Sevilla beat a Cristiano Ronaldo-less Real Madrid 2-1 Sunday to end the Spanish powerhouse's unbeaten start to the season. Renato was left unmarked to turn in Adriano's 66th-minute cross for the winner in front of 45,500 fans at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium. Jesus Navas opened the scoring for Sevilla in the 33rd, charging into the area to head Fernando Navarro's floated cross home at the far post. Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas then made two point-blank saves to keep Madrid in the game. A momentary lapse by Sevilla three minutes into the second half allowed Pepe to head home an equalizer against the run of play. Sevilla joined Madrid on 15 points, three behind Barcelona, which has started the season with six straight wins. Madrid president Florentino Perez, who spent over $365 million to buy soccer stars, watched as Sevilla's offense completely dominated Madrid from the start. Shorn of the attacking threat of Ronaldo, out with an ankle injury, Madrid looked second best throughout the game. Sevilla picked up its fifth straight win. Sevilla created chance after chance and it was only the performance of Casillas that prevented a rout. The Spanish international goalkeeper stopped what appeared to be a certain goal for Renato in first half in injury time with a reaction save. He then made an even better stop, diving to foil a close range effort from Perotti shortly after the restart. Madrid then got a scarcely deserved equalizer when Pepe turned in Jose Maria “Guti” Gutierrez's long ball into the area. But Sevilla continued to attack with conviction and exposed Madrid's defensive frailties, with Navas forcing Casillas into another good save in the 87th and then shooting wide right after. Earlier, Valencia beat Racing Santander 1-0 to jump to fifth, while Villarreal drew 0-0 against 10-man Espanyol to remain winless and mired in the relegation zone. Also Sunday, Athletic Bilbao drew 2-2 in a wild game at Valladolid, Sporting Gijon's second-half goal flurry rallied it to a 4-1 win against Mallorca and Getafe beat Osasuna 2-1. Villarreal has three points from six games to sit one point above last-place Xerez, which scored its first goal of the season in a 1-1 draw against Malaga. Juan Forlin was sent off in the 15th minute and, although Villarreal dominated possession after, Espanyol goalkeeper Carlos Kameni denied Santi Cazorla and Robert Pires, along with Marcos Senna late in the game. Iker Muniain became the league's youngest-ever goalscorer as the 16-year-old's goal in the 77th minute rallied Athletic in a match that saw three players sent off and another taken to hospital after being knocked unconscious.
