Football
ESPN staff 7y

Ronaldo nets 400th Real Madrid goal in win, Barcelona see off Las Palmas

Real Madrid and Barcelona both picked up 4-1 victories on Sunday with the battle for the La Liga title set to go down to the wire.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 400th and 401st goalsĀ for Madrid as they saw off Sevilla 4-1 to keep their title hopes in their own hands, while helping to kill off their opponents' chances of finishing third.

Madrid opened the scoring in controversial fashion in the 10th minute, with Nacho Fernandez netting from a quick free kick while Sevilla were still organising themselves after Marco Asensio had been fouled on the edge of the box.

Ronaldo doubled the hosts' lead 12 minutes later, converting a close-range rebound after James Rodriguez had seen his strike saved for his 400th goal for his club.

Stevan Jovetic pulled a goal back for Sevilla shortly after the break with a well-taken finish into the bottom corner, but Ronaldo made sure of the result with an excellent strike into the top corner 11 minutes from time after Toni Kroos' cutback. There was still time for Kroos to get on the score sheet, with the Germany international finding the bottom corner in the 84th minute.

While Madrid, who have a game in hand over league leaders Barcelona, remain in second place due to an inferior head-to-head record against the Catalans, they can take top spot with at least a draw in their rescheduled fixture against Celta Vigo on Wednesday -- ahead of next Sunday's La Liga finale.

Neymar hit a hat trick as Barcelona kept their hold on top spot -- for the time being at least -- with a 4-1 victory at Las Palmas.

Neymar broke the deadlock for Luis Enrique's side after 25 minutes, slotting home from close range after being teed up by Luis Suarez.

And the pair swapped roles just two minutes later, with Neymar this time picking out the run of Suarez, who produced a clever finish to beat Javi Varas.

Pedro Bigas scored for Las Palmas in the 63rd minute, smashing home Kevin-Prince Boateng's delivery, but Neymar restored Barca's two-goal advantage just a few minutes later with a far-post header following Ivan Rakitic's cross.

And Neymar completed his hat trick soon after, tucking the ball home after being found by Jordi Alba, to put the game out of sight.

Atletico Madrid drew 1-1 at Real Betis to secure third spot and qualification for the Champions League group stages next season.

Dani Ceballos scored a 57th-minute opener for the hosts with a strike from the edge of the box following a Betis corner.

However, Stefan Savic found an equaliser for Diego Simeone's side in the 66th minute with a close-range strike to wrap up third place with one game of the season to spare. Sevilla are assured of fourth spot and will enter next season's Champions League in the qualifying rounds.

Sporting Gijon were relegated despite winning 1-0 at Eibar.

Burgui's 32nd-minute goal gave Sporting only their second away win of the season, but Deportivo La Coruna and Leganes both drew to doom them.

Leganes secured their safety with a 1-1 draw at Athletic Bilbao.

Artiz Adruriz's close-range strike -- his 16th league goal of the season -- gave Athletic the lead after 13 minutes.

But Alexander Szymanowski equalised on the hour with a header that meant so much for Leganes.

Deportivo also guaranteed themselves another season in the top flight with a goalless draw at Villarreal, whose failure to win handed Sevilla a ticket to the Champions League.

Real Sociedad failed to take advantage of Villarreal and Athletic, rivals for Europa League qualification, dropping points as they were held 2-2 at home by Malaga.

Xabi Prieto gave Sociedad a 31st-minute lead from the penalty spot but Malaga went ahead through Luis Hernandez (45) and Recio (75) before Jon Bautista equalised five minutes from time.

Celta Vigo, fresh from their Europa League semifinal exit to Manchester United, lost 3-1 to Copa del Rey finalists Alaves as they suffered a fifth straight league defeat.

Alaves scored three times in the opening 37 minutes through Manu Garcia, Zouhair Feddal and Deyverson, with Iago Aspas claiming a late Celta consolation from the penalty spot.

Press Association contributed to this report.

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