Sneijder´s goal was enough to beat Real Murcia

Real Madrid opened up the gap between them and Barcelona to nine points after they beat Real Murcia 1-0 despite being down to 10 men for much of the match



The Dutch playmaker Wesley Sneijder capitalised on Murcia's failure to clear a Raul flick-on and pounced to fire a shot into the top corner from the edge of the box to put seal the win for Los Merengues. Real Madrid were without the suspended Sergio Ramos, so Miguel Torres came in at right-back, but was off the field after just 20 minutes when his tackle from behind on Dani Aquino landed right on the midfielders ankle. Referee Eduardo Iturralde Gonzalez, famed for his liberal distribution of red and yellow cards, was fully justified in sending Torres off for dangerous play.

Murcia, who look likely to return to the second tier of Spanish football after just one season back in the top flight, did not display much ambition to go out and win the match, even with the one-man advantage, and midfielder Arzo's header in the opening five minutes proved to be their clearest chance of the match. Referee Gonzalez turned down penalty appeals form both sides, and even booked Madrid midfielder Guti for diving after one incident in the area.