Madrid, April 13

Raul Gonzalez and Arjen Robben scored as Real Madrid beat Valladolid 2-0 to stay six points behind Spanish leaders Barcelona.

Raul struck his 15th goal of the season in the 44th minute. Robben scored

on a quick counterattack

in the 82nd minute from Jose Maria “Guti” Gutierrez’s long pass.

Juanma Mata beat goalkeeper Inaki Lafuente in the 88th minute as Valencia won 3-2 against Sporting Gijon to overtake Villarreal for fourth in the table.

Barcelona lead with 75 points, while Madrid have 69. Valencia have 49, Villarreal 48 and Atletico Madrid joined Malaga at 46 after Sergio Aguero and Simao Sabrosa netted in a 2-1 win at Deportivo La Coruna.

Premiership

LONDON: Gareth Barry salvaged a 3-3 draw for Aston Villa against Everton, equalising from the penalty spot to keep the team fifth in the Premier League. Also, Clint Dempsey scored twice as Fulham rallied to beat Manchester City 3-1.

Everton, who are nine points ahead of Fulham in sixth place, twice threw away two-goal leads at Villa Park, squandering a chance to move ahead of the home side into fifth.

Marouane Fellaini and Tim Cahill had put the visitors in control with goals in the first 23 minutes. John Carew pulled one back for Villa in the 33rd from close range after confusion in the Everton defense. Pienaar restored Everton’s two-goal cushion in the 53rd. Two minutes later, James Milner bent a free kick inside Tim Howard’s post to make it 3-2.

Italian Serie A

ROME: Inter Milan edged towards retaining the Serie A title despite blowing a two-goal lead in a 2-2 draw with Palermo. Jose Mourinho’s men are now 10 points clear of Juventus, who lost 3-2 at Genoa before next week’s top-of-the-table clash with the champions. A Thiago Motta brace and late goal by Raffaele Palladino maintained surprise package Genoa’s hold on Italy’s fourth Champions League slot. AC Milan are two points behind Juventus in third after a second-half strike by Clarence Seedorf gave them a 1-0 win at Chievo Verona.