Barca and Madrid continue title duel with wins

Real Madrid and FC Barcelona continued their duel for the BBVA Primera Liga title on Wednesday night as both sides won their respective matches.

Real Madrid, who kicked off after Barcelona had won at home to Almeria, knew they had to win away to Rayo Vallecano in what turned out to be very much a 'game of two halves.'

The first half saw Rayo take the game to their big spending neighbors and had it not been for a couple of smart saves from Iker Casillas, the home side would have been ahead at the break.

Carlo Ancelotti decided to play Gareth Bale along with James Rodriguez leaving Isco on the bench, but in the first half his side were second best.

They took the game to Rayo in the second half however and Ronaldo scored put them ahead with a diving header 20 minutes from time following a fine cross from Dani Carvajal. It was his 300th goal for the club in 288 games.

James then doubled Madrid's lead 16 minutes from time with a well-placed shot from the edge of the penalty area.

Another factor on the night were the yellow cards shown to James Rodriguez and Cristiano Ronaldo, who will miss Saturday's game at home to Eibar through suspension.

Earlier in the night Barcelona had assured they would end the day four points clear at the top of the table with a 4-0 win at home to Almeria.

Although the Catalans were not at their best Leo Messi opened the scoring with a curling shot just after the half hour.

Luis Suarez doubled Barca's lead 10 minutes after the break and netted a second with the last kick of the game after Mark Bartra had headed a third with 15 minutes remaining.

Deportivo la Coruna and Cordoba drew 1-1 in a result which helps neither side. Cordoba ended their nine game losing streak thanks to a goal from Florin And one after 55 minutes and would have won but for the same player scoring an own goal with three minutes remaining.

Meanwhile Granada, who blatantly reserved their strength in their 9-1 defeat away to Real Madrid on Sunday, saw their efforts backfire when Celta scored a last minute goal to draw 1-1 in their Los Carmines Stadium.

Granada had looked to be on the way to a vital 1-0 win thanks to Roberto Ibanez's early goal but Theo Bongonda equalized deep into injury time.

Tuesday night saw two goals inside 10 minutes; a Mikel Gonzalez own goal and another from Antoine Griezmann against his former club following a goalkeeping error, allow Atletico Madrid to remain third with a 2-0 win at home to Real Sociedad.

Sevilla were also quick off the mark with goals from Kevin Gamerio and Jose Antonio Reyes helping them beat Levante 2-1 away from home to move level of points with fourth place Valencia.

Finally Mikel Arruabarrena's 52nd minute header gave Eibar their first win in 11 matches as they defeated Malaga 1-0 to move eight points clear of the relegation zone. Endit