Higuain shines as Real keep pressure on Barcelona

Real Madrid produced a 2-0 home win over Valladolid on Sunday to move back to within six points of Barcelona at the top of the Spanish championship.

Captain Raul scored close to half-time, with Gonzalo Higuain setting up his strike partner, while Arjen Robben added a late second as Real made it 14 wins from 16 under Juande Ramos.

Barcelona had defeated Recreativo Huelva 2-0 on Saturday to open up a nine-point gap, but Real continued their dogged pursuit of a third successive league crown.

Valladolid had beaten Real 1-0 earlier in the season, when Bernd Schuster was at the helm, but under Ramos Real have improved and are unbeaten in the league in 2009.

England international David Beckham, now on loan at AC Milan, was one of the spectators at the Santiago Bernabeu cheering his old club on from the stands.

Beckham, 33, won the 2007 league title with Real before leaving to join Los Angeles Galaxy.

Sergio Ramos was suspended so Miguel Torres deputised at right back but apart from that Real were at full strength and fresh after no midweek Champions League distraction.

However, Real were flat in the opening 25 minutes and only a great piece of skill from Higuain – a drag back and turn – earned applause from the home fans.

Along with French midfielder Lass Diarra, Higuain was Real’s standout performer and made the opening goal close to half-time chipping the ball between two defenders and crossing for Raul to tap in.

Robben showed great control to score the second nine minutes from time although Valladolid were furious as they felt they should have been awarded a penalty seconds before.

Elsewhere, Valencia climbed above Villarreal into fourth with a 3-2 win at Sporting Gijon.

Villarreal lost 2-0 against Malaga on Saturday and now trail Valencia by a point in the Champions League race.

David Villa put Valencia 2-1 up from the penalty spot but didn’t celebrate the goal out of respect for former club Gijon where he started his distinguished career back in 2000.

Sporting equalised but Juan Mata, recently capped by Spain, struck the winner three minutes from time.

In other matches, new Betis coach Maria Nogues had an immediate impact with his first match in charge ending in a 3-2 win over 10-man Racing Santander.

Betis moved four points clear of the relegation zone with the victory.

The bottom two sides, Numancia and Espanyol, drew 0-0 in a result that helps neither side.

Sevilla host relegation-threatened Getafe later on Sunday aiming to try and wrap up third place as soon as possible.

The club are eight points ahead of Valencia which is an impressive statistic after selling star duo Dani Alves and Seydou Keita to Barcelona in the summer.

Atletico Madrid have their work cut out to qualify for the Champions League again and travel to rivals Deportivo La Coruna in Sunday’s late match.

Atletico and Deportivo are both six points behind Valencia making it a must-win game for both sides.