Real miss the trick to go top

MADRID DERBY Defensive approach means they come away from Calderon with a draw against Atletico

MADRID: Atletico Madrid substitute Luciano Vietto struck late to rescue a 1-1 La Liga draw against Real Madrid on Sunday, while Cristiano Ronaldo will have to wait to set a new club scoring record.

Vietto slotted the ball home with seven minutes to go after Karim Benzema had given visitors Real the lead early on. The Frenchman continued his hot streak in front of goal by nodding home a Daniel Carvajal cross after nine minutes, his seventh of the campaign.

Real defender Sergio Ramos brought down Tiago Cardosa for a penalty after 21 minutes but Antoine Griezmann’s effort was well saved by Keylor Navas.

The stage was set for Ronaldo to break Real’s scoringrecordagainst their city rivals but the Portuguese had a quiet match and remainslevelwithRaulon323goals.

Real are second in the table, level with Celta Vigo and Barcelona on 15 points from seven games. Atletico are fifth with 13 points.

Frustrated Real Madrid coach Rafa Benitez felt they paid the price for not finishing off Atletico Madrid in the first half.

“We dominated in the first half, we were in control of the game and we knew what we had to do,” Benitez told a news conference.

“In the second half they (Atletico) raised their rhythm and while we had eight breakaways we were not accurate in the last or penultimate pass.

“We have lost two points here. We went ahead and then we committed errors, with the penalty and then the goal,” said Benitez, even though Atletico’s Antoine Griezmann missed the spotkick.

VILLARREAL LOSE Earlier leaders Villarreal, on 16 points, had a man sent off and crashed 1-0 away to struggling Levante with Deyverson hitting the only goal.

Deyverson volleyed home a cross from Nabil Ghilas after 82 minutes to drag Levante off the bottom of the table.

Villarreal fullback Bojan Jokic was given a second yellow card after 35 minutes for a reckless challenge on Ivan Lopez who went off injured.