Madrid, February 18:

Athletic Bilbao denied Atletico Madrid the chance to move into third place in the Spanish league on Sunday after rallying for a 2-1 victory.

Fernando Llorente scored the winner during first half injury time. Atletico’s only goal came early in the first half when goalkeeper Armando Ribeiro misjudged Antonio Lopez’s long shot from the right. Atletico’s comeback hopes were stunted when Raul Garcia was ejected in the 52nd minute.

Athlitico’s Markel Susaeta capped a fast-break started by Javier Martinez inside the Athletic area in the 39th to draw even. The young Basque forward beat goalkeeper Christian Abbiati to the inside with a right-footed shot.

Madrid leads the league with 56 points, while FC Barcelona improved to 51

after Ronaldinho’s late penalty secured a 2-1 win at Zaragoza on Saturday. Villarreal, which drew 0-0 with Racing Santander on Sunday, has 43 points, two better than Atletico.

Earlier, Almeria stayed unbeaten in 2008 when Alvaro Negredo headed home in the 44th to clinch a 1-0 win over sputtering Murcia. Beto, Florent Sinama-Pongolle and Martin Caceres scored second-half goals to lead 10-man Recreativo Huelva past Deportivo La Coruna 3-2. Beto was sent off after picking up a second yellow card for celebrating his goal in the 53rd minute.

Joan Verdu and Ivan “Riki” Sanchez-Rico’s scored for Deportivo, which stayed in 18th place. Recreativo moved up to 14th. Also, it was: Getafe 0, Valencia 0; Levante 2, Osasuna 1; and Valladolid 1, Mallorca 1.

FA Cup

LONDON: Portsmouth needed an injury-time goal to beat stubborn Preston 1-0 and reach the quarter-finals of the FA Cup on Sunday, while Middlesbrough was held to a scoreless draw.

Portsmouth’s winner came from an own-goal from Preston midfielder Darren Carter during a scramble in the box after a corner kick from Niko Kranjcar. Portsmouth last reached the quarter-finals in 1992, when it eventually lost to Liverpool in the semi-finals. It won the trophy in 1939.