Bale scores twice for Real Madrid; Man United impresses

PARIS: Gareth Bale finally got his name back on the scoresheet to help Real Madrid remain firmly in the hunt for the Spanish title.
The Wales winger scored twice in a 2-0 win at Levante on Sunday that kept his side one point behind leader Barcelona a week before the title rivals meet in the “Clasico.”
In France, Zlatan Ibrahimovic lost his temper after Paris Saint-Germain was handed a 3-2 defeat at Bordeaux while Manchester United secured its most impressive win this season in the Premier League.
In Italy, Napoli’s hopes of making the Champions League next season were dealt a blow.
Here are some things to know about Sunday’s games:

SPAIN
Gareth Bale’s brace ended his scoring drought and Real Madrid’s winless run. Bale scored from a rebound in the 18th minute to capitalize on Madrid’s overwhelming start at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, ending his nine-game streak without a goal.
He then grazed Cristiano Ronaldo’s strike to redirect it past goalkeeper Diego Marino five minutes before halftime.
Bale had been the focus of criticism during Madrid’s three games without a victory, when the player who commanded a world record €100-million transfer a year and a half ago was ineffective.
Madrid visits Barcelona’s Camp Nou next Sunday.

ENGLAND
Chelsea failed to fully capitalize on Manchester City’s stumble in the Premier League title race by only drawing against Southampton, while Manchester United forward Wayne Rooney landed a blow to Tottenham’s Champions League hopes.
Chelsea extended its lead over City to six points — with a game in hand — after a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge, although the advantage would have been even bigger had Southampton goalkeeper Fraser Forster not produced several great saves in the second half.
Diego Costa’s 11th-minute header for Chelsea, which ended his seven-game goal drought, was quickly canceled out by a penalty converted by Dusan Tadic.
Rooney capped United’s 3-0 win over Spurs at Old Trafford with a stunning solo goal. Marouane Fellaini and Michael Carrick also scored first-half goals for fourth-place United, which moved to within two points of Man City in what is proving to be a riveting tussle for Champions League qualification.
“We have waited a long time for such a victory,” said United manager Louis van Gaal, who had come under fire in recent weeks for some insipid displays by his team.
Spurs dropped six points off the top four with a poor display that revived memories of its capitulations against the top sides last season.
FRANCE
Paris Saint-Germain’s star striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic is facing the prospect of being suspended after losing his temper following the champions’ 3-2 loss at Bordeaux in the French league on Sunday.
Speaking in English, Ibrahimovic said “in 15 years I’ve never seen a referee” like Lionel Jaffredo in Sunday’s game. He then used an expletive to describe France as he walked past reporters after the game.
The Swedish forward later said he was sorry after the French sports ministry asked him to apologize for the comments, which were caught on camera and then shown widely on social media.
The Sweden forward scored twice in Sunday’s match but could not prevent his team from slumping to its third league defeat this season.
With nine rounds left to play, Lyon sits two points above PSG after drawing 0-0 at third-place Marseille.

ITALY
World Cup winner Luca Toni scored both goals for Verona, at the start of each half, to take his tally to 13 league goals this season and hand Napoli a 2-0 defeat in Serie A.
“I don’t like losing and I don’t like losing like this,” Napoli coach Rafa Benitez said. “We approached the game wrongly. We played very badly in the first half and we had that same wrong attitude at the start of the second when we immediately conceded again... We lack consistency; we can’t manage to be at a great level for more than two or three matches.”
Napoli remained level on points with third-place Lazio, which visits Torino on Monday. It also failed to reduce the gap with second-place Roma, which also plays Monday, at home to Sampdoria.

GERMANY
Second-place Wolfsburg beat Freiburg 3-0 to remain 11 points behind Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga, and keep Freiburg firmly in the relegation zone.
Kevin de Bruyne opened the scoring and played a role in goals by Roberto Rodriguez and Maximilian Arnold.
The defeat left Freiburg next to last, three points from safety.
In the late match, Patrick Herrmann scored both goals for Borussia Moenchengladbach to beat Hannover 2-0. Moenchengladbach is third, nine points behind Wolfsburg and two points ahead of Bayer Leverkusen.