Ramos’ red card hard to understand: Ancelotti

Real coach unhappy with official as <br /> team draws 2-2 against Osasuna.

MADRID: Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said he could not understand referee Clos Gomez’s decision to send off Sergio Ramos as Madrid fell five points behind Barcelona after drawing 2-2 at Osasuna on Saturday.

Two first-half headers from Oriol Riera had put the hosts in control and things went from bad to worse for Madrid when Ramos was shown his 18th red card for the club a minute before half-time.

However, Isco pulled a goal back for the visitors before the break and Pepe headed home the equaliser 10 minutes from time.



Ancelotti’s men did have legitimate reasons to complain about the performance of Gomez as both of the yellow cards shown to Ramos appeared harsh, while he also waved away a strong penalty claim for Real.

And the Italian said he felt Ramos in particular had been hard done by.

“I don’t like to talk about the referee’s decisions, but it was a difficult decision to understand,” he said. “The first [card] is not even a foul. I don’t know what happened.”

I want to cancel Christmas, says Martino

Barcelona boss Gerardo Martino believes Christmas has come at the wrong time for his side as they recorded their third win in eight days with a 2-1 victory over Villarreal on Saturday.

“It is a shame that the league will stop because we are in good form,” he said. “After playing against such a difficult opponent and playing three very good games in a row, I wish we could postpone Christmas.”

Neymar was once again the star of the show as he opened the scoring from the penalty spot and then slotted home the winner 22 minutes from time after Mateo Musacchio had brought Villarreal level.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 16^th, 2013.

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