Real Madrid's march to their first Primera Liga title in four years remained on course on Sunday after a 3-0 victory over Sevilla.
Ronaldo on target again; Barcelona thrash Vallecano
Real Madrid's march to their first Primera Liga title in four years remained on course on Sunday after a 3-0 victory over Sevilla.
But Barcelona thrashed Rayo Vallecano 7-0 to keep their faint title hopes alive, while there were also victories for Malaga and Real Zaragoza.
A bright start from
Real Madrid brought reward after 19 minutes as Cristiano Ronaldo slotted home his 57th goal of the season.
However,
Sevilla then enjoyed a decent spell and passed up two glorious opportunities to equalise as Jesus Navas and Alvaro Negredo both fired over when one-on-one with Iker Casillas.
Any nerves among the hosts were settled quickly after the break, though, as Karim Benzema finished twice at the back post after fine crosses from Angel Di Maria and Sergio Ramos.
If
Barcelona had lost at
Rayo Vallecano in the late kick-off, Madrid would have been officially crowned Spanish champions for the 32nd time.
But the Catalans kept the title race alive with a 7-0 thrashing of their opponents, with Lionel Messi and Pedro both notching braces in the rout.
Thiago Alcantara and Seydou Keita were also on target, while the unfortunate Antonio Silva Rober scored an own goal.
Moved level
Malaga moved level with
Valencia in third spot as Nacho Camacho's first-half header was enough to earn all three points from a scrappy encounter with Los Che at La Rosaleda.
The hosts dominated the opening period and Vicente Guaita had to be alert to turn Eliseu's drive onto the post before Camacho opened the scoring with a towering header from Jesus Gamez's cross just before the half-hour mark.
Things got even worse for Valencia when Sofiane Feghouli was dismissed for a second bookable offence just after the hour and Malaga were only denied a more comprehensive victory by a combination of the woodwork and some fine goalkeeping by Guaita.
Real Zaragoza kept alive their chances of survival with a deserved 2-0 win over
Athletic Bilbao thanks to goals in either half from Edu Oriol and Apono.
After an initial early spell of pressure from the visitors, Zaragoza controlled the first period and were unlucky not to be in front midway through the half when Helder Postiga struck the inside of the post with a fine shot from outside the area.
Moments later, though, they did take the lead as Oriol waltzed through the Bilbao defence unchallenged and slotted calmly past Gorka Iraizoz.
Apono doubled the hosts' advantage six minutes after the break with a swerving free-kick that Iraizoz will have disappointed to see slip through his grasp and the final score could have been even more as Franco Zuculini also saw an effort come back off the bar with 10 minutes to go.
The win moved Zaragoza back up to 18th and within four points of safety with three games to go.
Radamel Falcao struck a stoppage-time equaliser to salvage a point for
Atletico Madrid following a dramatic finish to their clash at
Real Betis.
Atletico took a 63rd-minute lead through substitute Jorge Koke but Betis looked to have snatched victory from the jaws of defeat when their own replacements Alejandro Pozuelo (86) and Jonathan Pereira (88) netted in quick succession to put the hosts 2-1 up.
However, there was to be another late twist in the tale when, from a corner four minutes into injury time which saw Atletico goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois sent up into the Betis area, Falcao headed home from close range to level the game up at 2-2.
