10-man Atletico battles back to hold Villarreal

Source: Agencies  |   2008-10-28  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

ATLETICO Madrid grabbed the unlikeliest of points when it came back with 10 men to draw 4-4 at Villarreal in the Primera Liga on Sunday.

Javier Aguirre's side entered the game on a three-match losing streak but stormed into a two-goal lead before Villarreal made the most of Ever Banega's red card just before the break.

The home side was cruising at 4-2 after 67 minutes when Atletico was brought back to life as Simao Sabrosa and then Raul Garcia scored near the end to level.

Villarreal moved up to third with 18 points from eight games, two points short of leader and neighbor Valencia, which needed David Villa to score an equalizer for a 1-1 draw at lowly Recreativo Huelva.

Six victories and two draws signified Valencia's best start to a league season, surpassing the record set by Rafael Benitez's side in the 2003/4 season by one point.

Barcelona is second with 19 points.Atletico is 10th with 10 points. Sevilla slipped to fourth on 17 points after a 0-1 home defeat by Malaga, conceding its first goal in nine matches in all competitions. Promoted Malaga made it four consecutive wins with the victory over its Andalucian rival and is sixth with 13 points. Also, Real Madrid beat Athletic Bilbao 3-2.

Atletico had left Sergio Aguero on the bench again but Portugal winger Simao made that irrelevant inside the first minute crashing a stunning shot in off the underside of the bar.

Villarreal dominated but was hit on the break again when Simao crossed for Uruguay striker Diego Forlan to score against his former club.

Argentine midfielder Banega collected his second yellow card for Atletico before the interval and then Leo Franco gifted them a goal fumbling Marcos Senna's long-range shot into his own net.