Real Madrid and Girona extended their impressive runs to reach the halfway point of the La Liga season at the top of the standings.
Both teams won on Wednesday to reach 48 points after 19 games, with third-placed Atletico Madrid 10 points back. Real Madrid were ahead of Girona on a tiebreaker.
Madrid edged Mallorca 1-0 at home with a late goal by Antonio Rudiger in a match that marked the return of Vinicius Junior from injury.
Girona, the surprise team this season, defeated Atletico 4-3 with a winner by Ivan Martín in stoppage time.
Alvaro Morata scored a hat-trick for Atletico, while Antoine Griezmann was held scoreless to remain tied with Luis Aragones as the club’s all-time top scorer with 173 goals.
Last-gasp winner
Faced with another difficult challenge, Girona rose to the occasion yet again, overcoming Diego Simeone’s Atletico to show they can be considered genuine title contenders.
Martín scored the winning goal one minute into stoppage time, firing a left-footed shot into the top corner after fending off a series of Atletico defenders inside the area.
The hosts led 3-1 until Morata capped his hat-trick with an equaliser in the 54th. Valery Fernandez, Savinho and Daley Blind scored Girona’s other goals at Montilivi Stadium.
The team coached by Michel has the league’s best attack with 46 goals, four more than Madrid’s. Girona have 15 wins, three draws and a lone loss coming against Madrid.
They went on a 13-match unbeaten streak in all competitions since that 3-0 defeat to Madrid at home in September. Last month, they earned a convincing 4-2 win at defending champions Barcelona.
Vinicius returns
Vinicius was back in action after an absence of nearly two months because of a muscle injury, but the Spanish powerhouse struggled in attack until Rudiger broke the deadlock with a header into the top corner after a well-placed corner kick taken by Luka Modric in the 78th minute.
The result extended Madrid’s unbeaten streak to 18 matches in all competitions, since a 3-1 league loss at Atletico in September.
