Captain Ramos came to the rescue yet again for Real Madrid

Real Madrid beat Real Betis 2-1 at Santiago Bernabeu to go top of the la liga table after Barcelona lost 1-2 away to Deportivo La Coruna. FIFA Player of the year Cristiano Ronaldo and Madrid skipper Sergio Ramos were the scorers for the Madrid side.

Madrid fell behind Betis in the 25th minute after goalkeeper Keylor Navas scored an own goal. Ronaldo scored in the 41st minute to bring parity for Madrid from a header off Marcelo. The Madrid side finally took the lead after Captain Ramos, who has been the protagonist of many comebacks for Real, scored from a header on a corner in the 81st minute. Keylor Navas saved a Betis attempt to deny the visiting side an equaliser in the dying minutes and earn his side a victory.

FC Barcelona failed to repeat their midweek performance

Earlier in the day, a Barcelona side riding on 6-1 victory against PSG midweek were beaten by resurgent Deportivo,1-2 in Coruna.

Deportivo forward Joselu opened the scoring by slotting a corner against the run of play in 40th minute. Just after half-time, an unmarked Luis Suarez drew Barcelona level with a powerful shot on target.

Alex Bergantinos restored Deportivo’s lead off a corner in the 74th minute. Deportivo were able to fend off multiple threats from Barcelona in the final fifteen minutes to win the game 2-1.

Fourth-placed Atletico Madrid also won their game against Granada 1-0. Antoine Griezmann scored in the 84th minute from a diving header to break the stiff resistance offered by their opponents.

The results mean that Real Madrid leapfrogged Barcelona to the first position with still a game in hand. Real now have 62 points from 26 games while Barcelona have 60 from 27 games. Third-placed Sevilla have 57 points from 27 games after drawing 1-1 against Leganes on Saturday. Atletico Madrid complete the top four and are five points behind Sevilla, having played equal number of matches.