体坛英语新闻：Real Madrid open up lead

MADRID, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Real Madrid moved six points clear of FC Barcelona at the top of the Spanish BBVA Primera Liga this weekend.

Real Madrid's 4-1 home win against local rivals Atletico Madrid coupled with Barca's surprise 1-0 defeat away to Getafe, sees Madrid open up a lead just two weeks before the two sides meet in the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

The Madrid derby looked as if it could be heading for a surprise after Adrian Lopez had put Atletico ahead after 15 minutes, but the game was turned on its head 6 minutes later. Atletico keeper Thibaut Courtois was sent off after bringing down Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo scored the resulting penalty.

Real were always favorites against 10 men and Angel De Maria put them ahead three minutes into the second period. Gonzalo Higuain made it 3-1 after a dreadful error by Diego Godin and when Godin was sent off nine minutes from time for committing another penalty on Higuain, Ronaldo's second penalty of the night made it 4-1.

FC Barcelona looked tired as they lost 1-0 in Getafe. Juan Varela scored with Getafe's only effort on target all game, while Barcelona were unable to break down a packed home defense, although Leo Messi hit the post with virtually the last kick of the match.

Valencia remain strong in third place after a 2-1 win away to Rayo Vallecano. Jonas Goncalves and Tino Costa put Valencia ahead, while Raul Tamudo netted a late consolation goal for the home side.

Levante returned to form after three straight defeats and Aruna Kone scored twice in their 4-0 home win against Sporting Gijon, who drop into the bottom three as a result of the defeat.

Jon Barkero had opened the scoring for the home side, for whom Juanlu also got on the scoresheet.

Real Sociedad ended a nine-game run without a win with a dramatic last minute win against Betis, who have not won for nine matches themselves. In a frantic second half, Real Sociedad took a 2-0 lead thanks to Imanol Aguiretxe and Carlos Vela, but when Jonathan Pereira scored after 81 and 85 minutes, the game looked to be heading for a draw before Inigo Martinez scored a stunning goal from inside his own half to give his side all three points.

A first half headed goal from Inigo Perez gave Granada a shock 1-0 win against an Athletic Club Bilbao side that did everything except score in San Mames.

Mallorca defeated Racing 2-1 to leave Racing rock bottom of the table thanks in part to a Marc Torrejon own goal. The win gives Joaquin Caparros his first win as Mallorca coach.

Osasuna took a valuable 2-1 win away to Espanyol with goals from Roland Lamah and Javed Nekounam.

Finally Sevilla sent Zaragoza into the relegation zone thanks to an Alvaro Negredo penalty which gave them a 1-0 away win to keep the visitors fifth in the table.