Real Madrid beaten at home by Levante

MADRID: Real Madrid had Eder Militao sent off in a 2-1 defeat by Levante on Saturday, handing Atletico Madrid the chance to move 10 points clear at the top of La Liga. Zinedine Zidane’s defending champions sit second in the table, seven points behind Atletico, who have two games in hand and face Cadiz on Sunday.

Levante striker Roger Marti brushed off squandering a penalty to score the winning goal. Real defender Eder Militao was sent off in the ninth minute but the champions took the lead in the 14th with a superb goal on the counter-attack from Marco Asensio. Levante’s talismanic forward Jose Luis Morales equalised with an unstoppable first-time finish in the 32nd minute. Marti blasted a shot past Courtois in the 78th minute and clinch a win.

Results: La Liga: Eibar 0 lost to Sevilla 2; Real Madrid 1 lost to Levante 2.

Premier League: Crystal Palace 1 beat Wolves 0; Everton 0 lost to Newcastle 2; Manchester City 1 beat Sheffield United 0; West Brom 2 drew with Fulham 2. Bundesliga: Bayern Munich 4 beat Hoffenheim 1

Bopanna finds doubles partner for Oz Open

MUMBAI: Almost a week after his men’s doubles partner for the Australian Open pulled out, Rohan Bopanna’s search for a new partner has ended as the Indian will pair up with New Zealand-born Japanese Ben McLachlan for the season’s opening Slam from February 8.

“I got lucky with Ben. His partner Raven Klaasen had to pull out. So we decided to play together at the Australian Open and the week after that in Singapore. I’m happy to have found him, especially in this last moment,” Bopanna said.

Rohan Bopanna