Real Madrid keep lead at Spanish Primera Liga table

 　　MADRID, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Real Madrid retain their 10 point lead at the top of the BBVA Primera Liga after the 25th round of matches thanks to a comfortable 5-0 win at home to Espanyol on Sunday.

　　Espanyol have traditionally been easy victims for Madrid and once Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring after 23 minutes.

　　Sami Khedira doubled the lead and Gonzalo Higuain made it 3-0 just after the break the destination of the points was never in doubt. Kaka added a fourth after 66 minutes and Higuain doubled his tally¹ for the night with 12 minutes remaining.

　　The win sees Madrid maintain their advantage over FC Barcelona, who defeated Sporting Gijon on Saturday night.

　　Valencia remain in third place after a hard-fought win 1-0 in Granada. Sofiane Feghouli's first half strike giving Unai Emery's side all three points.

　　Meanwhile Athletic² Club Bilbao move into fourth place after two Markel Susaeta goals gave them a 2-0 win at home to Real Sociedad, who were unlucky to see a Carlos Vela goal not given after TV replays showed the ball had clearly crossed the goalline.

　　Earlier in the day Villarreal squandered³ a lead to allow bottom of the table Zaragoza to defeat them 2-0. The visitors had opened the scoring in the first half through Hernan Martinucco, but failed to press home their advantage and paid for it as Luis Garcia and Abraham Minero grabbed late goals to give Zaragoza a surprise home win.

　　On Saturday FC Barcelona survived being without the suspended Leo Messi and playing the second half of their game with 10 men after Gerard Pique⁴ was sent off to defeat Sporting Gijon 3-1 in the Camp Nou.

　　Barca saw two good penalty appeals turned down in the first half before Andres Iniesta opened the scoring following a typical slide-rule move from the reigning⁵ league champions.

　　The game changed radically⁶ in the first minute of the second half, when Gerard Pique was harshly sent off for a foul⁷ on Miguel de las Cuevas and David Barral equalized.

　　With 10 men Barca struggled to break down a well organized Sporting until Keita scored a fine left foot shot with 11 minutes remaining and Xavi Hernandez sealed the win in the closing minutes after linking with Andres Iniesta.

　　Sevilla and Atletico Madrid drew 1-1 in a game between two sides with European ambitions. Eduardo Salvio scored a neat header after nine minutes to put the visitors ahead, but Baba Diawara equalized with his first goal for Sevilla eight minutes into the second half.

　　Rayo Vallecano came back from 2-0 down to notch⁸ an impressive 4-2 win at home to relegation⁹ haunted Racing¹⁰ Santander. Racing found themselves down to 10 men in just the second minute after goalkeeper Tono was shown a direct red card, but took a surprise lead through Marc Torrejon and Gustavo Colsa.

　　However, Rayo roared back into the game. Michu scored just before halftime and netted a second to level the game at 2-2, before Raul Tamudo and Piti assured the win.

　　Mallorca and Osasuna drew 1-1 with Emilio Nsue's second half strike cancelling out Alvaro Cejudo's opener for the visitors.

　　Meanwhile Malaga won 3-1 in Getafe. Diego Castro put Getafe ahead towards the end of the first half, but magnificent goals from Eliseu Pereira, Jeremy Toulalan and Santi Cazorla gave Malaga their reward for a much improved second half display.

　　Levante entertain Betis on Monday night.

1 tally   

n.计数器，记分，一致，测量；vt.计算，记录，使一致；vi.计算，记分，一致

参考例句：

• Don't forget to keep a careful tally of what you spend.别忘了仔细记下你的开支账目。
• The facts mentioned in the report tally to every detail.报告中所提到的事实都丝毫不差。

2 athletic   

adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的

参考例句：

• This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
• He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。

3 squandered   

v.（指钱，财产等）浪费，乱花( squander的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He squandered all his money on gambling. 他把自己所有的钱都糟蹋在赌博上了。
• She felt as indignant as if her own money had been squandered. 她心里十分生气，好像是她自己的钱给浪费掉了似的。 来自飘（部分）

4 pique   

v.伤害…的自尊心，使生气 n.不满，生气

参考例句：

• She went off in a fit of pique.她一赌气就走了。
• Tom finished the sentence with an air of pique.汤姆有些生气地说完这句话。

5 reigning   

adj.统治的，起支配作用的

参考例句：

• The sky was dark, stars were twinkling high above, night was reigning, and everything was sunk in silken silence. 天很黑，星很繁，夜阑人静。
• Led by Huang Chao, they brought down the reigning house after 300 years' rule. 在黄巢的带领下，他们推翻了统治了三百年的王朝。

6 radically   

ad.根本地，本质地

参考例句：

• I think we may have to rethink our policies fairly radically. 我认为我们可能要对我们的政策进行根本的反思。
• The health service must be radically reformed. 公共医疗卫生服务必须进行彻底改革。

7 foul   

adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规

参考例句：

• Take off those foul clothes and let me wash them.脱下那些脏衣服让我洗一洗。
• What a foul day it is!多么恶劣的天气！

8 notch   

n.(V字形)槽口，缺口，等级

参考例句：

• The peanuts they grow are top-notch.他们种的花生是拔尖的。
• He cut a notch in the stick with a sharp knife.他用利刃在棒上刻了一个凹痕。

9 relegation   

n.驱逐，贬黜；降级

参考例句：

• Liaoning team lost this game, is still deeply avoid relegation zone. 辽宁队本场失利后，仍然深陷保级区。 来自互联网
• In society, relegation is based on your income. 社会上的规类是以你的收入为基准。 来自互联网

10 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。