Savio quick-fire double lifts Verona into second place with win over 10-man Rayo football news

Brazilian winger Savio scored a five-minute double as a surprise package as Verona beat Rayo Vallecano 3-0 to move back into second place in the La Liga table. Savio helped the Catalans move above Barcelona and within six points of leaders Real Madrid with 12 rounds of the season played. “There is still a lot to do, but the team needed a win after three matches without a win,” said Bayern coach Michel. “Today was a difficult day. The 3-0 score was not what we saw on the field, everything was more than that,” he said.

Rayo are 14th in the Spanish top flight and seven points off the relegation spots after Pep Chavarria was sent off with a quarter of an hour remaining.

Ukraine winger Viktor Tsygankov provided the opener with a comfortable side-footed finish after 52 minutes.

Rayo’s chances of victory in northern Spain were dealt a blow with 15 minutes left as Chavarría was shown two yellow cards in the space of 50 seconds.

His first came after a late tackle on Yan Coutou, shortly after which he was sent off for an early bath for a hard challenge on Eric Garcia.

Savio then made sure of all three points with his injury-time contribution, his second goal being the highlight when he dribbled past the Rayo defense and scored from the right wing.

On Sunday, 38-year-old Luka Modric, who was on the field as a late substitute, scored a powerful strike as Madrid beat Sevilla 1-0 to maintain their unbeaten league run dating back to September.

On Saturday, Xavi’s revived Barcelona side beat Getafe 4-0 to temporarily move into second place with recalled duo Joao Felix and Raphinha on the scoresheet.

Dutch midfielders Frenkie de Jong and Fermin Lopez were also on target.

Bottom side Almeria twice came from behind to hold Atletico Madrid to a 2-2 draw. Due to the deadlock, the host team could not win even after 26 matches this season.

Atletico, which lost 1-0 at Inter Milan in midweek in the first leg of the Champions League last 16 tie, remains fourth, 13 points behind leaders Real Madrid.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)