Valencia counts cost of blank fire in sporting contest

It was a commentator's nightmare: two Costas on one side, two Castros on the other, with a Cases, Cuevas and Canella thrown in. Little wonder the men handed the job tripped over the task as often as Valencia thudded into Sporting Gijón's redoubtable back line on Saturday afternoon.

One week after holding the Liga leader, Barcelona, to a tie, Manolo Preciado's ardent Asturians snuffed out third-placed Valencia's attack to add another point to its struggle for survival. "I can't remember the last time I lost here," said a chirpy Preciado. "I hope these points against big teams help us overcome rivals in our part of the league."

One of those, Levante, was one place ahead of Sporting before its trip to the Santiago Bernabéu. Luis García's team had enjoyed a run of three straight wins to lift itself out of the relegation places, but there was to be no miracle of Madrid on a rain-sodden evening in the capital: coach José Mourinho's unbeaten home league record (with Porto, Chelsea, Inter and Real) stretches back to February 2002. Levante earned a point when Real visited the Ciutat de Valencia stadium last September but there was little scope for a repeat performance after Karim Benzema opened the scoring on seven minutes. Ricardo Carvalho added a second late in the first half and although Levante's rearguard action prevented a repeat of its 8-0 King's Cup shellacking on the same pitch, one shot on goal during the entire 90 minutes ensured Antonio Adán, playing his first full Liga match, a comfortable evening in the Real goal.

Real's 12th home win of the season left it just two points shy of Barcelona, which hosted Athletic Bilbao in Sunday's late match. David Villa netted his 20th goal of the season, scooping the ball into the net after a slick combination between Xavi and Dani Alves carved a route through Bilbao's defense. The visitor had the ball in the net later in the half after Fernando Llorente had given Gerard Piqué a lesson in hip movement worthy of the Barça defender's new girlfriend, but referee Ramìrez Domínguez ruled out Mikel Susaeta's header.

Athletic equalized early in the second half from the penalty spot after Sergio Busquets hauled Llorente down. After his recent miss against Atlético when the number nine had pulled rank on his teammates, World Cup winner Llorente ceded the ball to Andoni Iraola, who made no mistake from 12 yards. Barcelona might have had a penalty of its own when Leo Messi danced through Athletic's defense and was bundled to the floor by Javi Martínez, but the match official waved play on. Little matter; Messi thrashed home on 77 minutes from an Andrés Iniesta cross to secure the points for the home side in one of its trickiest remaining matches this season, and reinstated Barça's five-point cushion over Real.

Other results: Getafe 0-1 Racing; Zaragoza 0-1 Atlético; Villarreal 1-1 Málaga; Almería 1-1 Deportivo; Osasuna 4-0 Deportivo; Sevilla 1-0 Hércules.