BARCELONA — Midfielder Mesut Ozil scored two exquisite goals to give Real Madrid a 3-2 comeback win at promoted Valladolid in the Spanish league Saturday. Madrid rebounded from its last away loss at Real Betis with a valuable three points that cut the gap with Barcelona to eight points before the league leader's tough visit on Sunday to the Seville-based side. Jose Mourinho's star-studded squad struggled to overcome two first-half goals by Manucho. Karim Benzema and Oezil scored to pull Madrid even after Manucho had put Valladolid ahead twice to end the first half 2-2. However, Ozil curled an unstoppable freekick off the underside of the crossbar in the 72nd minute to grab the victory. Elsewhere, Valencia won 1-1 at Osasuna. Malaga thrashed struggling Granada 4-0 to rise into provisional fourth place, and Real Sociedad defender Carlos Martinez scored an injury-time equalizer to secure a 1-1 home draw with Getafe. Ibra strikes again Zlatan Ibrahimovic struck his Ligue 1-leading 14th goal of the season as Paris Saint-Germain secured a much-needed 4-0 victory over Evian Saturday, easing some of the pressure on under-fire manager Carlo Ancelotti. Ibrahimovic put the title-challengers in front on 28 minutes before Ezequiel Lavezzi was again on target moments later. Thiago Motta and Kevin Gameiro added late strikes as the French capital club secured just a second league victory in six attempts. The result moved the Parisians up to second on 29 points, level with arch-rival Marseille and two adrift of table-toppers Lyon. Elsewhere, defending champion Montpellier won for just the fifth time this season, a 3-0 win at home to Ajaccio. Meanwhile, Rennes conceded a two-goal lead as it drew 2-2 with Brest. Fifth-placed Valenciennes was held to a 1-1 draw at bottom side Nancy, while Troyes and Nice finished 1-1 as did Sochaux against Lille. Juventus prevails Juventus had a Stephan Lichsteiner strike early in the second half to thank for a cagey 1-0 win away to Palermo as AC Milan dominated a six-goal thriller away to Torino (4-2) Sunday. Juventus's 12th win of the campaign took its lead to five points over Napoli ahead of its crunch visit to Inter Milan, which sits third a further two points off the pace. Swiss midfielder Lichsteiner settled Juve's nerves when he broke the deadlock on 50 minutes although most of the work had been done by striker Mirko Vucinic, who latched on to Andrea Pirlo's long ball and sent Lichsteiner through to beat Albanian ‘keeper Samir Ujkani. Other results: Pescara 2, Genoa 0; Cagliari 0, Chievo 2; Siena 1, Catania 3. Referee apologizes Referee Wolfgang Stark apologized Saturday for awarding a controversial penalty against Borussia Dortmund and sending off defender Marcel Schmelzer in their Bundesliga defeat at home to VfL Wolfsburg. Schmelzer was judged to have handled the ball to stop Bas Dost's goal-bound shot going into the net but replays showed that ball hit Schmelzer's knee and, although it also brushed his fist, the contact was insignificant and clearly unintentional. A penalty was awarded, Schmelzer sent off and Diego converted the penalty. As so often happens, the decision completely changed the course of the game as Wolfsburg, losing 1-0 and completely outplayed before the incident, went on to win 3-2. — Agencies
