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Almeria salvaged a point at home to Real Madrid after Pablo Piazza cancelled out Raul's strike in a pulsating 1-1 draw at Juegos Mediterraneos.

The Real captain gave his side the lead with a crisp finish in the 38th minute, after Gonzalo Higuain forced his way to the byline and whipped a cross into the striker's path.

Gonzalo Arconada's side refused to be overawed, however, and their fine second-half display was capped by Piazza's emphatic volley from substitute Albert Crusat's assist with nine minutes to spare.

Bernd Schuster may endure criticism of his defensive tactics in the closing stages which restricted his team's creativity going forward to clinch a potential winner.

The game began scrappily with the flow of play broken intermittently by a series of crude challenges.

Fernando Gago was the chief culprit but referee Gonzalo Vazquez appeared determined to keep his cards close to his chest.

Arjen Robben and Raul looked particularly bright for the visitors, with the former's weaving run bemusing Hernan Pellerano before finding Gonzalo Higuain in the box, whose tame shot failed to test Diego Carreira.

Julio Alvarez Mosquera's viciously curling, but fractionally mis-placed free-kick from the edge of the visitors' box went close for the hosts, but Iker Casillas was not tested.

Schuster had to re-adjust his back-four after Kepler Pepe departed with an injury at half-time and his side never looked comfortable after Raul's strike, with Almeria dominating possession after the break.

Indeed, the hosts' appeal for a penalty in the 59th minute was waved away by referee Vazquez after a dubious challenge by the retreating Fernando Gago on Alvaro Negredo.

Substitutes Crusat and Kalu Uche then both went close with fizzing attempts from outside the Real box in the 60th minute, but there would be more to come from the pair, who made telling impacts.

Uche almost suffered the ignominy of being sent-off 10 minutes after coming on. He first scything down Mahamadou Diarra as the midfield advanced forward, then clumsily upended Sergio Ramos, prompting a stern word from the referee.

Raul should have doubled his tally when he unnecessarily passed to Diarra when through on goal. The midfielder tapped-in, but was adjudged to be offside - a reprieve which Almeria gladly accepted.

Piatti's 81st minute strike drew the home side level - deservedly on the balance of play - and left Los Blancos rueing their lack of conviction in sealing victory after holding the initiative.

With nine matches played, Barcelona are top with 22 points, with Real in third on 20. Undefeated Villarreal are in second on 21 after their 4-1 win at Athletic Bilbao on Saturday, the same margin by which Barcelona defeated Malaga.

Real Valladolid 3-2 Sevilla

Sevilla carved open the Valladolid defence with a swift counter with just under 20 minutes gone and Jesus Navas squared from the right for Renato to tap into an empty net.

Navas doubled the visitors' lead shortly after with an acrobatic volley before Jonathan Sesma rose at the near post to glance in a header for the home side just before the break.

Fabian Canobbio's second-half double sealed the points, including a superb long-range free kick that flew into the top corner for the winner.

Recreativo Huelva 1-1 Getafe

Javi Guerrero rose unmarked to head Recreativo into the lead shortly after halftime before Juan Albin fired in a powerful header to level the score.

Recreativo defender Iago Bouzon was sent off with around half an hour left after receiving a second yellow card.

Sporting Gijon 3-1 Numancia

Asier Goiria galloped on to a long ball and placed a precise shot inside the near post to give Numancia the lead on 19 minutes but forward Luis Moran took advantage of some woeful defending to head home the equaliser with half an hour gone.

Croatian forward Mate Bilic scored with a brave header and a penalty after the break to give Sporting the three points.

Espanyol 1-0 Osasuna

Espanyol forward Raul Tamudo grabbed the only goal with half an hour left, taking advantage of indecision in the Osasuna defence to slip the ball under the keeper.

Dan Quarrel and Reuters / Eurosport