Advantage Real in Super Copa

A late Yordi strike saved Copa del Rey holders Zaragoza who drew 1-1 with Liga champions Real Madrid in the first leg of the Spanish Supercopa.

Sunday night's game saw an evenly balanced first half with both teams having an equal quota of goalmouth action. Roberto Carlos looked sharp for the visitors and was handed the first chance of the game, cutting inside to fire a right-footed shot past the post.
Minutes later, Zaragoza broke through the Real defence but Jose Ignacio, who found himself free on the right, sliced the ball across the face of the goal with no-one coming in to put the ball away.

The best chance of the half fell to Roberto Carlos who smashed a vicious shot from the edge of the area that was tipped over the bar by Cesar Lainez. The Brazilian ace injured his right knee in the move and had to be stretchered off only to reappear a few minutes later after some off-field treatment.

Real midfielder Zinedine Zidane still looks as though he needs more time to settle into his new club, the French star struggled to keep up with the game and disappointed by giving too many balls away.

The first 45 minutes closed with a flurry of attacks from both sides, although both 'keepers, Cesar Sanchez and Lainez showed some fine form to keep the score level at 0-0.

Zaragoza came out fighting in the second half putting some early pressure on the Madrilenos. But it was the visitors who were to break the deadlock, Flavio Concecaio, deputising for the injured Ivan Helguera, firing a low shot inside the left post from outside the box on 54 minutes.

Zaragoza responded immediately and came close to levelling the score when Martin Vellisca blasted against the post after a goalmouth scramble in the 59th minute. The home side were determined to take something from the game and plugged away until Yordi grabbed an equaliser with just 10 minutes of normal time remaining. Acuna's cross from the right was met at the far post by the Gaditano striker, whose diving header was too powerful for Cesar to
hold onto.

The two clubs now have it all to play for in the return leg at the Bernabeu on Wednesday night.