Levante 0-2 Real Madrid

VALENCIA, January 13 (Primera Liga) - Two goals from Ruud van Nistelrooy earned Primera Liga leaders Real Madrid another three points at the expense of basement boys Levante on Sunday.

The Holland striker opened the scoring from the penalty spot with just 15 minutes remaining and sealed the win late on with a neat finish from the edge of the area.

Although Real went into the match without key midfielder Mahamadou Diarra, who is away on African Nations Cup duty, Levante were in far worse shape.

The team from Valencia started the day eight points adrift at the bottom of the table and having lost four players, who recently left the club due to non-payment of wages.

They had also scored just one goal and taken one point from their last five league matches.

The two sides may have been separated by 36 points in the table, but there was little difference between the teams in the first half.

Madrid kicked off with Fernando Gago replacing Diarra in the midfield holding role but the Argentinian struggled to make his mark.

As a result, Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas, who had been a doubt due to a stomach bug, found himself busier than expected in the opening period.

Pedro Leon, Juanma and Luis Rubiales all caused Madrid problems in the first 15 minutes, while experienced Italian midfielder Damiano Tommasi saw a header and left-footed shot go wide.

The visitors, however, failed to test Levante goalkeeper Vladan Kujovic. Madrid were struggling to put two passes together, although the home side lacked the class to make the table-toppers pay for their uncertainties.

Despite the poor display, Real coach Bernd Schuster resisted the urge to make changes at the interval and Levante continued to have the better chances at the start of the second half with Pedro Leon, Laurent Courtois and Mustafa Riga all threatening the Madrid goal shortly after the interval.

That finally prompted a reaction from Schuster, who replaced Julio Baptista with Guti, and Madrid crept back into the match as the midfielder and Raul both saw shots saved by Kujovic.

Guti was soon joined on the pitch by Gonzalo Higuain, but not before Robinho had rattled the woodwork for the visitors after Van Nistelrooy had done well to set the Brazilian winger up with his chance.

The changes eventually paid off when the league leaders took the lead with 15 minutes remaining.

Higuain's cross looked to hit Jose Serrano's hand and after referee Fernandez Borbalan had awarded the penalty, Van Nistelrooy sent Kujovic the wrong way from the spot.

The former Manchester United man then scored his second of the game with just two minutes left on the clock.

He controlled Guti's pass on the edge of the area before firing an accurate shot into the back of the Levante net.

The win restores Madrid's seven-point lead over Barcelona at the top of the table while Levante are 13 points adrift of fourth-bottom Recreativo Huelva.

Whether how real this season Real can be, but Ruud can show his rudeness free ... just cant love you guys more ....

sports fan? neh.. just bla from jeffayn....