Ronaldo ignites Real, Barca cruise

Alexis Sanchez struck twice and created a goal
for Neymar as Barcelona recovered from
conceding early to maintain their perfect La
Liga start with a 4-1 win at home to Real
Valladolid on Saturday.
An eighth victory in eight games for the
champions restored their five-point advantage
over arch-rivals Real Madrid who needed a
Cristiano Ronaldo goal in the fourth minute of
stoppage time to secure a 3-2 victory at
Levante earlier.
Atletico Madrid, the only other team with
seven wins from their opening seven matches,
can join Barca on 24 points at the top of the
table with a win at home to Celta Vigo on
Sunday (1000 GMT).
Valladolid forward Javi Guerra silenced the
Nou Camp when he headed in a corner in the
10th minute but Barca were level four minutes
later when Alexis lashed the ball home from
just outside the penalty area.
Cristian Tello squared for Xavi to sidefoot the
ball in seven minutes after the break before
Neymar sent Alexis clear on the right in the
64th minute and he sent a precise shot into
the far corner.
The Chilean returned the compliment by
setting up Brazil forward Neymar to make it
4-1 six minutes later as Barca, who have also
won both Champions League outings this
season, continued their impressive form under
new coach Gerardo Martino.
The Argentine is the first coach to win his
opening eight matches in La Liga while Barca
are the first team to start a campaign with
eight victories since Real in the late 1980s.
Real are flying in Europe after resounding
Champions League victories over Galatasaray
and FC Copenhagen but turned in another
disappointing domestic performance at Levante
following last weekend's 1-0 defeat at home to
Atletico.
They twice had to come from behind at
Levante's Ciutat de Valencia stadium before
Ronaldo rifled a 94th-minute shot from the
corner of the area and it glanced off a
defender before deflecting into the net off a
post.
It was desperately hard on a plucky Levante
side and their fans but moved Real back above
Villarreal, who won 3-0 at home to Granada on
Friday, into third place on 19 points.