Levante UD’s unexpected stay at the top of the La Liga standings came to an abrupt end on Sunday as the unheralded club was brought back down to earth with a 2-0 loss at 10-man CA Osasuna.
The surprise pacesetters’ first defeat of the season left them two points behind leaders Real Madrid and one point behind defending La Liga champions Barcelona after 10 matches.
Levante, who have the smallest budget in Spain’s top division, had ridden a club-record run of seven straight wins, sparked by a 1-0 upset of Real Madrid, to spend the past two rounds atop the table for the first time in the club’s 102-year history, but Alvaro Cejudo and Juan “Nino” Martinez scored in the first half and Osasuna held firm after Cejudo was sent off after receiving a second yellow card in the 59th minute.
Photo: Reuters
“When you win, it’s difficult to believe that you are ever going to lose,” Levante’s first-year coach Juan Ignacio Martinez said. “It is true that we were on a good run, but we knew that we were facing a tough game.”
Elsewhere, striker Adrian Lopez scored once in each half to lead Atletico Madrid to a 3-1 win over Real Zaragoza, while Malaga beat RCD Espanyol 2-1 to end a three-game losing streak.
Real Racing Club de Santander edged visiting Real Betis Balompie 1-0 for their first win of the season just two days after the board resigned, while Athletic Bilbao drew 1-1 at Sporting de Gijon to stay undefeated in six league games.
Levante started strongly, with striker Arouna Kone drawing a save from Osasuna goalkeeper Andres Fernandez in the ninth minute and coming close with a header five minutes later.
The visitors continued to attack, but Osasuna almost went ahead in the 17th minute when Cejudo used his pace to go down the right side, only for Levante goalkeeper Gustavo Munua to get enough of his strike to send it wide.
Where other adversaries had failed, Osasuna soon succeeded in disrupting Levante’s attack in their half and the pressure paid off with a pair of goals before halftime.
Cejudo broke through in the 40th minute when he skirted across the edge of the area, before unleashing a low shot that caught Munua out of position after taking a deflection off a defender.
Nino then doubled the hosts’ advantage four minutes later when he fired in a loose ball that the Levante defense failed to clear.
“The two goals boosted us and made them play in a way they’re not accustomed to,” Osasuna coach Jose Mendilibar said, referring to Levante having to abandon their normal counterattacking style.
Levante added striker Carlos Aranda to try to press their numerical advantage after Cejudo was sent off for a tackle on Jose Barkero. Cejudo had already received a yellow card for removing his shirt in his goal celebration.
Ruben Suarez, who hit a winning free-kick in stoppage-time on Wednesday, grazed the side netting with a free-kick in the 67th minute, but Osasuna packed their area to remain undefeated at the Estadio Reyno de Navarra this season.
In the Spanish capital, Adrian flicked in Arda Turan’s cross for Atletico’s 19th-minute opener, before Alvaro Dominguez headed in a free-kick redirected by fellow defender Diego Godin in a well-executed set-piece to double the hosts’ lead in the 31st minute.
Adrian fired in Filipe Luis’ back-pass to cap Atletico’s first win in six league games in the 75th minute, before Helder Postiga grabbed a consolation goal for Zaragoza in their third successive defeat.
“We have dominated a lot of games without knowing how to win, and today we needed a victory and had the good fortune to score early,” said Adrian, who helped Spain win the European under-21 championships in the summer.
At La Rosaleda, Venezuela striker Jose Rondon put Malaga ahead five minutes in, before Alvaro Vazquez equalized for Espanyol a minute before halftime.
Both teams enjoyed scoring chances until Espanyol midfielder Ndri Romaric was whistled for a disputed hand-ball in the area and Apono Galdeano converted the resulting penalty for the 73rd-minute winner.
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