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The weekend in Spain – Barca, Real back to winning ways after break

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By on January 4, 2011 - 86 views

As Spanish football returned from the winter break, Barcelona started off the New Year with a 2-1 victory against Levante at the Camp Nou on Sunday.

Pedro Rodríguez was the hero for the home-side as the 23-year-old netted in two goals either side of the half-time break. Although Christian Stuani’s stunning volley in the 80th minute threatened to provide a comeback for the gutsy visitors, Barça held on for the win and kept their two-point lead at the top of the Primera Liga table intact.

But if Levante had threatened to take points off Barcelona and cause a shock then Deportivo La Coruña would do that and more as they won a feisty encounter against Athletic Bilbao at San Mamés.

Adrián López put the visitors ahead from the penalty spot in the 22nd minute before Bilbao’s Mikel San José and Deportivo’s Juan Rodríguez were both sent off before the break.

López scored his second of the night but Bilbao got one back with a late Fernando Llorente goal. However, with Ustaritz being the third player to receive a red card in the dying minutes of the game, the home-side’s hopes of getting a point from the clash quickly disappeared – leaving Deportivo with a much needed win.

Elsewhere on Sunday, Frederic Kanoute was on target to help Sevilla to a narrow 1-0 win against Osasuna at home while 10-man Valencia scored an injury time winner to grab all three points and win 2-1 against Espanyol at home.

Monday’s Madrid derby clash between Getafe and Real Madrid brought a flurry of goals as Los Blancos overcame their neighbours to win 3-2 in what was a lively game at the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez.

Cristiano Ronaldo converted a 12th-minute penalty to give the visitors the lead before Mesut Ozil doubled it soon after.

However, Daniel Parejo produced a stunning solo effort just before the break which saw the former Madrid man evade several defenders before unleashing a powerful shot past Iker Casillas, to give Getafe a lifeline.

The second 45 brought another tight encounter with Ronaldo getting his second of the night in the 57th minute. Madrid managed to maintain their lead and secure all three points, even with the loss of Álvaro Arbeloa late on and Juan Albín’s goal.

The rest of the Monday night fixtures saw Real Mallorca trounce Hércules by three goals to nil at home, Villarreal win 2-0 against Almería, Atlético Madrid miss the chance to go into the top five with a dull goalless draw against Racing Santander and Real Zaragoza get a big 2-1 victory against Real Sociedad to move off the bottom of the table.

Other results:

Sporting Gijón 1-2 Málaga.

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James Crawford

Promoted to editor in 2016, James has met famous footballing faces from Robbie Savage to John Barnes. Very passionate football fan and writer and has a degree in journalism,

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