Real Madrid extended their dominance over city rivals Atletico and maintained their one-point lead at the top of La Liga when Ricardo Carvalho and Mesut Ozil scored in a 2-0 home win on Sunday.
Barcelona had moved two points clear with a 3-1 success at Getafe, with Lionel Messi, David Villa and Pedro netting for the champions, before Jose Mourinho’s Real snuffed out Atletico’s bid for a first Madrid derby win in more than a decade.
Real have 26 points from 10 games, Barca are second on 25 and Villarreal, who fought back from a goal down at home to beat Athletic Bilbao 4-1, third on 23.
Photo: REUTERS
Espanyol are in fourth after their 1-0 win over visiting Malaga on Saturday and Valencia could move above them if they managed a win at Sevilla yesterday.
The Madrid derby was potentially Real’s first genuine test of the season after they had swatted aside mostly mid to lower-table opposition in their previous matches of the campaign.
However, Atletico strikers Diego Forlan and Sergio Aguero saw too little of the ball and wingers Jose Antonio Reyes and Simao only rarely threatened.
After his Pepe had gone close with a header at a packed Bernabeu stadium, Carvalho burst through from the back to fire Real ahead in the 13th minute.
Ozil, a firm favorite with Real fans following his move from Werder Bremen, then bamboozled Atletico goalkeeper David De Gea with a low, swerving free kick from wide on the right to make it 2-0.
Toothless Atletico’s best effort of the first half came in the 36th minute when former Real and Arsenal winger Jose Antonio Reyes forced a fine save from Iker Casillas with a curled shot.
Real striker Gonzalo Higuain and Forlan hit the woodwork with superb volleys in the second half, but Atletico never looked like getting back into the match.
World Player of the Year Messi continued his rich vein of scoring form by taking his tally for the season to eight, three behind Real’s Cristiano Ronaldo.
Getafe crowded their own half, but Barca weaved an intricate web of passes to set up Messi after 23 minutes and the Argentine scored inside the near post.
His subtle layoff created the second for Villa and Pedro grabbed the third after Barca pressured the home defense into a mistake in the 65th minute.
Barca defender Gerard Pique then earned his second yellow card and was sent off for handling the ball in the area and Manu del Moral pulled one back for Getafe from the penalty spot.
With the visitors rattled, Getafe pressed forward, but a red card for Derek Boateng took the wind out of their sails and Barca could have scored again in the final minutes.
Bilbao’s Spain striker Fernando Llorente struck with a back-post header after only six minutes at the Madrigal, but Villarreal turned the game around before the break.
Nilmar leveled with a header and Spain’s Santi Cazorla capitalized on a poor clearance to score.
Bilbao had defender Jon Aurtenetxe sent off for a second bookable offense and Giuseppe Rossi and Jefferson Montero grabbed late breakaway goals.
Elsewhere, Real Zaragoza climbed off the foot of the table with a 3-2 home win over Real Mallorca thanks to a stoppage-time penalty from Gabi.
Top seeds Alexander Zverev of Germany and American Coco Gauff on Tuesday advanced to the third round of the Canadian Open after both players were pushed hard by their opponents. World No. 3 Zverev, playing in his first match since his first-round loss at Wimbledon, was far from his best, but emerged with a 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 win over Adam Walton under the lights in Toronto. Momentum shifted firmly in Zverev’s favor when he won a 52-shot rally in the first set tiebreak and he sealed the win on a double fault by the Australian in the second set. “It was a very
Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko upset top-seeded Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-4 on Saturday night to reach the National Bank Open quarter-finals. “Your support was incredible,” Mboko told the crowd in French after a chorus of “Ole, Ole, Ole” chants echoed around the venue. “I’m really happy to win today ... It’s incredible. I’m so happy to beat such a great champion.” Gauff dropped to 2-3 since winning the French Open. She followed the major victory with opening losses in Berlin and Wimbledon, then overcame double-fault problems to win two three-set matches in Montreal. Gauff had five double-faults on Saturday after having 23 in
Taiwan’s top women’s badminton doubles duo, Hsieh Pei-shan (謝沛珊) and Hung En-tzu (洪恩慈), achieved a straight-sets victory over Japan’s Kaho Osawa and Mayui Tanabe at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Super 300 Macau Open on Sunday. The Taiwanese pair won the final 21-18, 21-12, marking the duo’s second title this year after their win at the BWF Super 300 Taipei Open in May. The match on Sunday was their first encounter with the Japanese duo, ranked No. 63 in the world. Hsieh and Hung, ranked No. 12, began the opening game well. Hung, who plays left-handed, performed strongly at both the net and the
Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen on Thursday said that he is staying with the Red Bull team next year, ending months of speculation over his future. “Some people just like to stir the pot, some people just like to create drama, but, for me, it’s always been quite clear, and also for next year,” the four-time champion said ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix. “I’m discussing with the team already the plans — the things that we want to change for next year, so that means that I’m also staying with the team for next year,” he said. Verstappen has a contract with
RSS