体坛英语新闻：Spanish title race continues with Madrid,Villarreal

BEIJING, April 28 -- Javier Saviola, Arjen Robben and Gonzalo Higuain scored yesterday to help Real Madrid beat Athletic Bilbao 3-0 and maintain its 10-point lead in the Spanish league.

    However, Madrid's hopes of clinching the title yesterday were thwarted when second-place Villarreal won 1-0 at Real Betis and kept the race alive.

    Villarreal's Marcos Senna scored a spectacular 16th-minute goal when he lofted the ball from just inside the Betis half to catch goalkeeper Casto Espinosa off his line.

    Madrid had already made plans with Madrid's city hall for celebrating immediately after the game at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. Fans were to gather at the downtown statue of the goddess Cybele around which the club's scarf would have been tied by captain Raul Gonzalez.

    The team will now be proclaimed champion next Sunday at lowly Osasuna if it equals or betters Villarreal's result against Getafe the same day.

    With four rounds remaining, Madrid has 75 points, while Villarreal has 65. FC Barcelona, which lost 2-0 at Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday, follows with 61.

    Also, Levante became the first team to be relegated this season when it lost 2-0 to Recreativo Huelva.

Real Madrid players celebrate after their Spanish First Division soccer match against Athletic Bilbao at Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid April 27, 2008.

    Levante, which last played in the second division two seasons ago, has 25 points, 13 from safety.

    Other results Sunday were: Espanyol 1, Zaragoza 1; Getafe 1, Atletico Madrid 1; Mallorca 3, Racing Santander 1; Valencia 3, Osasuna 0; and Valladolid 1, Almeria 0.

    Madrid scored in the 14th minute when Saviola celebrated his recall to the team by pouncing after Bilbao goalkeeper Armando Ribeiro spilled Robinho's low shot.

    Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas then made acrobatic saves to deny Joseba Etxeberria and Joseba Garmendia around the half-hour mark, and excelled again when he parried Garmendia's penalty in the 37th.

    Higuain and Robben came off the bench in the 72nd minute and made an immediate impact, with Higuain's low cross turned home by the Dutchman two minutes later.

    Higuain then angled a curling shot past Armando for the third goal in the 76th.

    Bilbao welcomed back defensive midfielder Carlos Gurpegi after he completed a two-year suspension for testing positive for the banned steroid nandrolone.

    Betis dominated the second half with striker Jose Mari Romero, a former Villarreal player, coming close to scoring on several occasions.

    Villarreal goalkeeper Diego Lopez then made several important saves, the most impressive being when he denied defender Juanito Gutierrez in the 79th minute.

    Betis coach Paco Chaparro and an assistant were red carded for protesting in injury time.

    Recreativo's Turkish striker, Ersen Martin, slid the ball home in the ninth minute for his first league goal, with midfielder Javier Camunas adding the second from close range in the 42nd.

    The match in Huelva had been in doubt until Friday, when Levante players called off a weekend strike over unpaid wages after reaching an agreement with the club.

    Recreativo's win lifted it out of the relegation zone, where it was replaced by Zaragoza, after its draw at Espanyol.

    Midfielder Albert Riera scored in the 59th minute, Espanyol's first goal in six games, with Ricardo Oliveira leveling for Zaragoza with an 84th-minute penalty.

    Atletico stayed in fourth place after a draw at Getafe.

    Getafe opened the scoring through midfielder Juan Albin's 13th-minute volley, with Sergio Aguero equalizing for Atletico in the 39th.

    Getafe midfielder Ruben De La Red missed an 83rd-minute penalty.

    Fifth-place Santander trails Atletico by two points following a 3-1 defeat at Mallorca in which Jose Carlos Nunes, Oscar Trejo and Daniel Guiza scored second-half goals.

    Aldo Duscher replied for Santander with an 86th-minute penalty.

    Valencia eased its relegation fears by beating Osasuna in its first match under caretaker coach Salvador "Voro" Gonzalez, who took charge following Monday's sacking of Ronald Koeman.

    The home team took a 21st-minute lead through David Villa's penalty, awarded after Osasuna goalkeeper Ricardo Lopez was adjudged to have tripped the striker and was sent off.

    Juan Manuel Mata added a second goal in the 52nd, with Joaquin Sanchez sealing the win in the 84th.

    Voro gave goalkeeper Santiago Canizares his first start since December. The veteran had been axed by Koeman in December, together with Spain midfielders David Albelda and Miguel Angel Angulo, who were recalled to the bench. Angulo appeared as a late substitute.

    Jonathan Sesma struck in injury time to bring struggling Valladolid a victory over Almeria.

    Also on Saturday, relegation-threatened Murcia drew 0-0 with Sevilla.