Raul Gonzalez's first-half goal gave Real Madrid a 1-0 victory over Deportivo La Coruna yesterday to leave the Spanish champion as the nearest rival to runaway league leader Barcelona.
Raul flicked Lassana Diarra's in-swinging cross beyond Deportivo goalkeeper Gustavo Munua in the 40th minute to move to within one strike of equaling Alfredo di Stefano's club record of 307 goals.
The win means that Madrid stay second, 12 points behind Barcelona, which beat Numancia 4-1 on Saturday and tops the standings with 53 points from 20 games.
Ten-man Racing Santander beat Sevilla 2-0 and Mallorca upset Valencia 3-1 as both losers fell further out of the league race.
Cesar Navas and Nicolas Zigic both scored at the Roman Sanchez Pizjuan stadium as Sevilla slipped 15 points behind Barcelona, while Jose Manuel Jurado scored twice as Mallorca snapped an 11-game winless streak by beating Valencia to move out of last place.
Navas was perfectly placed in the 24th minute to slot in a loose rebound while Zigic followed up Pedro Munitis' free kick with a left-footed strike in the 46th as Racing maintained its excellent road form to jump up to ninth.
Santander were reduced to 10 men from the 32nd minute when Oscar Serrano was red-carded.
Valencia, missing striker David Villa and winger Joaquin Sanchez, trailed after eight minutes at the Ono Estadi stadium when Jurado clipped a rebound over Valencia goalkeeper Vicente Guaita.
Jose Luis Marti doubled the lead with a penalty in the 41st before Jurado beat Guaita with a rising shot at the near post a minute later as Mallorca moved ahead of Espanyol and Osasuna and into 18th place with 17 points.
Valencia's second straight loss left it 19 points behind Barcelona but in the final Champions League place.
Madrid hardly put on a spirited display -- against a team that had lost 5-0 to Barcelona a week ago -- in picking up its fifth straight victory under coach Juande Ramos.
Madrid enjoyed the early pressure at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, with winger Arjen Robben setting up Raul and Gonzalo Higuain to threaten before the Madrid captain scored his eighth of the season.
