MADRID, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- Real Madrid claimed their fifth successive league triumph and got themselves right back into the title race with a 3-1 win in a controversial derby away to Atletico Madrid on Saturday afternoon.
Casemiro opened the scoring for Real Madrid in the 16 minute with an overhead kick after being teed up by Sergio Ramos' header although Antoine Griezmann levelled 9 minutes later after being put through Angel Correa, who Real claimed had started the move with a foul on Vinicius Jr.
There was further controversy in the penalty which put Real Madrid back in front with referee Estrada Fernandez using the VAR to decide Jose Gimenez had brought Vinicius down inside the penalty area, before Sergio Ramos scored from the penalty spot.
The referee also used the VAR to rule out Alvaro Morata's 54th minute 'goal' for offside, before Gareth Bale sealed the win for Real with 15 minutes remaining.
Chinese forward Wu Lei played a big part as Espanyol came back from a goal down to beat Rayo Vallecano 2-1 in dramatic finish to a key relegation battle.
Wu, Lei, who had impressed in a brief cameo in Villarreal a week ago, replaced the injured Pablo Piatti in the 34th minute with Espanyol trailing 1-0.
In the 72nd minute the forward drew a foul from Emiliano Velazquez which allowed Borja Iglesias to level the score from the penalty spot, when it looked as if time was running out for the home side.
Sergi Darder thought he had won the game for Espanyol in the 89th minute, only for it to be ruled out after the referee consulted with the VAR, but the same player then slammed home a volley from outside of the penalty area to win the game in the 5th minute of injury time.
Getafe strengthened their place in fifth with a 3-1 win at home to Celta Vigo in the midday kick off.
The visitors took the lead in the second minute thanks to Nestor Aroujo's header, but Getafe were level from the penalty spot 35 minutes later after Jaime Mata slotted home following a slight push in the Celta area.
To make matter worse Maxi Gomez was sent off after being shown two yellow cards in a second for complaining, leaving Celta to play the remaining 55 minutes with 10 men.
Jorge Molina put Getafe in front with a close range finish in the 62nd minute and Mata sealed the win after a dreadful error from Celta keeper, Ruben Blanco with a minute left to play.
Finally two first half goals from Luis 'Chimi' Avila gave bottom of the table Huesca a 2-0 win away to Girona. Huesca's second win in 2 games gives them a real chance of avoiding the drop, while Girona are in big trouble without a win in their last 10 games.
