La Liga wrap: Granada stun Real

3 February 2013 02:05

Cristiano Ronaldo's maiden own goal has handed Granada a 1-0 win and consigned Real Madrid to their fifth loss of the La Liga season.

Ronaldo put the ball into his own net for the first time in his professional career on Saturday as Granada continued their mid-season revival to move six points clear of the relegation zone.

Granada failed to register a shot on target for the entire 90 minutes, while Real did not manage to test the hosts' goalkeeper Tono until after half-time.

The hosts took the lead in the 22nd minute from a corner when Ronaldo got to ball first, only to flick it past Real's goalkeeper Diego Lopez into the net.

While Granada only had 28 percent possession for the match, they held on against Real with Tono denying Ronaldo on a couple of occasions.

The visitors' best chance for an equaliser came in the 84th minute when Tono burst off his line to thwart Jose Callejon and the ball spilled free but Karim Benzema could only shoot wide when presented with an empty net.

Granada have now moved to 14th in La Liga with 26 points, while Real remain third, 15 points behind leaders Barcelona, who will have the opportunity to extend that margin when they travel to Valencia on Sunday.

Espanyol also picked up a crucial win on Saturday as they defeated eighth-placed Levante 3-2 with Christian Stuani making the difference off the bench for the victors.

The Uruguayan forward replaced Samuele Longo at half-time with Espanyol ahead 1-0 in front of their home fans and while Levante equalised in the 47th minute, Stuani and Sergio Garcia combined to devastating effect to clinch the win for the hosts.

Garcia set up Stuani in the 67th minute to put Espanyol 2-1 in front and then the Uruguayan returned the favour two minutes later as the home team built a two-goal cushion.

Levante's Obafemi Martins ensured a nervous finish for Espanyol when he scored in the 87th minute but the Barcelona-based club held on for their third win in four games.

In other La Liga results, Getafe crushed Deportivo La Coruna 3-1 and Osasuna triumphed 1-0 against Celta de Vigo.