Madrid, April 23 (IANS) Real Madrid beat Celta Vigo 2-0 in the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday night to put some pressure on FC Barcelona at the top of La Liga.
Marco Asensio swept home a cross from Vinicius Jr after 42 minutes to put Madrid ahead, and Eder Militao powered home a header two minutes after the break to secure the points for a Madrid side in which coach Carlo Ancelotti again made changes to his starting 11.
Real Madrid are now eight points behind FC Barcelona who have a tough home game against Atletico Madrid on Sunday afternoon, a Xinhua report said.
Real Sociedad came back from a goal down to win 2-1 at home to Rayo Vallecano.
Although Isi Palazon put Rayo in front in the 57th minute, Alexander Sorloth leveled with a powerful header and Carlos Fernandez scored the winner, with the help of a deflection from visiting defender Florian Lejeune nine minutes from time.
Betis’ hopes of a top-four finish suffered a setback when they lost 3-2 away to Osasuna. Ante Budimir scored twice for the home side after six and 11 minutes, and although Juan Miranda made it 2-1 with just 16 minutes on the clock, Jon Moncayola added a third for Osasuna before the break.
Guido Rodriguez pulled a goal back for Betis with 20 minutes left, but Osasuna hung on for a hard-fought win.
Athletic Club Bilbao made it three wins and a draw from their last four games to close in on a place in Europe after a comfortable 2-1 win away to struggling Almeria.
Nico Williams put Athletic ahead in the ninth minute, with a shot that crept under the keeper after an assist from Oihan Sancet, and Sancet was the provider for Oscar de Marcos to double their lead 10 minutes after the break.
Almeria didn’t trouble the visitors until Alex Centelles scored an impressive volley in the second minute of injury time.
Monchu’s 24th-minute goal helped Valladolid make it two wins from two games to move them seven points clear of the bottom three with a 1-0 win at home to Girona.
Espanyol’s survival hopes suffered a big blow on Friday night when they were held 0-0 at home to Cadiz in a direct duel to avoid the drop.
The result helps Cadiz to stay four points clear of Espanyol, who have two defeats and a draw since Luis Garcia took over as coach.
–IANS
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