MADRID, 23 September 2004 — David Beckham struck with a 25-meter free kick to win back some support from a furious Bernabeu crowd and give Real Madrid a 1-0 victory over Osasuna in their first match in the post-Camacho era.
The first act of coach Mariano Garcia Remon, drafted in following the shock resignation of Jose Antonio Camacho on Monday, was to restore Beckham and Raul to the starting line-up.
There was little improvement but the night’s one moment of brilliance, an exquisite Beckham free kick in the 61st minute, sent Real Madrid into provisional top spot in the Primera Liga.
A third 1-0 victory of the season gave Real nine points from four games and took them two points clear of a group of six teams who held the lead going into the midweek fixtures.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid and Barcelona were handed repeats of last season’s opening King’s Cup ties when the draw for the first round of the competition took place yesterday.
Losing finalists Real found themselves matched with fellow Madrid side Leganes, who almost caused an upset last season when they led the tie until two minutes from the end of normal time, but finally lost out 4-3 to Real in extra time.
Another third division side to hit the jackpot were Gramenet who find themselves up against Barcelona for the second year in succession. King’s Cup holders Real Zaragoza were handed what appears to be a straight-forward opening tie away to second division Gimnastic de Tarragona.
Of all the top flight teams Valencia face what looks to be the toughest tie against Lleida, who are in second place in the second division after a promising start to the season.
Colchester Dump West Brom Out of League Cup
English Premier League strugglers West Bromwich Albion suffered an embarrassing 2-1 League Cup defeat at Third Division Colchester United in the only shock of Tuesday’s second round action.
A goal two minutes from the end of extra time by Ben May handed Colchester a well-deserved victory at Layer Road and left Albion, 19th in the top flight, still searching for their first win of the season.
A fine strike from Craig Fagan gave Colchester a first-half lead but Geoff Horsfield leveled the score five minutes after the break.
Premier League basement side Crystal Palace appeared to be heading out of the competition until Dougie Freedman scored 10 minutes from time to cancel out a goal from Hartlepool’s Eifion Williams.
Bolton Wanderers, beaten by Middlesbrough in last season’s final, earned a 2-0 win at Fourth Division Yeovil with goals from Brazilian Julio Cesar and Danish striker Henrik Pedersen.
Manchester City gave under-fire boss Kevin Keegan a further boost by routing Third Division Barnsley 7-1, Jonathan Macken and Antoine Sibierski scoring two apiece.
Frei Header Gives Stade Rennes Win over Marseille
Alexander Frei’s header just before the hour mark gave Stade Rennes a 1-0 win at home to Olympique Marseille after Steve Marlet had missed a first-half penalty for the visitors in Ligue 1 action yesterday.
With three defeats in four games, Marseille slipped to a provisional ninth with 10 points, five adrift of Olympique Lyon who took over at the top on Tuesday with a 2-0 win at Toulouse.
Monaco, who are second two points behind the champions, will aim to reclaim first place at home to Nantes.
Second-half goals by midfielder Mickael Essien and striker Florent Malouda handed champions Olympique Lyon a 2-0 win at Toulouse.
