Sport

Figo leads the Real revival

Luis Figo celebrated his 29th birthday with the goal that sealed victory for Real Madrid last night over bitter rivals Barcelona…

Mon Nov 05 2001 - 00:00

Luis Figo celebrated his 29th birthday with the goal that sealed victory for Real Madrid last night over bitter rivals Barcelona. The Portugal midfielder scored in second-half injury-time to clinch the win for Real, who took the lead through Fernando Morientes after 24 minutes.

The result underlines Real's return to form after a terrible start to the defence of their Spanish title and they are now seventh in La Liga, seven points behind leaders Deportivo La Coruna.

Osauna took the lead on nine minutes against Deportivo La Coruna through John Aloisi, but the Australian forward's strike only served to inspire a merciless comeback. Four goals in 20 minutes, from Diego Tristan (2), Donato and Jose Emilio Amavisca, put Javier Irureta's side in complete command. The pace dropped after the break but Roy Makaay added a fifth on 68 minutes to keep Deportivo clear at the top of the table.

Espanyol took the lead against Real Sociedad last night as an attempted clearance from Luiz Alberto struck Ivan Diaz and pinged off towards goal just before the half-hour mark. Alberto managed to hook clear but the referee's assistant ruled the ball had already crossed the line.

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Real were not behind for long, Edgaras Jankauskas latching on to Dmitry Khoklov's through ball to produce a great finish, and Javi de Pedro struck 20 minutes from time to earn the visitors their third successive win.

Another cruel injury to Ronaldo took the gloss off a 2-0 Inter Milan win against Lecce which lifted Hector Cuper's side to within two points of surprise Italian first division leaders Chievo yesterday.

Inter were full value for their win and took full advantage of Chievo's 0-0 draw with Venezia on Saturday night, goals from Mohamed Kallon and Luigi Di Biagio securing the points at the San Siro.

Inter are now in sole possession of second spot because of the failings of AS Roma and AC Milan who had shared that position at the start of the weekend.

Champions AS Roma had to settle for a 1-1 draw at Bergamo with Atalanta while AC Milan were defeated 1-0 at Torino thanks to a goal from striker Cristiano Lucarelli.

Those results allowed Bologna to move third, a point behind Inter and also within striking distance of Chievo thanks to a 3-2 victory over Fiorentina.