Hugo Sánchez was given a warm welcome on his return to the Bernabeu stadium, and his side started well, Kalu Uche testing Casillas with an early header.

But midway through the first half Marcelo started things off with an impressive shot from outside of the area after an ealier free kick was cleared, and the defender-turned-winger almost added to the scoreline soon after the restart when he hit the bar with an angled shot and then brought a good save out of Diego Alves.

A couple of minutes later though Huntelaar did score a second, hooking the ball back in to the net after Pepe's header was blocked following a corner, and the Dutch striker got his second of the night a few minutes later following a good run by Robben, taking his tally to eight since his winter signing. With twelve wins and a draw in the last thirteen matches, Madrid are still serious title contenders.