Thaindian News

Madrid, Nov 27 (IANS) Real Madrid kept their lead at the top of the La Liga table with a 4-1 demolition of derby rivals Atletico Madrid here Saturday night. Barcelona lost 0-1 to Getafe in an away game.

Adrian Lopez put Atletico ahead in what turned out to be a bad-tempered derby, but Real Madrid drew level after 21 minutes from the penalty spot after Atletico keeper Thibaut Courtois brought down Karim Benzema.

Cristiano Ronaldo made no mistake and with 70 minutes to play against 10 men, Real were always favourites to take the points.

Angel Di Maria put Real ahead three minutes into the second half and Ronaldo scored his second penalty of the night with nine minutes remaining. Diego Godin was sent off for fouling Higuain in the penalty and Atletico ended up a night that had promised much with a heavy defeat and just nine men on the pitch, Xinhua reported.

That win put pressure on Barcelona, who kicked off away to Getafe as soon as the Madrid derby ended. The league champions struggled to break down a tightly packed home defence in the first 45 minutes and although they spent all of the second half attacking the Getafe goal, they were undone by a Juan Valera header from a corner in the 67th minute.

Barca gave everything in the last 20 minutes, but looked jaded and although Messi hit the post in the closing seconds, Getafe got their reward for an excellent defensive display.

Barcelona are now 6 points behind Real Madrid in the league table.

Valencia kicked off the day with a 2-1 win away to Rayo Vallecano in a game where Unai Emery’s men were just too good for their rivals.

Jonas Goncalves opened the scoring with a right foot shot from outside the area after 21 minutes and the visitors looked to have secured the win when Tino Costa slotted him with his left foot.

Raul Tamudo gave Rayo hope with a goal six minutes from time, but Valencia held on to ensure they remain third in the table.