Madrid: Real Madrid bounced back from defeat to Atletico in the Madrid derby on Saturday to cut the gap on La Liga leaders Barcelona to nine points with a 3-1 win at Levante on Wednesday.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s penalty and an own goal from Levante ‘keeper Diego Marino put the visitors in command before Deyverson pulled one back for Levante before half-time.
However, Isco’s late strike from Ronaldo’s cut-back secured the points in stoppage time.
Real trail second-placed Atletico by four points, but do open up a four-point lead of their own on Villarreal after they were held 0-0 at Celta Vigo.
Barcelona can extend their lead over Atletico at the top to eight points with victory at Rayo Vallecano on Thursday.
Gary Neville’s Valencia moved into the top half of the table as they benefited from spectacular own goal by Malaga goalkeeper Carlos Kameni to win 2-1 at La Rosaleda.
Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane was without a host of first team regulars as the suspended Dani Carvajal and Sergio Ramos joined the injured Marcelo, Luka Modric, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema on the sidelines.
Real had former Levante ‘keeper Keylor Navas to thank for not getting off to a terrible start as he produced a brilliant save low to his left to prevent Giuseppe Rossi giving the home side a shock lead.
Ronaldo caused controversy with an outburst claiming Madrid “would be top” of the league if his teammates matched his standards after defeat to Atletico at the weekend.
The three-time World Player of the Year made amends by opening the scoring from the spot on 34 minutes after Lucas Vazquez had been tripped inside the area by Lucas Orban.
PSG beat St Etienne to enter French Cup final:
Zlatan Ibrahimovic pulled the strings as Paris Saint Germain cruised into the French Cup semifinals on Wednesday with a 3-1 away win at Saint Etienne.
The result saw PSG bounce back from their first domestic defeat in a year, a 2-1 league loss at Lyon at the weekend, with goals from Edinson Cavani, Marquinhos and late substitute Lucas.
Ahead of their crucial Champions League return match at Chelsea next week however key midfielder Blaise Matuidi limped off with a thigh injury in the second half.
Paris coach Laurent Blanc had told his players their weekend performance was not good enough and had demanded application, which he seemed happy with afterwards.
“It’s difficult to win here. But really it’s rare you see a team win so easily at Saint Etienne,” he told French television.
“PSG warranted their win. It’s an experienced side, and even if they went missing at Lyon they showed up and did a job tonight.”Ibrahimovic carved open the home defence for the opener on 12 minutes with a perfectly weighted pass which his Uruguayan strike partner Cavani ran onto and smacked home with great relish.
The giant Swede was at the heart of the second goal on 35 minutes too when Marquinhos tapped in at the far post after a fine team move, as a vicious cross from Ibrahimovic was flicked on toward the back post by Cavani.
A spirited Saint Etienne hit back when a Valentin Eyserric penalty reduced the arrears to 2-1 but PSG substitute Lucas dribbled past several defenders and fired home the clincher two minutes into added time.
