Real Madrid drop two points as Barca make hard work of Getafe

MADRID - Real Madrid dropped two points as they were held to a 2-2 draw by Celta Vigo in the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday night.

The result sees the lead of Zinedine Zidane's side over FC Barcelona at the top of the Liga Santander reduced to just one point.

Eden Hazard was a surprise starter for Real Madrid as he returned to action after over 80 days out through injury, but Celta struck first when Smolov took advantage of a pass from Iago Aspas to beat Thibaut Courtois with a shot close to the post.

Courtois kept the score down in the first half with a couple of vital saves and Tony Kross equalized with a well-placed shot beyond the reach of Ruben Blanco.

Sergio Ramos put Madrid ahead from the penalty spot after Ruben was judged to have fouled Hazard in the 63rd minute and it looked as if Madrid were on the way for another win, however, Santi Mina earned the visitors a vital point with an 85th minute goal after a ball from Denis Suarez spilled the Madrid defense leaving him with just Courtois to beat.

On Saturday, Barcelona had to fight hard to beat Getafe 2-1 in a game which started badly as they lost Jordi Alba to a groin injury.

Shortly after Getafe had a goal ruled out by the VAR, Antoine Griezmann opened the scoring for Barca from a Leo Messi pass in the 33rd minute and Sergio Roberto doubled their lead five minutes later.

Getafe pulled a goal back through Angel Rodriguez with 25 minutes to play. Angel (who has been linked with a possible move to Barca) was close to an equalizer shortly afterward but Marc Andre Ter Stegen reacted quickly and ensure three vital points for Barca.

Valencia and Atletico Madrid shared four goals in an entertaining 2-2 draw in Valencia's Mestalla Stadium with the home team twice coming back through Gabriel Paulista and Geoffrey Kondogbia canceling out goals from Marcos Llorente and Thomas Partey.

Villarreal secured a 2-1 win at home to Levante in an east-coast derby. Gerard Moreno opened the scoring for Villarreal in the ninth minute and although Borja Mayoral's close-range finish leveled the game ten minutes into the second half Moi Gomez sealed the win for Villarreal in the 81st minute with a low shot from the edge of the penalty area.

Athletic Club Bilbao have now gone nine games without a win after they lost 1-0 at home to Osasuna, who saw Oier Sanjun score with their only shot on target all game.

Athletic hit the woodwork twice through debutant Unai Vencedor, while Aritz Aduriz headed against the Osasuna post with the last chance of the game.

Leganes and Betis drew 0-0 in Butarque in a game of few chances which ended with Betis striker, Borja Iglesias sent off in injury time for pushing a ball-boy as he went to retrieve the ball.

Espanyol took a valuable point with a 2-2 draw away to Sevilla in an entertaining game in the Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium.

Lucas Ocampos opened the scoring for Sevilla, but recent signing Adrian Embarba equalized with a low free-kick 10 minutes from halftime.

Wu Lei put Espanyol in front 10 minutes into the second half after collecting a flick from Jonathan Calleri, but Espanyol's job was made harder with 20 minutes left to play when Victor Sanchez was sent off.

Sevilla pushed Espanyol deeper and deeper back and finally got their reward when Suso scored his first goal for the club with nine minutes remaining with a left-foot shot.

Carlos Fernandez's 96th minute winner gave Granada a 2-1 win at home to Valladolid in Loa Carmenes.

Sergi Guardiola opened the scoring for the visitors with a shot from a narrow-angle in the 56th minute, but Antonio Puertas equalized with nine minutes left to set up Fernandez's dramatic deciding goal.

Saturday also saw Mallorca climb out of the bottom three as Juan Camilo's 63rd minute goal game them three points at home to Alaves.