Ruud van Nistelrooy scored two late goals as Spanish champions Real Madrid defeated bottom side Levante 2-0 on Sunday to re-establish their seven-point lead over Barcelona at the top of the table.
A staggering 36 points separated Real and Levante before kick off but on the pitch there was little to choose between them before Dutch striker van Nistelrooy stole the points with his 10th and 11th goals of the campaign.
Fernando Gago started in the midfield for Real with Mohamadou Diarra gone for the African Cup of Nations and Miguel Torres replaced the suspended Sergio Ramos at right back.
PHOTO: AP
Goalkeeper Iker Casillas shrugged off a bout of gastroenteritis to start with coach Bernd Schuster seemingly reluctant to field former Liverpool goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek.
Levante started the better with Real Madrid squandering possession far too easily but the champions look so dangerous going forward and Julio Baptista and Raul both had efforts cleared off the goal-line.
In the second half Baptista and Brazilian compatriot Robinho both hit the post as Levante rode their luck.
PHOTO: AP
Real had only failed to score in of the their previous 18 league matches and the breakthrough came on 76 minutes with Jose Serrano unfortunately handling in the penalty area.
Van Nistelrooy made no mistake with the penalty sending the goalkeeper the wrong way and he scored again on 88 minutes as Real took the spoils.
"It was hard work but we got the win and it will be vital for us come the end of the season," Schuster said.
Real's next match is the derby against Atletico Madrid next Sunday and Schuster said his players would require no motivation for the capital clash.
"Sometimes it is difficult to motivate your players to face a team that is theoretically inferior but next week I won't need to say a thing just like it was for the Barcelona match," he said.
Atletico Madrid are riding high in third after a 1-0 home win over Valencia.
Kun Aguero took advantage of a mistake by Valencia goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand to score the decisive goal and Atletico move above Espanyol who saw their 14-match unbeaten run come to an abrupt end with a surprise 1-0 loss at Almeria.
Espanyol had not lost since a 2-1 defeat to Recreativo Huelva at the end of September but an 87th minute goal from Kalu Uche ended that sequence.
"That was our worst away performance of the season," Espanyol boss Ernesto Valverde said.
Villarreal are now breathing down their necks after a 4-3 comeback win over strugglers Deportivo La Coruna.
Turkish international Nihat scored twice in as many minutes to help Villarreal close to within a point of Espanyol.
Villarreal looked to be heading for their seventh defeat of the campaign trailing 2-1 but Nihat struck twice, in the 66th and 68th minutes, to turn the game in their favor.
"We were poor for 65 minutes and good for 25," Villarreal coach Manuel Pellegrini said. "Conceding so many goals makes it difficult to have a good campaign but reaching 35 points at this stage means there are more positives than negatives."
Carlos Alcaraz on Monday powered into the French Open second round with a resounding win to start his title defense, while world No. 1 Jannik Sinner and three-time defending women’s champion Iga Swiatek also progressed at Roland Garros. Four-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz struck 31 winners in a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri and is to face Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan in round two. Alcaraz is now on an eight-match winning streak at the French Open and also took Olympic silver at Roland Garros last year, losing the final to Novak Djokovic. “The first round is never
TIGHT FINISH: Napoli only needed to do the same as or better than Inter, who won their game against Como 2-0 on the same day, leaving Napoli with a one-point lead The two players who Antonio Conte wanted more than any others secured Napoli their second Serie A title in three years on Friday. Scott McTominay scored with an acrobatic bicycle kick before halftime and Romelu Lukaku doubled the lead with a solo goal after the break in the decisive 2-0 home win over Cagliari. Conte became the first coach to win the Italian championship with three different teams. “Everyone contributed to this — but the coach most of all,” Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo said. “Napoli needed him to get back on top. He’s phenomenal.” Comparing it to his three Serie A titles won
The journey of Taiwan’s badminton mixed doubles duo Ye Hong-wei and Nicole Chan at the Malaysia Masters in Kuala Lumpur came to an end in the semi-finals yesterday after they suffered a 2-0 loss to China’s Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping. Ye, 25, and Chan, 20, teamed up last year and are currently ranked No. 23 in the world. The Taiwanese shuttlers took on China’s second seeds in the mixed doubles event, but proved no match for Feng and Huang, losing the match 10-21, 7-21. In the first half of the first game, the pairings were neck and neck at 6-7 until Ye
SSC Napoli coach Antonio Conte has dragged the team back from disaster and restored them to the top of Italian Serie A, but his future at the Scudetto winners is in doubt even after a triumphant season. The fiery 55-year-old has exceeded preseason expectations and bolstered his reputation as a serial winner by guiding Napoli to their fourth Scudetto, and second in three seasons. However, he might well be on his way in the summer after just one season at the helm as his charged relationship with Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis has simmered throughout the campaign. Conte has said
RSS