Real Madrid squandered a great opening goal and a chance to catch Barcelona in the Spanish league standings when it slipped to a 2-2 draw at Valencia in a match it ended with 10 men Sunday. Madrid seemed set to romp to an easy victory after Karim Benzema finished off a superb move in the 16th minute, but Valencia's Dani Parejo leveled from the penalty spot just before halftime. Gareth Bale headed Madrid back in front in the 82nd despite his team playing a man down after Mateo Kovacic saw a direct red card, only for Paco Alcacer to strike right back for the host a minute later to spark a thrilling finish by both teams. Coach Rafa Benitez will face even more scrutiny after Madrid failed to capitalize on Barcelona's scoreless stalemate at Espanyol Saturday and remained two points behind the defending champion, which has a game to play. Madrid also fell four points behind provisional leader Atletico Madrid, the only title contender to win this round. The struggling powerhouse, which has already been disqualified from the Copa del Rey for fielding an ineligible player, will also have to be careful not to be caught by fourth-place Villarreal after Bruno Soriano scored his second of two goals deep into stoppage time to grab a 2-1 victory at Deportivo La Coruna. Benitez's counterpart, Gary Neville, remained winless in his fourth league game since taking over at Valencia, but his team earned a morale-boosting result. At Deportivo, Soriano gave Villarreal a first-half lead, before Luis Alberto made it 1-1 three minutes after halftime. The match was heading toward a draw when a rash foul by Fernando Navarro on Matias Nahuel gave Soriano a spot kick that he converted five minutes into injury time to secure Villarreal a fifth straight win. Villarreal moved one point adrift Madrid. Also Sunday, it was: Athletic Bilbao 2, Las Palmas 2; Real Betis 0, Eibar 4; Granada 2, Sevilla 1; and Rayo Vallecano 2, Real Sociedad 2. PSG advances in Cup Zlatan Ibrahimovic headed home the winner as Paris Saint-Gemain started the defense of its French Cup title with a scrappy 1-0 win over fourth-tier side Wasquehal while Monaco scored 10 goals to advance Sunday. Playing its first game of 2016 in Lille in rainy conditions, PSG was in control throughout and created plenty of scoring chances. But it lacked a cutting edge until the Sweden international connected with Marco Verratti's long ball on the hour mark. Facing amateur club Saint-Jean-Beaulieu, a team playing in the seventh tier of French football, Monaco took advantage of its opponents' attacking style of play to catch it on the break and score goals galore in a 10-2 victory. Among the top-tier teams also advancing to the round of 32 were Marseille, Lille, Lorient, Saint-Etienne, Bordeaux, Lyon and Montpellier. — Agencies
