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April 26, 2011

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Sevilla, Atletico stay on course for Europa spots

SEVILLA and Atletico Madrid improved their chances of playing in next season's Europa League when they beat Villarreal and Levante, respectively, in La Liga on Sunday to open a four-point gap over eighth-placed Espanyol.

Sevilla held on for a 3-2 win over Villarreal in an entertaining match at the Sanchez Pizjuan, while Argentina forward Sergio Aguero struck twice in Atletico's 4-1 win over mid-table Levante at the Vicente Calderon.

"These were some vital points against a very powerful rival," Sevilla coach Gregorio Manzano said on Spanish television.

Both teams have 49 points with five games left. Sevilla is sixth ahead of Atletico thanks to a superior head-to-head record and two behind Athletic Bilbao which won 2-1 at local Basque rival Real Sociedad on Saturday.

Espanyol's miserable recent run continued when it lost 0-1 at Sporting Gijon and stays eighth on 45 points, while Villarreal, which is through to the semifinals of this season's Europa League, remains fourth on 57.

Ivan Rakitic stroked a free-kick into the top corner and Alvaro Negredo caught Villarreal goalkeeper Diego Lopez off his line to put Sevilla 2-0 ahead inside a quarter of an hour in the Andalusian capital.

Carlos Marchena, who was shown a second yellow card and sent off in the 85th minute, pulled a goal back 11 minutes after halftime before substitute Ndri Romaric restored the home side's two-goal cushion in the 62nd.

Giuseppe Rossi came off the bench to curl in a superb second for the visitors with around 20 minutes left but Sevilla held on.

Elsewhere, it was: Malaga 2, Racing Santander 1; Hercules 1, Deportivo la Coruna 0; and Mallorca 2, Getafe 0.

Barcelona maintained its eight-point lead over Real Madrid at the top when it beat Osasuna 2-0 at the Nou Camp on Saturday. Real, which secured its first Copa del Rey since 1993 at Barcelona's expense last Wednesday, routed Valencia 6-3.



 

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