Football | La Liga | Defeat for Sevilla; Real go ten clear

Monday 13th February 2012

Defeat for Sevilla; Real go ten clear

Carlos Vela starred for Real Sociedad, who beat Sevilla 2-0 on Monday as Michel's tenure as Sevilla coach began as Marcelino Garcia's ended.

Michel was appointed last week after Garcia was sacked following their 2-1 loss to Villarreal, and he saw his new charges fall behind to Vela's 64th-minute strike.

The on-loan Arsenal man then set up Ruben Pardo for his side's second four minutes later as they leapt above their opponents in La Liga.

Sunday

Jose Mourinho's Real took full advantage of Barcelona's defeat at Osasuna on Saturday night to move into a commanding position in the title race.

Gustavo Cabral headed Levante into a surprise early lead but the 43rd-minute dismissal of Vicente Iborra, who picked up a second booking for handling in the area, swung the game in the hosts' favour.

Ronaldo opened his account from the resulting spot-kick before adding another five minutes into the second half and completing his treble with a dipping long-range effort on 57 minutes.

Arouna Kone pulled it back to 3-2 with a header after 63 minutes but Madrid restored their two-goal cushion when Karim Benzema curled home an exquisite fourth three minutes later.

Valencia strengthened their grip on third place with a 4-0 victory over relegation-battling Sporting Gijon.

Sofiane Feghouli put the hosts ahead in the 33rd minute and an Alberto Botia own goal with 17 minutes left made certain of the points. Valencia added gloss to the scoreline as Jonas Oliveira scored twice in injury time.

Malaga climbed to seventh after beating Real Mallorca 3-1 at La Rosaleda stadium.

Michael Pereira put the visitors ahead with the game less than four minutes old but Seba Fernandez equalised soon after for Malaga.

Jeremy Toulalan then put the hosts in front in the second half and Salomon Rondon extended his team's advantage with 23 minutes remaining.

Villarreal were made to work hard for a vital 3-1 win over fellow strugglers Granada.

Marco Ruben's 16th-minute strike gave the home side a half-time lead against the run of play, but Inigo Lopez levelled with a header five minutes after the break.

Borja Valero restored Villarreal's lead, though, before Granada goalkeeper Julio Cesar diverted Joan Oriol's cross into his own goal to end his side's hopes of a comeback.

Michu and Diego Costa scored either side of half-time as Rayo Vallecano eased to a 2-0 derby victory over Getafe, while second-half goals from Paulo da Silva and Juan Carlos were enough to hand Real Zaragoza their first win since October 16, 2-0 at Espanyol.

Saturday

Barcelona were on the receiving end of a shock 3-2 defeat to Osasuna at Estadio Reyno de Navarra on Saturday evening.

Dejan Lekic scored twice to put the home side 2-0 up at the break, only to see Alexis Sanchez pull one back for Barca in the 51st minute.

Raul Garcia made it 3-1 five minutes later and although substitute Cristian Tello netted a second for Barca, Osasuna managed to hold on for the win.

Elsewhere, Nelson smashed home an injury-time winner for Real Betis in their 2-1 win over Athletic Bilbao, while Racing Santander and Atletico Madrid played out a 0-0 draw.

Monday's action sees Real Sociedad entertain Sevilla.