Real Madrid on track, Atletico lose ground in La Liga title race

Madrid, Jan 5 (IANS) Young striker Gonzalo Garcia scored a hat-trick as Real Madrid kept track of FC Barcelona at the top of La Liga with a comfortable 5-1 home win over Real Betis.

Garcia, who started due to Kylian Mbappe's knee injury, opened the scoring with a far-post header in the 20th minute and doubled the lead with a volley early in the second half, reports Xinhua.

Raul Asencio was left unmarked to make it 3-0 with a header, before Cucho Hernandez pulled a goal back for Betis. Garcia then completed his hat-trick with a back-flick and Fran Garcia scored the fifth in injury time.

On the other hand, Atletico Madrid dropped two points in the title race after a 1-1 draw to Real Sociedad, whose new coach Pellegrino Matarazzo was making his debut.

Alexander Sorloth put Atletico ahead after 50 minutes, but Takefusa Kubo set up Goncalo Guedes to level just five minutes later.

Atletico currently sits fourth in the standings, seven points behind Real Madrid and 11 behind Barcelona.

Luis Castro's reign as new Levante coach got off to a good start, as his side notched a 3-0 away win over Sevilla.

Iker Losada put Levante ahead on the stroke of halftime after a sharp exchange of passes. Carlos Espi's first ever league goal doubled the lead with 13 minutes left to play and Carlos Alvarez sealed the win in stoppage time.

Real Oviedo, which also looks to have improved under Guillermo Almada, played out a 1-1 draw away to Alaves.

Federico Vinas put Oviedo ahead in the second half and missed a great chance to double the lead, while Lucas Boye made Oviedo pay for the misses when he equalized with a stunning free kick in the 69th minute.

Girona climbed out of the bottom three with a 2-1 win in Mallorca, with Viktor Tsygankov and Vladyslav Vanat putting them 2-0 ahead before Vedat Muriqi's late penalty for Mallorca.