Barcelona, Spain – Adriano, David Villa and Jordi Alba scored and Barcelona cruised to a 3-1 victory over Celta Vigo on Saturday at Camp Nou to remain unbeaten in La Liga.
Adriano opened the scoring in the 21st minute and, after Mario Bermejo pulled a goal back for Celta Vigo, Villa restored the lead for Barcelona in the 26th and Alba sealed the victory just after the hour mark.
Barcelona had nine wins and a draw through 10 matches to remain in first place in the standings, three points ahead of Valencia.
Celta Vigo lost for the sixth time in 10 fixtures as the newly-promoted side continues to struggle. Celta is in 14th place on 10 points from 10 games.
Real Madrid 4, Real Zaragoza 0
Madrid, Spain - Gonzalo Higuain and Angel Di Maria scored two minutes apart in the opening half and Michael Essien and Luka Modric added second-half goals as Real Madrid rolled to 4-0 win over Real Zaragoza on Saturday at the Bernabeu.
Higuain started the scoring in the 23rd and Di Maria followed in the 25th, and Real cruised to its fourth win during a five-game La Liga unbeaten streak.
Real climbed to third in the standings, but remained eight points off the pace of first-place Barcelona.
Zaragoza had a modest two-game win streak snapped as it dropped its sixth game through 10 weeks. Zaragoza is 10th in the standings, 16 points off the pace.
Valencia 2, Atletico Madrid 0
Valencia, Spain - Roberto Soldado scored in the 20th minute and Nelson Valdez added a stoppage time goal, as Valencia handed Atletico Madrid its first loss in La Liga this season, 2-0, on Saturday at the Mestalla.
Valencia had lost three of its last five to sit in the lower half of the table and entered the game with just three wins, but Soldado provided the early goal and, despite a late red card, Valdez sealed three huge points.
With the win, Valencia climbed into the top half of the standings. Atletico is still in second place, but slipped three points behind unbeaten Barcelona with its first loss against eight wins and a draw.
Rayo Vallecano 2, Malaga 1
Malaga, Spain - Piti scored twice as Rayo Vallecano edged Malaga, 2-1, at the Estadio La Rosaleda on Saturday in La Liga.
Piti scored in the 11th and 61st minutes, helping Rayo Vallecano snap a two- game losing streak. Vallecano had lost three of its last four, but climbed to ninth with its fourth win.
Martin Demichelis scored for Malaga, which lost for the first time this season at home in five matches and slipped 10 points off the top.
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