体坛英语新闻：Barca five points behind Real for derby draw

Roque Santa Cruz scored in the first half and Jorge Molina rounded off the scoring in the 91st minute of a game in which Sporting had to play all of the second period with a man less after Alberto Lora was sent off after seeing two yellow cards in just 42 minutes.

Saturday saw Real Madrid strengthen their lead at the top of La Liga with a 5-1 win at home to Granada.

Following a tight first half in which Karim Benzema had put Madrid ahead and Mikel Rico had levelled for the visitors, Madrid took control thanks to a 33rd minute header from Sergio Ramos and a dominant second period.

Gonzalo Higuain and Benzema made it 4-1 within five minutes of the restart and although Benzema had to leave the pitch injured shortly afterwards, Cristiano Ronaldo ended the scoring in the last minute of the game, although the striker failed to celebrate his goal to the surprise of the fans in the Santiao Bernabeu stadium.

Saturday's other games saw few goals. Real Sociedad and Osasuna ended a contested Basque derby 0-0, while Levante drew a dull game against Mallorca with the same score.

Things got a lot worse for Zaragoza, however, who lost their first game under new coach Manolo Jimenez 1-0 away to Racing Santander. Bernando Espinosa's goal on the stroke of halftime gave Racing three vital points and lifts them out of the bottom three.

Diego Simeone's debut as Atletico Madrid coach away to Malaga was a late kick off and also ended in a 0-0 draw.