Atletico Madrid cruised to their 11th La Liga win of the
season by beating Athletic Bilbao 2-0 on Sunday.
Following Barcelona's 1-0 win over city rivals Espanyol
on Friday, Atletico needed a victory to move back to a point behind the
champions, and goals from strikers David Villa and Diego Costa were enough to
ensure their 11th success from 12 matches this term.
A positive result for Diego Simeone's men never looked in
doubt, as they dominated the game at the Vicente Calderon, registering 11 more
shots on goal than their visitors.
Former Barca and Valencia forward Villa broke the
deadlock in the 33 minutes as he volleyed past Gorka Iraizoz after Juanfran's
right-wing cross was only partially cleared.
And four minutes before the break, Costa doubled their
lead with his 13th La Liga goal of the season when he ran on to a throughball,
cut inside Erik Moran - who was later sent off - and slotted past Iraizoz. The
strike moves him level with Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo at the top of
the scoring charts.
In the day's early kick-off, Valencia picked up a narrow
1-0 win at Getafe to ease the increasing pressure on coach Miroslav Djukic.
The Serbian only took over at the club during the
close-season, but a run of three consecutive La Liga defeats saw criticism from
the Mestalla faithful return following a poor start to the campaign.
Djukic had Dorlan Pabon to thank for the three points as
the Colombian forward blasted a pin-point strike into the top corner from
around 30 yards out in the 41st minute.
Elsewhere, Malaga moved four points ahead of the
relegation zone after a 3-2 triumph over Real Betis at La Rosaleda, with Pepe
Mel's team remaining in the bottom three.
The hosts opened the scoring after 13 minutes as Roque
Santa Cruz nodded past Stephan Anderson in the Betis goal, but Joan Verdu
equalised from a free-kick before the break.
Eliseu restored Malaga's lead just after the hour mark,
but Jordi Figueras hit back almost immediately, only for Samu to hit the winner
for Bernd Schuster's men in the 93rd minute.
A half-time blackout threatened Levante's home match
against Granada and, although power was eventually restored, the visitors
provided the only spark of the second half.
In the first period, Nabil El Zhar won himself a penalty,
but his effort from the spot was poor and Roberto in the Granada goal saved
with ease, before Lucas Alcaraz's men made them pay in second-half stoppage
time.
The low-key match looked destined to end 0-0, but Piti
stepped up and fired a 91st minute free-kick into the top corner from distance,
moving Granada up to 11th.
Culled from
Fourfourtwo
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