Wins for the top two in La Liga but far from convincing performances, Real coming from behind against struggling Sporting Gijón and Barcelona scraping past Levante thanks to an extremely dodgy penalty decision.
Miguel de las Cuevas put Sporting into the lead with a penalty in the thirtieth minute but Higuaín levelled things seven minutes later. It wasn’t until the latter stages of the match that Real took a grip on matters, Ronaldo grabbing his 41st goal of the season – a new record, breaking his own record from last season – and Benzema adding a third to make it 107 goals for the season, equalling the club’s record.
Sporting had Canella ordered back to the dressing room for two yellow cards. Final score, 3-1.
Barcelona dominated possession in their game against Levante but were nevertheless a bit sluggish and below par.
Levante took a first half lead with a penalty from Barkero after Busquets handled the ball in the area and it stayed that way until the 64th minute when Messi showed a bit of magic and slammed the ball into the net.
Then came the dubious penalty decision, not by the referee in the first instance but by one of the assistants.
Barcelona’s Cuenca tried to trip a defender and tumbled to the ground. The referee ordered play-on but then the assistant referee flagged for a penalty. When the referee stopped play, even the Barcelona players apparently thought it was for Cuenca to be booked for diving.
Instead it was for a penalty, which Messi duly converted to make it 1-2 and take his own personal tally to 41, the same as Ronaldo.
Winning is all that matters and sometimes you need a bit of luck, and on this occasion, Barcelona certainly benefited on that count.