Sunday 24 / November / 2024
MADRID: Real Madrid took a massive step towards assuring this season's La Liga title with an excellent second-half fight back to win 3-2 away to Sevilla, giving them a 15-point lead at the top.
Sevilla looked to be on the way to a win which would have given them and FC Barcelona a glimmer of hope in their efforts to close the gap, when first Ivan Rakitic's free-kick and then Erik Lamela's finish put them 2-0 ahead at half-time.
Real Madrid improved drastically after the break with Rodrygo pulling a goal back five minutes into the second half.
Carlo Ancelotti's side then took control of the game, but it wasn't until the 82nd minute that they were level when Nacho Fernandez hit a first-time finish after Sevilla failed to deal with a corner.
Karim Benzema then won the game for Real in the second minute of injury-time, after Vinicius and Rodrygo set him up to score from inside the Sevilla area.
Elsewhere, Atletico Madrid beat Espanyol 2-1 after a controversial penalty scored by Yannick Carrasco with the last kick of the game, after the referee decided that the ball had hit Espanyol striker Raul de Tomas on his elbow.
De Tomas had earlier canceled out Carrasco's opener for Atletico after another controversial decision saw Geoffrey Kondogbia sent off, and the game had looked set to be a draw until the dramatic final moments.
That result leaves Atletico three points clear in fourth place after Real Sociedad and Real Betis drew 0-0 on Friday night in an entertaining match where both sides had chances to win.
Villarreal remain seventh with a 2-1 win away to Getafe thanks to early goals from Gerard Moreno and Manu Trigueros as they dominated the first half.
Enes Unal got a goal back for Getafe in the 63rd minute, but Getafe never really looked like saving a point from the Champions League semifinalists, although Villarreal will be sweating on the fitness of Moreno, who ended the game with physical issues.
Elche just about assured their top-flight future for another year with a 3-0 win at home to Mallorca thanks to goals from Johan Mojica, Pedro Bigas and an own goal from Lee Kang-in.
Alaves ended a run of seven games without a win thanks to Joselu's 64th minute strike, which Rayo Vallecano keeper, Stole Dimitrievski, made a horrible mess of to extend Rayo's run without a win to 13 matches.
On Sunday, Levante won 4-1 away to Granada to move to within four points of safety, thanks partly to an excellent display from Jose Luis Morales. Morales set up Dani Gomez for the 16th-minute opener, and then doubled the lead in the 50th minute from the penalty spot, after German Sanchez was harshly penalized for handball and also shown a second yellow card.
Playing against 10 men, Levante extended their lead with goals from Mickeal Malsa and Roberto Soldado, before Alex Callado's late consolation for the home team.
Valencia rested players with a view to next weekend's Copa del Rey final and paid the price with a 2-1 home defeat to Osasuna, who claimed the points with Chimy Avila's 50th-minute penalty and Ante Budimir's looping header, before Carlos Soler pulled a goal back from the penalty spot.
The round of games ends on Monday when FC Barcelona entertain Cadiz, before a midweek round of fixtures kicks off on Tuesday.
