Madrid -Â Arabstoday
Levante moved a point clear of Real Madrid at the top
Madrid - Arabstoday
Levante moved a point clear of Real Madrid at the top of the La Liga after an emphatic 3-0 victory at Villarreal, inspired by two goals from Juanlu.
Tonight\'s victory was their sixth in succession
and sees them go clear of Jose Mourinho\'s side and two points ahead of European champions Barcelona.
Juanlu scored his first in the 16th minute with a left-footed volley before doubling the lead with a neat back-heel across the goalkeeper just before half-time. Arouna Kone sealed the points after firing a fierce shot home from a tight angle 13 minutes after the break.
It was the hosts who showed first at El Madrigal, Giuseppe Rossi forcing a save from Gustavo Munua. Moments later, though, Levante were ahead. Valmiro Valdo played a ball across the field which Juanlu ran on to just inside the area and volleyed across Diego Lopez and into the net.
Valdo shot wide and Juanfran had a shot blocked before Juanlu got his and Levante\'s second two minutes before half-time. Kone ran on to the ball in the area and put in a low cross in front of the goal, where Juanlu had got ahead of his marker and back-heeled the ball into the net.
Jonathan De Guzman and Marco Ruben both had shots held by the Levante keeper, but the visitors could have gone further ahead when Kone collected the ball unmarked in the area but he sent his half-volley well wide.
However, the same player made amends in the 58th minute when he reached a ball into the right of the area first, wrong-footed the defender and fired home from an acute angle before Rossi had a header cleared off the line as time ticked down.