Two horse race in La Liga as Real Madrid and Sevilla win and rivals drop more points

MADRID, Jan. 10: Real Madrid returned to form in the 20th round of games in La Liga with Karim Benzema and Vinicius Jr leading a return to business as usual with a comfortable 4-1 win at home to Valencia.

The attack duo each scored twice to highlight their importance to Real Madrid against a rival that disappointed slightly in the Bernabeu.

Madrid were on top when Casemiro was controversially judged to have been fouled in the Valencia area and Benzema made no mistake from the spot in the closing moments of the first half.

Vinicius doubled Madrid's lead 10 minutes into the second half with a combination of a good run and some timid defending and he assured the points with a tap-in after Asensio's shot was parried into his path.

Goncalo Guedes pulled a goal back for Valencia after Thibaut Courtois had blocked his initial penalty, but there was still time for Benzema's second of the night in the 89th minute.

Sevilla remain five points behind in second place and with a game in hand after overcoming a host of absences to injury and the African Cup of Nations, to beat Getafe 1-0, thanks to Rafa Mir's backheel goal in the 21st minute, which surprised Getafe keeper David Soria.

Sevilla are 10 points clear of third-placed Betis, who were held 1-1 away to Rayo Vallecano in the first game on Sunday after playing for almost an hour with 10 men after Alex Moreno was sent off.

Despite Moreno's absence, Sergio Canales put Betis ahead on the stroke of halftime, but Rayo piled the pressure on after the break and got their reward with Ivan Balliu's calm finish after Radamel Falcao had headed against the post.

Villarreal and Atletico Madrid shared four goals in a thrilling, but an error-strewn game in the Estadio de la Ceramica. Angel Correa put Atletico in front in the 10th minute with a stunning shot from the halfway line that caught Geronimo Rulli well off his line.

Pau Torres leveled for the home side before halftime and Alberto Moreno put Villarreal ahead in the 58th minute only for Geoffrey Kondogbia to level 10 minutes later, shooting home from the edge of the area to score his first goal for Atletico.

The midfielder then blotted his copybook by being sent off for a second yellow card in injury time.

Jose Luis Mendilibar is making his presence felt as Alaves coach after his side held Athletic Club Bilbao to a 0-0 draw on Sunday evening with a performance which showed he is imposing a more intense style on the team from Vitoria.

Goals from Ante Budimir and Kike Barja ended Osasuna's 10-game run without a win as they beat Cadiz 2-0 - a result that leaves Cadiz second from bottom with just 14 points.

Barca's progress was halted on Saturday as they were held to a 1-1 draw in Granada after Luuk de Jong's second goal in two games looked as if it was going to give them their second consecutive away win.

The on-loan striker headed home a Dani Alves cross in the 57th minute after another header had previously been ruled out for a narrow offside before halftime.

Gavi's red card in the 78th minute allowed Granada to be back into the game and they got their reward with Antonio Puerta's left-foot shot into the corner of the net following a corner.

Mikel Oyarzabal's 13th-minute goal ended Real Sociedad's six-game run without a win as they beat a disappointing Celta Vigo 1-0 in the Reale Arena, while goals from Roberto Soldado and a late finish from Jose Luis Morales gave bottom of the table Levante their first win of the season as they beat Mallorca 2-0.