Madrid, Oct 4 (IANS) Real Madrid moved provisionally to the top of La Liga after a 3-1 win at home to Villarreal.

Vinicius Jr. opened the scoring two minutes after halftime with a deflected shot, and doubled the lead in the 69th minute from the penalty spot.

Georges Mikautadze drilled Villarreal back into the game in the 73rd minute, but the visitors’ hopes virtually ended when Santiago Mourino was sent off for a second yellow card after a slight contact with Vinicius.

Kylian Mbappe sealed the win with an 81st-minute goal before leaving the pitch with a slight physical problem.

Real Madrid leads by two points over FC Barcelona, which visits Sevilla on Sunday.

In Athletic Bilbao’s 2-1 home win over Mallorca, Inaki Williams put Athletic ahead from the penalty spot in the ninth minute and Athletic created enough chances in the opening half an hour to have sealed the win, but failed to take any of them.

Mallorca was level in the 77th minute when Samu Costa’s cross fooled goalkeeper Unai Simon to end in the far corner of the net.

Alejandro Rego won the game for Athletic with his first goal for the club in the 82nd minute when he side-footed home a pullback from Jesus Areso.

Goals from Carlos Alvarez and Etta Eyong either side of halftime fueled Levante to a 2-0 win away to Oviedo, in a clash between two recently promoted teams.

Girona claimed its first win of the season with a nail-biting 2-1 win at home to Valencia, despite ending with nine men.

Vladyslav Vanat put Girona ahead in the 18th minute, with Diego Lopez equalizing 12 minutes into the second half.

Arnau Martinez scored the winning goal in the 63rd minute, but Girona fans had to endure a nerve-wracking finish as Ivan Martin and Alejandro Frances were sent off in the closing minutes.

Alejandro Catena scored a last-minute header to give Osasuna a 2-1 win at home to Getafe on Friday.

Borja Mayoral gave Getafe a 23rd-minute lead from close range, but defender Abel Bretones equalized on the stroke of halftime with a stunning shot into the corner of the goal.

–IANS

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