Real stay top of La Liga with comfortable win in Madrid derby

Posted Monday, November 08, 2010 by theguardian.com

Real stay top of La Liga with comfortable win in Madrid derby
Real Madrid's Xabi Alonso, left, and Atlético Madrid's Raúl García go for the ball.

Real Madrid maintained their one-point advantage at the top of the Primera Division tonight after a comfortable win over their city rivals Atlético.

The visitors have not beaten Real since 1999 and they never looked like ending that miserable record after a blistering start from José Mourinho's men saw them establish a 2-0 lead inside 18 minutes through goals from Ricardo Carvalho and Mesut Ozil.

Carvalho burst through on the edge of the area, latching on to Angel Di Maria's pass before shooting past David De Gea.

And five minutes later Ozil's right-wing free-kick drifted past everyone and into the net, effectively sealing the contest.

Gonzalo Higuain and Diego Forlán hit the post at either end but Atlético's challenge lacked conviction as Real edged back ahead of Barcelona, who won 3-1 at Getafe earlier. Barcelona went in 2-0 ahead at the interval following goals from Lionel Messi and David Villa.

Pedro then extended Barcelona's lead with a third after 64 minutes and the victory never looked in doubt for Pep Guardiola's side, even after they had been reduced to 10 men when Gerard Piqué was dismissed after collecting a second yellow card for handball inside the area.

Manu del Moral converted from the spot but Getafe's hopes of a comeback were extinguished when Derek Boateng was also dismissed with 10 minutes to go.

Villarreal kept up their excellent start to the season with a 4-1 thrashing of Athletic Bilbao at El Madrigal. However, they had to come from behind to do it as Fernando Llorente's seventh-minute goal gave Athletic a lead they held for most of the first half.

Nilmar levelled five minutes before the break and then Santi Cazorla turned the game on its head on the stroke of half-time.

Giuseppe Rossi added a third with six minutes left and Jefferson Montero added the fourth in the final minute.

Gabi scored a 95th-minute penalty to earn struggling Real Zaragoza a precious 3-2 win over Real Mallorca that moves them off the bottom of the table on goal difference. Goals from Pierre Webo and Michael Pereira, either side of one by Angel Lafita, looked to have won it for Mallorca but Nicolas Bertolo equalised with five minutes to go, before Gabi struck from the spot to complete a stunning turnaround.

Deportivo La Coruña beat Levante 2-1 to secure a second straight league win and move out of the bottom three. The latest victory came thanks to an early goal from Riki, who gave the Galicians the lead after 10 minutes, and a second-half effort from Aythami Artiles.

Juanlu Hens gave Levante hope with a goal 18 minutes from time but the promoted team were unable to avoid a third successive defeat and they find themselves back in the bottom three.

Sporting Gijon picked up only their second away point of the season with Nacho Novo's second-half goal earning them a draw at Almeria.

The home side led through Miguel Angel Corona's 16th-minute goal but were pegged back when the former Rangers striker Novo volleyed home with 17 minutes to go.

Osasuna stormed to a comprehensive win at home to Hercules in a one-sided match at the Reyno de Navarra this evening.

Goals from Nacho Monreal, Lolo and Krisztian Vadocz gave the Pamplona-based side a deserved victory as José Antonio Camacho's men reacted positively after last weekend's dismal 4-1 defeat at Racing Santander to move up to 12th place in the table after 10 rounds of the Primera Division.