European Roundup/ SPANISH PRIMERA LIGA: A spectacular trademark free-kick from David Beckham and a late strike from defender Michel Salgado enabled Real Madrid to scramble a nervous 2-1 win over basement side Numancia in the Primera Liga yesterday.
The victory, which left Real seven points behind leaders Barcelona, was secured as the England captain curled a 25-metre shot over the wall into the far corner in the second half and Salgado scored seven minutes from time to put Real 2-0 up.
But their success also owed much to goalkeeper Iker Casillas who saved a first-half penalty and made a great stop to prevent Numancia from grabbing a late equaliser after Nuno Miguel Angel's strike had given the home side hope in the 88th minute.
The win was vital for Real after Barcelona had powered their way to a 4-0 win over Sevilla on Saturday.
Valencia held on to third position in La Liga after coming back from two goals down to earn a draw at home to Athletic Bilbao last night in an ill-tempered match in which eight players - five from the home side - were booked.
The defending champions went behind on 31 minutes to a penalty from Andoni Iraola and their woes were doubled in the 61st minutes when Santiago Ezquerro struck for the visitors.
But Valencia hit back 12 minutes later through Mista and then claimed a valuable point when Marco Di Vaio struck five minutes from time. Espanyol took advantage of Sevilla's defeat to reclaim fourth spot despite being held to a 2-2 draw at home to Real Betis.
The performance of the day came from Villarreal, who took their fourth win in a row with the 4-0 win over out-of-sorts Real Sociedad.
Uruguayan striker Diego Forlan scored two second-half goals to take his tally for the season to 13 and in between provided the pass which allowed Juan Roman Riquelme to get Villarreal's second.
Former AC Milan and Atletico Madrid forward Jose Mari completed the rout with a virtuoso effort in stoppage time.
ITALIAN SERIE A: Champions AC Milan slipped further behind Serie A leaders Juventus when they suffered a shock 1-0 defeat by mid-table Bologna at the San Siro yesterday.
Milan's second loss in a row, after last weekend's reverse at Livorno, leaves them on 42 points from 21 matches, eight adrift of Juventus, who won 2-1 at bottom club Atalanta, their goals coming from Ruben Olivera on 23 minutes and an Alessandro Del Piero penalty 10 minutes from time. Lilian Thuram gave Atalanta a consolation goal.
Milan struggled to break down a Bologna team unbeaten in five matches. Bologna's tactics were simple - defend deep and hit Milan on the break - and their approach soon paid off.
A swift counter-attack in the 27th minute ended with Claudio Bellucci backheeling the ball into the path of fellow striker Tomas Locatelli who lashed it past Milan keeper Dida.
Inter Milan climbed to third above Udinese - who lost 1-0 at Parma on Saturday - as they won comfortably 2-0 at Palermo.
Inter took a fourth-minute lead when goalkeeper Matteo Guardalben spilled a Juan Sebastian Veron free kick in front of Christian Vieri, who nodded the ball home. Vieri made sure of the points on the hour mark with a cool finish from Dejan Stankovic's cutback.
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