La Liga wrap: Levante win, Bilbao upset

Levante returned to winning ways in La Liga with a 4-0 victory over Sporting Gijon on Sunday, while Granada upset Athletic Bilbao.

Juan Ignacio Martinez’s Levante team were the surprise front runners earlier this season thanks to a seven-match winning run.

That streak ended with a 2-0 loss away to Osasuna on October 31, followed by further defeats against Valencia and Atletico Madrid.

But they stopped the rot in front of their own fans on Sunday, with a comprehensive victory at Estadi Ciutat de Valencia.

Jose Barkero opened the scoring 20 minutes into the match, before Juanlu made it 2-0 two minutes into the second half.

Arouna Kone then netted a quick-fire brace to put the result beyond doubt with 28 minutes still remaining.

The win sees fourth-place Levante stay one point behind Valencia, and eight points back from league leaders Real Madrid.

Also on Sunday, Athletic Bilbao suffered their third home defeat of the season, going down 1-0 to promoted team Granada.

Inigo Lopez struck the winning goal for the unheralded visitors 30 minutes into the match at Estadio San Mames.

Elsewhere, Inigo Martinez struck in the 92nd minute as Real Sociedad snatched a 3-2 win away to Real Betis.

Goals from Roland Lamah and Javad Nekounam helped Osasuna defeat Espanyol 2-1 away from home, despite losing Eneko Satrustegui to a red card with 14 minutes remaining.

Mallorca beat their visitors Racing Santander by the same scoreline, thanks to Marc Torrejon’s own-goal and Victor Casadesus’ strike at the Iberostar Stadium.

Like Osasuna, they also finished a man down after Pedro Bigas received his marching orders on 85 minutes.

Finally, Alvaro Negredo’s first-half penalty was enough for Sevilla to record a 1-0 win away to Real Zaragoza in the late kick-off.

Insult was added to injury for the losing hosts; they were the third team to have a man sent off on Sunday, with Juan Carlos the guilty party in the 89th minute.