Nine-man Madrid lose at home for the 1st time this season

Madrid, Dec. 9: Real Madrid had two players sent off in its 2-0 home defeat to Celta Vigo on Sunday and lost more ground to Spanish league leader Barcelona.

Madrid conceded early in the second half and then saw red cards for Fran García and Álvaro Carreras in its first defeat of the season at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in all competitions. Unused Madrid substitute Endrick also was shown a red card for complaining.

Williot Swedberg scored for the visitors with a nice flick from near the penalty spot in the 54th.

Madrid lost García with a second yellow card in the 64th and Carreras in stoppage time. Swedberg sealed Celta's victory in a breakaway shortly after Madrid was reduced to nine players.

"We are all upset. It wasn't the game or the result that we wanted," Madrid coach Xabi Alonso said. "The referee's decisions threw us off balance. I didn't like the refereeing."

Madrid has won only two of its last seven matches across all tournaments. It next hosts Manchester City in the Champions League on Wednesday.

Madrid's only other league loss this season was a heavy defeat at Atletico Madrid in September. It also lost at Liverpool in the league phase of the Champions League in November.

Sunday's setback left Alonso's team four points behind Barcelona. The Catalan club won 5-3 at Real Betis on Saturday. Madrid is only one point ahead of third-placed Villarreal, which has a game in hand.

Vinícius Júnior and Kylian Mbappé both had good chances to equalize for Madrid but couldn't capitalize on their opportunities.

Madrid defender Éder Militão had to leave the game in the first half because of an injury.

Celta moved to 10th place with its second win in three league games.

Goalkeeping mistakes

Girona goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga had an afternoon to forget in Girona's 3-0 loss to Elche at home.

Girona, sitting inside the relegation zone in 18th place, has only one win in its last six games in all competitions.

Elche, which hadn't won in seven consecutive league games, moved to ninth place.

Roberto Fernández converted a first-half penalty kick as fifth-placed Espanyol beat Rayo Vallecano 1-0 for its third straight league win.

Hugo Duro scored three minutes into stoppage time as 15th-placed Valencia drew with 13th-placed Sevilla 1-1 at home.

Napoli back to top

Luciano Spalletti's return to the team he led to the Serie A title was spoiled by Rasmus Højlund's brace as host Napoli beat Juventus 2-1 on Sunday.

The result also lifted Napoli back to the top of the Italian league. The defending champion moved a point above Inter Milan and three points above AC Milan, which visits Torino on Monday.

It was Juventus coach Spalletti's first time at Napoli as opposition manager since he led the southern team to its first scudetto in more than 30 years in 2023.

Roma lost ground in the title race as it fell to a 1-0 defeat at Cagliari after playing most of the match with 10 men.

Roma remained fourth but slipped four points below Napoli. It was Cagliari's first win since September and lifted the Sardinian team four points above the drop zone.

Bologna failed to make the most of Roma's slipup as it was held to a 1-1 draw at Lazio. Earlier, Cremonese beat Lecce 2-0.

Palace move to 4th place 

Crystal Palace moved up to fourth place in the Premier League after defender Marc Guehi scored late in a 2-1 win at Fulham on Sunday.

Guehi headed in the winner off a corner in the 87th minute to put Palace in the Champions League spots. Palace overtook Everton and Chelsea and is four points behind third-placed Aston Villa.

The visitors opened the scoring with Eddie Nketiah's goal in the 20th before Harry Wilson equalized for Fulham in the 38th. It was the second league win in a row for Palace and the second straight defeat for Fulham, which stayed in 15th place.

Georginio Rutter scored his first goal of the Premier League season in stoppage time and Brighton salvaged a 1-1 home draw against West Ham. (AP)