Fati double keeps Barca in touch with Real Madrid

MADRID - FC Barcelona kept in touch with Real Madrid at the top of the Liga Santander as they beat Levante 2-1 in the Camp Nou Stadium on Sunday night.

Two goals in a three minute spell from 17-year-old Ansu Fati gave Barca the win in an entertaining game, in which Barca could have scored more goals, but where Levante also had their chances and drew three good saves from home keeper Marc Andre Ter Stegen before Ruben Rochina netted a 92nd minute goal that caused some late nerves among the Barca fans.

Fati's first goal came after he was sent through the middle of a Levante defense that was pushed well forward to beat Aitor Fernandez with a low shot and his second came after Messi picked him out in space on the left to drill the ball through the Levante keeper's legs.

Nelson Semedo had an excellent game on the right for Barca, but Gerard Pique saw a yellow card which will see him suspended for next week's trip to play Betis, further weakening a suspect Barca defense.

Real Madrid beat neighbors Atletico Madrid 1-0 night in the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday to claim their first home win in the league against their neighbors since 2012.

Karim Benzema scored in the 55th minute on a pass from Ferland Mendy after Atletico spurned several first half chances and were denied what looked like a clear penalty after a foul by Casemiro on Alvaro Morata.

Morata joined Atletico's injury list just after the break and Benzema netted the only goal of the game in the 55th minute as Atletico completed their third league game in succession without finding the opposition net.

Getafe move up to third after a 2-0 win away to Athletic Club Bilbao, who looked flat after playing 120 minutes in two Copa del Rey clashes in the past two weeks.

Damien Suarez opened the scoring with a magnificent goal in the 36th minute and Jaime Mata assured the win from the penalty spot early in the second half.

Getafe moved above Sevilla who ended a week which saw them knocked out of the cup by second tier Mirandes with a 1-1 draw at home to Alaves.

Joselu opened the scoring for Alaves in the 70th minute, but Lucas Ocampos saw the points shared when he equalized from the penalty spot seven minutes later.

Valencia's had to work hard for a 1-0 win at home to Celta in an entertaining game decided by Carlos Soler's 77th minute strike.

Celta paid for a lack of confidence in front of goal and the result leaves them in the bottom three for another week, while there was some bad news for Valencia as well after key central defender Ezequiel Garay had to leave the pitch with what looks like a serious knee injury.

Real Sociedad's European ambitions suffered a setback as Oscar Rodriguez's injury time goal condemned to a 2-1 defeat to Leganes. Alexander Isak put Real Sociedad ahead with his fourth goal in a week, but Kenneth Omerou leveled the scores in the 49th minute to help set up Oscar's vital winner.

Paco Alcacer began to pay back his Villarreal record transfer fee when he scored after 45 minutes of his debut to open the scoring in his new side's 3-1 win at home to Osasuna.

Adriane Hernandez equalized for the visitors, but Ruben Pena and a Santi Cazorla penalty in the 59th minute confirmed the win.

Espanyol remain bottom of the table after losing 2-1 away to Granada despite Raul de Tomas putting them ahead from the penalty spot. Defensive errors allowed Granada to turn the game around with goals from Darwin Machis and Carlos Fernandez.

Finally Mallorca's troubles increased while Valladolid took a big step towards safety after Enes Unal's 58th minute goal separated the two teams in Mallorca's Son Moix Stadium and only Celta's defeat stopped Mallorca slipping into the bottom three.