BARCELONA — Diego Costa scored his Spanish league-leading ninth and 10th goals of the season to give Atletico Madrid a 2-1 victory over Celta Vigo Sunday, extending its club record with an eighth win in as many games to start the domestic campaign. The win at its Vicente Calderon Stadium kept Atletico level on points with Barcelona at the top of the table and five points ahead of Real Madrid after both rivals won Saturday. Diego Costa was born in Brazil but holds a Spanish passport, and his latest performance will surely give Spain coach Vicente del Bosque even more reason to stick to his plan of calling him up to join the world champion for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Diego Costa made up for a missed penalty by tapping in Filipe Luis' cross three minutes before halftime and he added another goal with a move that combined finesse and power in the 62nd. His double gave him two more goals than Barcelona's injured Lionel Messi and three more than Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo. Diego Costa said he was ready to play for Spain, a country that had “given him everything” professionally during the past five years. Celta substitute Manuel “Nolito” Agudo halved the deficit in the 71st and the forward threatened to grab the equalizer late, but a tiring Atletico held on to the three points. Elsewhere, Ivan Rakitic headed in Marko Marin's short cross in injury time to give Sevilla a 2-1 win at home over last-place Almeria, which remained the only winless team in the first division. On Saturday, Cristiano Ronaldo scored deep in injury time to cap Real Madrid's incredible 3-2 comeback victory at Levante. Spanish leader Barcelona, meanwhile, didn't miss the injured Lionel Messi as it cruised by Valladolid 4-1 at home with Neymar scoring once and setting up one of Alexis Sanchez's two goals. At 1-1, Levante's Nabil El Zhar grabbed what looked to be the winner in the 86th, but Madrid substitute Alvaro Morata stepped up to level in the 90th. Still facing what would have been a costly draw, Ronaldo's last-gasp strike hit both a defender and the post before settling into the net to crush the hosts' hopes of taking a point. “When Madrid plays football, it only needs five minutes to win a game,” Madrid first-year coach Carlo Ancelotti said. This was Ronaldo's second winner for Madrid on the last shot of the game in the last seven days after he netted a penalty six minutes after fulltime to grab a 2-1 win at Elche last Saturday. “Neymar didn't put on a Messi mask, each one plays his own game,” Alexis told GOL TV. “I don't think that the fact Messi isn't here gives us more freedom. Without Leo we have more work because with him everything is easier.” Elsewhere, Real Sociedad lost its second game this week in agonizing fashion, when Rayo Vallecano substitute Jonathan Viera won and converted an 89th-minute penalty. Sociedad lost in injury time at Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League Tuesday. Elche got its second straight victory thanks to forward Ferran “Coro” Corominas' two goals in a 2-1 win over visiting Espanyol. — Agencies
