Crowd trouble causes Granada match to be abandoned

The match between Granada and Mallorca was called off mid-way through the second half after an assistant referee was hit by an umbrella thrown from the crowd. Granada had the initiative in the match between the two struggling sides after coming from behind to lead Mallorca 2-1 when the referee headed straight for the tunnel after one of his linesmen was struck. In a hard fought match Victor Casadesus put Mallorca ahead but Granada, who started the game second from bottom, got back into the match through Guilherme Siqueira and then a fine 25-yard strike from Carlos Martins put them in the driving seat. There was a highly-charged atmosphere on and off the pitch but the euphoria in the stands spilled over when the umbrella was launched at the official. Earlier, misfiring Atletico Madrid finally found their touch in front of goal but were forced to hang on for a 3-2 victory over Levante who fell to their third consecutive defeat. The pressure was on Atletico coach Gregorio Manzano after their derby defeat by Getafe in their last game meant they had only one win in eight matches, but they showed plenty of attacking intent from the start against Levante. The visitors are still in the top four thanks to a seven-match winning streak earlier in the season and they set their stall to defend deeply and try to catch Atletico on the counter-attack. Atletico missed a series of openings but eventually went ahead through a cool finish from substitute Luis Pizzi. Levante hit back immediately via Torres but Adrian Lopez restored Atletico’s advantage after 74 minutes and Diego added another before a Ruben Suarez consolation. Athletic Bilbao continue to soar up the table with a 2-1 victory away to Sevilla which has put them in sixth place. Marcelo Bielsa’s side have now gone eleven matches unbeaten following a slow start to the campaign under the Chilean coach which took them six attempts to register their first win in la liga. Since then though they have never looked back and fully deserved the three points against a Sevilla side which have not won now in five games and are just a point above Athletic. Andoni Iraola gave Athletic the lead after just five minutes and while Sevilla drew level through Jesus Navas after a headed knock down from Frederic Kanoute, the visitors were in charge. In particular Sevilla were finding it difficult to cope with Athletic’s physical threat although the winner came from a move with the ball on the ground as Iker Muniain found Oscar De Marcos who scored from close range. Sporting Gijon came from behind to beat Getafe thanks to a late Nacho Novo winner. Oscar Trejo equalised a Nicolas Miku goal in first half stoppage time and then a minute from the end Novo headed in a second. Osasuna drew 0-0 with Rayo Vallecano while it was also goalless between Real Sociedad and Espanyol, who moved onto the fringes of the European places with 17 points. Saturday, Real Madrid kept their three point cushion at the top of la liga with a 3-2 win over Valencia in a stormy encounter at the Mestalla where Cristiano Ronaldo hit the winner. The pressure was on Real who had Barcelona breathing down their necks after their earlier 4-0 win over Zaragoza but they produced a battling display against a Valencia side who pushed them all the way after the break.