MADRID — Atletico Madrid lost more ground on Real Madrid in the race for second place in La Liga it held on for a 0-0 draw at Getafe Sunday despite being reduced to nine men. The visitors had the better of the chances in the first-half, but had to ride their luck in the second as Getafe was denied a strong claim for a penalty before Mario Suarez was sent-off for a second yellow card. Thibaut Courtois then had to make a fine save from Borja Fernandez with six minutes remaining before Diego Godin was also given his marching orders for a second bookable offense in stoppage time. The draw means Atletico has now won just one of its last five league games and manager Diego Simeone accepts it is struggling to reproduce its early season form. Atletico's dip in form has also coincided with Radamel Falcao scoring just once in the last five outings, but Simeone defended the Colombian's record so far this season. “We know Radamel is an important player in front of goal and his numbers are incredible. “He has 22 goals with eight games to go, which is only two less than he had last season. I don't think this has happened very often. “I hope we will always have a striker that assures this number of goals.” Valencia kept up its pursuit of fourth place as Jonas' injury time header handed it a 2-1 win over 10-man Valladolid. Mikel Balenziaga's own goal had given the hosts a half-time lead and Henrique Sereno was then dismissed after bringing down Roberto Soldado inside the area 11 minutes after the break. But Soldado's penalty was saved by Dani Hernandez and Oscar Gonzalez looked to have rescued the visitors a point with a lovely finish in off the underside of the bar 19 minutes from time until Jonas' late intervention. Atalanta stuns Inter Title-challenger Napoli closed the gap to Serie A leader Juventus to nine points, thanks to a 2-0 win over outclassed Genoa at the San Paulo Sunday. Inter, meanwhile, saw its hopes of a place in next season's Champions League kept in check by a shock 4-3 reverse to Atalanta, for whom Argentine German Denis scored a hat trick. Inter's 11th reverse of the season ended amid ugly scenes as Ezequiel Schelotto remonstrated with several of his former Atalanta teammates and had to be held back by security. The visitors' coach Stefano Colantuono told Sky Sport there was little surprise in the result: “We prepared for this game really well and I can only praise the efforts of the whole team.” Juve is still top with a nine-point lead on Napoli with Milan still third. Fiorentina, in fourth, is six points further off the pace. — Agencies FIFA fines, warns Ibra agent FIFA says it has fined and warned Zlatan Ibrahimovic's agent for using “offensive language” after he compared the governing body to a mafia organization and called Sepp Blatter a “demented dictator.” FIFA ordered Mino Raiola to pay 5,000 Swiss francs ($5,350), plus 1,000 Swiss francs ($1,070) toward the costs of disciplinary proceedings. The Monaco-based agent, who has also called UEFA President Michel Platini a “mafia boss,” was angered that Ibrahimovic never wins best player awards from FIFA or UEFA. Raiola said FIFA's Ballon D'Or prize was “politically corrupt” if the Sweden forward didn't win. In January, Ibrahimovic placed 10th in voting won by Lionel Messi. He got 1.24 percent of voting points allocated by national team captains and coaches, plus journalists. Ismaily survives a scare Former African champion Ismaily of Egypt survived a scare in Madagascar at the weekend to reach the last-16 round of the CAF Confederation Cup. Taking what appeared a comfortable two-goal lead into the return match against TCO Boeny in Mahajanga, the experienced African campaigner fell 2-0 behind three minutes into the second half. But Ghanaian John Antwi scored midway through the second half and Ibrahim Hassan leveled in the final minute to earn a 2-2 on the day and a 4-2 overall victory for the Egyptians. The next opponent for 1969 African Champions Cup winner Ismaily will be Sudanese side Al-Ahly Shandy, which retained a one-goal first-leg advantage by forcing a 0-0 draw with Dedebit of Ethiopia in Addis Ababa. Shandy impressed when it debuted in the Confederation Cup last year, reaching the group phase before finding fellow Sudanese sides Al-Hilal and Al-Merreikh too powerful. Wydad Casablanca of Morocco, another club to have been crowned African champion, fought back to draw 1-1 against AS Douanes of Togo in Lome and complete a 4-1 aggregate victory. Liga Muculmana of Mozambique, which caused a stir when they humiliated Nigerian visitors Lobi Stars 7-1 in Maputo last Friday, is set to pose a more formidable challenge for the Moroccans this month. Diables Noirs, hoping to emulate compatriots AC Leopards and become the second successive Congolese winners of the second-tier competition, drew 0-0 against Panthers of Equatorial Guinea in Malabo to advance 6-1 overall. — Agencies
