Nahuel Molina and Mario Hermoso scored first-half goals to give Atleuitoc Madrid a 2-1 win over Rayo Vallecano in La Liga on Sunday and move closer to rivals Real Madrid in the standings.
A superb streak of 12 unbeaten league games has propelled Atletico to a 57-point tally – only two points behind second-placed Real, who faced a shock 2-3 defeat at Bernabeu against Villareal on Saturday.
Barcelona, on the other hand, are leading the standings with 71 points with a game left against Girona on Monday.
Molina took the lead in the 22nd minute after Alvaro Morata set up the Argentina international for his first goal since joining the club last summer.
Hermoso doubled his side’s lead a few minutes later with a header from a corner, taking advantage of a poor clearance by Rayo goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski.
The hosts were a man down after defender Florian Lejeune was sent off early in the second half, but left back Fran Garcia restored some hope by pulling one back in the 85th minute with a brilliant long-range low shot.
The hosts were reduced to 10-man after defender Florian Lejeune’s sent off early in the second half. However, left-back Fran Garcia brought some jubilant moments for the home crowd as he slotted the goal in the 85th minute with a brilliant long-range low shot.
Earlier, Almeria beat Valencia 2-1 to move out of the relegation zone with a minor advantage of three points.
Cadiz thrash nine-man Real Betis 2-0 thanks to second-half goals by Ruben Alcaraz and Chris Ramos.
Mallorca, on the other hand, held Valladolid to a 3-3 draw in the action-packed game at the latter’s home ground, thanks to an extra-time penalty by Vedat Muriqi.
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MADRID: Samu Chukwueze scored a brace to give Real Madrid a major blow to already faint title hopes in La Liga as they were handed a shocking 3-2 defeat by Villarreal at home on Saturday.
Just days after thrashing arch-rivals Barcelona 4-0 at Camp Nou to reach Cop del Rey final. Real fell to a bitter loss which left them 12 points behind the table-topers Barca.
Barcelona, however, have an opportunity to extend their lead to 15 points at the top when they face Girona on Sunday.
Despite taking the lead twice, Carlo Ancelotti’s side could not build on the momentum.
Madrid opened the scoring after 15 minutes through Villarreal’s Pau Torres’ own goal but Chukwueze slotted the equalizer in the 39th.
Vinicius Jr restored the one-goal cushion for the home side after the break with a simple finish in front of the Villarreal goal for his ninth league goal of the season.
Quique Setien’s side overcame Real’s lead again in the 71st minute when Jose Luis Morales fired home from close range, with a VAR check reversing the initial offside call.
Chukwueze scored his second 10 minutes from time and silenced the home crowd at Santiago Bernabeu with an excellent strike from the edge of the box to the top left corner.
With the win, Villarreal climbed to fifth place with 47 points and are in contention for a Champions League spot.
Earlier, Real Sociedad beat Getafe 2-0 at home to go forth on the standings with 51 points.
Meanwhile, Athletic Club thumped Espanyol 2-1 thanks to Inaki Williams and Nico Williams’ goals.
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SEVILLE: Miguel Rodriguez and Goncalo Paciencia struck late and powered Celta Vigo to mark an astounding comeback to hold Sevilla for a 2-2 in their La Liga fixture at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium here.
The hosts had an unwanted start to their clash with Celta as they had Pape Gueye sent off the field just after 19 minutes but still managed to take the lead with goals from Youssef En-Nesyri and Marcos Acuna as the clock ran down.
Rodriguez, though, gave Celta a sigh of relief by netting the first for his side in the 89th minute, while Paciencia struck second for Celta to level the scores at 2-2.
Minutes later, Sevilla were then down to nine men when Marcos Acuna was sent off for dissent, leaving Jose Luis Mendilibar’s side struggling.
The 2-2 stalemate against Celta barred Sevilla from soaring away from the danger zone.
Sevilla, 13th, sit five points clear of the relegation zone but have played one more game than the teams below them.
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VALENCIA: Valencia extended their fight against La Liga relegation as the home side made a late comeback to hold better-ranked Rayo Vallecano for a 1-1 draw at the Estadio Mestalla on Monday.
The stalemate powered Valencia to escape the relegation zone on goal difference after claiming a crucial point against Rayo Vallecano, who remained in the eighth spot with 37 points just behind Athletic Club on goal difference.
However, it was not an easy affair for the home side to steal a crucial point as Rayo Vallecano had a flying start as the visitors took an early lead within the first 10 minutes, thanks to a composed finish by Santi Comesana.
Valencia responded after the break with Justin Kluivert forcing an amazing save from Stole Dimitrievski as the home side attempted to increase the pressure.
Kluivert then eventually prove vital in the dying minutes, slotting home a controversial late penalty to extend Valencia’s unbeaten home record to three league games.
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MADRID: Karim Benzema netted three goals in seven first-half minutes as Real Madrid stormed through Valladolid 6-0 on Sunday to cut leader Barcelona’s lead to 12 points in La Liga.
The hat trick took the French forward to 14 league goals this season — three behind the top-scorer Barca’s Robert Lewandowski.
Rodrygo opened the scoring in the 22nd minute before Benzema seized control at the Bernabeu, scoring a hat-trick in just seven minutes to totally outclass the opponents before the first half.
Benzema netted his first one with a diving header from a Vinicius Jr cross while barely escaping a collision with the far post.
The Brazilian then set up the second only three minutes later with a simple pass for the striker to score from the edge of the box.
The French forward completed his hat trick with an impressive overhead effort from inside the six-yard box and grabbed a Rodrygo cross that was behind him to score while his back was towards the goal.
Rodrygo then assisted Marco Asensio in the second half as he played a one-two pass with the Brazilian forward before sending the ball home.
Lucas Vazquez produced the final of the evening in the added time set up by Eden Hazard, who made his first league appearance since September as a substitute for Benzema.
With the win, second-placed Real surge to 59 points, five ahead of third-placed Atletico Madrid, who beat Real Betis 1-0 later on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Villareal edged past Real Sociedad to take sixth place in the standings with 44 points, thanks to second-half strikes by Dani Parejo and Nicolas Jackson.
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ELCHE: Robert Lewandowski scored a brace as Barcelona wreaked havoc on bottom-placed Elche to win 4-0 and go 15 points clear of arch-rivals Real Madrid at the top of La Liga on Saturday.
The Catalan giants strengthen their position in the title race after this win while second-placed Real will look to keep their slim hopes alive with a win against Valladolid on Sunday.
League’s top scorer Lewandowski ended his goal drought after three goalless games when he opened the scoring in the 20th minute with a close-range finish after Ronald Araujo headed the ball down to him in front of the goal.
Ansu Fati doubled the lead in the 55th minute by receiving a pass from Ferran Torres in his own half, moving towards the outside of the box, and hitting low into the far corner for his first league goal since October.
Lewandowski scored his second of the night 10 minutes later after Gavi snatched the ball off Elche’s defence and set up brilliantly for the polish strike in the box.
Torres slotted the fourth goal of the visitors in the 70th minute to wrap up the game.
With the rout, Elche were pushed deep into the crisis with only 13 points from 27 games, 14 points away from the safety zone.
Earlier, Sevilla beat Cadiz 2-0 to go 13th in the standing on 31 points while the opponents were left stranded on the brink of the relegation zone.
Meanwhile, 14th-placed Getafe held Athletic Club to a nil-nil draw at home.
Girone edged past Espanyol, thanks to a late penalty scored by Christian Stunai two minutes before time, to jump to 10th place with 34 points.
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MALLORCA: 10-man Mallorca had to overcome the number disadvantage for the final 20 minutes to hold Osasuna for a goalless draw in the mid-table clash in the ongoing La Liga.
Osasuna finished in ninth place and Mallorca in 11th after the stalemate, which lacked clear scoring opportunities until the last minutes.
The goalless draw against Mallorca meant Osasuna failed to score in their last four La Liga fixtures.
The visitors had the upper hand in the closing minutes and added time of the fixture and they did threaten but goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic made back-to-back saves to deny Moncayola and Abde.
Earlier, Mallorca’s defender was given a straight red card for fouling Osasuna’s Ruben Garcia in the 69th minute, who only had to beat the goalkeeper.
Meanwhile, following their goalless stalemate against Mallorca, Osasuna will turn their focus back to Copa del Rey clash at Athletic Bilbao, leading 1-0 after the first leg.
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MADRID: La Liga’s bottom club Elche sacked coach Pablo Machin on Monday after a 2-0 defeat at Real Sociedad left the team 14 points from safety.
Former Sevilla and Espanyol boss Machin leaves just months after joining last November with Elche already in the relegation zone.
“Pablo Machin will not continue as coach of the first team,” the club said in a statement.
Elche only ended their wait for a first league victory of the season last month after failing to win any of their opening 19 games.
Machin’s side had taken four points from their two previous matches before Sunday’s loss to Sociedad.
He is the third coach to be sacked by Elche this term, following the dismissals of Francisco Rodriguez and Jorge Almiron.
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BARCELONA: Franck Kessie scored a stoppage-time winner as Barcelona snatched a 2-1 Clasico win over Real Madrid on Sunday at Camp Nou and moved 12 points clear of the arch-rivals at the top of La Liga.
The thrilling victory strengthened Barca’s chances to win the title for the first time since 2019 as Madrid’s hopes to defend the championship had been effectively dented with only 12 games of the season left.
The visitors took the early lead through a freak own goal from Ronald Arujo in the ninth minute but Barcelona rebounded strongly when Sergi Roberto struck the equalizer on the stroke of half-time.
Both teams created chances in the second half and Marco Asensio tucked home for Real but ht effort was ruled for offside after a long VAR check.
Instead, Alejandro Balde set up Kessie in the second minute of additional time who sent the ball past goalkeeper Rudiger into the bottom left corner.
The intensity from the crowd was phenomenal as Kessie wrapped up Barcelona’s 100th win against arch-rivals Real Madrid.
Earlier, Getafe beat Sevilla 2-0 as they jumped past the opponents to 13th place in the standings.
Meanwhile, Villareal wreaked havoc on Osasuna as they sealed a commanding 3-0 win thanks to a brace from Jose Luis Morales and Samuel Chukwueze’s early goal.
Real Sociedad came out on top against Elche with a 2-0 win after Takefusa Kubo and Ander Barrenetxea hit goals each.
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MADRID: Antoine Griezmann, Yannick Carrasco and Thomas Lemar scored goals to give Atletico Madrid a commanding 3-0 win over Valencia on Saturday and extend their unbeaten run in La Liga to 10 games.
The home side at Metropolitano Stadium dominated the opponents completely and registered its third consecutive win in the Spanish League.
Griezmann opened the scoring in the first half, slotting home from a close range before Carrose doubled the lead after the break.
Substitute Lemar wrapped up Atletico’s win in the 67th minute, finishing eloquently from Alvaro Morata’s cross as Diego Simeone’s side produced another contest on high note.
Following the victory, Atletico jumped to 51 points and strengthened their claim on third place in the standing, six points ahead of fourth-placed Real Sociedad, who face Elche on Sunday.
However, Valencia are left on the edge of the relegation zone, equal on 26 points with Almeria and Getafe.
Earlier, Celta Vigo breezed past Espanyol 3-1 as goals from Gabri Viega, Iago Aspas and Carles Perez took the side to 10th place.
Almeria held Cadiz to a 1-1 draw after Gonzalo Merelo scored the equalizer on a penalty deep into the stoppage time.
Rayo Vallecano ended on a 2-2 draw against Girona.
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