Madrid extend cushion with Levante win
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E-mail Xinhua, March 10, 2014
Real Madrid's grip on the top of the Spanish BBVA Primera Liga became a little bit tighter on Sunday after a 3-0 win at home to Levante.
Real Madrid's straightforward win, which came thanks to an 11th minute header from Cristiano Ronaldo and a goal from Marcelo four minutes into the second half.
An own goal from Niko Karabelas rounded off a poor afternoon for Levante, who had central defender David Navarro sent off for a violent tackle on Ronaldo 18 minutes into the second half.
The win keeps Real Madrid three points ahead of Atletico Madrid, who won away in Vigo on Saturday night, but takes them four clear of Barca, who were victims of the surprise of the weekend after crashing to a 1-0 defeat in Valladolid, a result which has started talk of a crisis at the club.
Barcelona produced their worst performance in years as they lost in a ground where they had been undefeated in over 10 years and the fact is they were never really in the game against a side which kicked off the weekend in the relegation zone.
Fausto Rossi's 17th minute goal decided the game and although Leo Messi and Neymar both had chances for Barca, and some players complained about a bumpy pitch, the simple truth is Barca were second best and the result means the destiny of the league title is not now in their hands even if they win in Madrid in two weeks.
Two goals from David Villa away to Celta Vigo lifted Atletico Madrid above Barcelona in the table.
Villa scored in the 62nd and 64th minutes to give Atletico a 2-0 win away to Celta Vigo and lift them above Real Madrid, who play at home to Levante on Sunday afternoon, on head to head goal difference.
The game looked to be heading for a draw between two well-matched sides, before Villa took advantage of a dreadful error from Celta left back Jony to open the scoring with a low finish.
Celta were still groggy when Villa again found space on the edge of the Celta area to score his second of the night with another low shot.
Athletic Club Bilbao took a good away point in Valencia where Aritz Aduriz's penalty cancelled out Paco Alcazar's offside opener for Valencia.
Valladolid's win found further reward when Sevilla won 3-1 away to Almeria to mean that Almeria drop into the bottom three.
Carlos Bacca opened the scoring for Sevilla on the half hour and further goals from Daniel Carricio and Kevin Gameiro made the game safe before Alex Vidal's late consolation goal for Almeria.
Espanyol defeated Elche 3-1 on Sunday lunchtime with David Lopez and Diego Colotto scoring early goals from set pieces in the first half, before Pizzi capped Espanyol's best display of the season with a goal just before the hour.
Getafe coach Luis Garcia looks likely to be sacked after his side were beaten 2-0 away to bottom of the table Betis. Goals from Leo Baptistao and Ruben Castro before halftime gave Betis three points which keeps their slim hopes of avoiding relegation alive, while Getafe have not won in 12 matches.
Finally Granada took a huge step towards safety with a 2-0 win at home to Villarreal. Fran Rico and El Arabi scored the goals which give Granada breathing space above the drop zone, while at the same time severely denting Villarreal's chances of a top 4 finish.
Osasuna entertain Malaga and Real Sociedad are at home to Rayo Vallecano on Monday to end the 27th round of matches in Spain.
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