La Liga: Real Madrid win, Athletic Bilbao strengthens grip on top-4

Madrid, April 24 (IANS) Arda Guler's first-half goal kept Real Madrid in the hunt for the La Liga title with a 1-0 win away to Getafe at the Coliseum.

The Coliseum observed a minute of silence before the start of the match between Getafe and Real Madrid , corresponding to matchday 33 of La Liga , in memory of Pope Francis, who died on April 21 at the age of 88.

The Turkey international fired home from the edge of the penalty area after Getafe goalkeeper David Soria had saved from Brahim Diaz, who also started in a much-changed Madrid starting 11.

Soria made several other important saves, while Getafe worked hard but failed to seriously test Thibaut Courtois in the Madrid goal, reports Xinhua.

Wednesday was an excellent day for Athletic Bilbao, with the Basque side winning a close match 1-0 at home to Las Palmas, while Villarreal, its closest rival in the battle for fourth place, lost 3-0 away to Celta Vigo.

Inaki Williams scored the only goal on five minutes, with a smart finish from Inigo Ruiz de Galarreta's pass to decide the game.

Alex Berenguer hit the bar for Athletic, while Adnan Januzaj rattled the woodwork for the visitors in a nervy second half, in which home goalkeeper Unai Simon also produced two excellent saves.

Celta strengthened its case for a place in Europe next season with a 3-0 win over Villarreal, with the home side's job made much easier after Eric Bailly was sent off in the 37th minute.

Fer Lopez put Celta ahead on the stroke of halftime, with Borja Iglesias adding a second on 53 minutes, and Iago Aspas scoring from the penalty spot in the 82nd minute.

The defeat leaves Villarreal eight points behind Athletic, and Real Betis can move fifth with a win at home to bottom side Real Valladolid on Thursday.

Nahuel Tanglia's 64th-minute volley gave Alaves a 1-0 win at home to Real Sociedad that lifts the club above Las Palmas and out of the bottom three.

Antonio Blanco was unlucky not to score a second, but his shot hit the bar for the home side.

In Tuesday's action, FC Barcelona won 1-0 at home to Mallorca, while Valencia and Espanyol drew 1-1.

--IANS

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