BARCELONA — Real Sociedad beat Valladolid 1-0 while Villarreal held on for a 1-0 win at Getafe in the Spanish league, both victors staying in the hunt Thursday for a place in European competition next season. Sociedad remained in sixth place with Villarreal a point behind in seventh, both in Europa League spots and in striking distance of fourth place and the final Champions League berth. Sociedad forward Carlos Vela chipped goalkeeper Jaime Jimenez after receiving an equally exquisite lobbed pass from Ruben Pardo to set him up in the 23rd minute at Anoeta Stadium. It was Vela's 12th goal in league play this campaign. “The truth is we didn't play a good game, but we won,” said Sociedad coach Jagoba Arrasate, whose team struggled to control possession in the second half and needed goalie Claudio Bravo to secure the three points by denying Carlos Pena in the 57th. Jeremy Perbet slotted in Villarreal's winner in the fifth after he received the ball with his back to the goal and deftly turned to shoot around his marker. Their defeats left Getafe and Valladolid in the relegation zone. Also, last-place Real Betis won 3-1 at Levante to earn its first away victory in league play after 14 winless visits this season. The long-awaited away road win left Betis seven points from safety with eight rounds to go. Almeria overcame Seydou Keita's goal just seven seconds into the match to fight back for a 2-2 draw at home with Valencia. Valencia and Levante stayed in the middle of the standings, while Almeria inched two points from the drop. Atletico Madrid leads the league by one point over Barcelona. Real Madrid was in third three points behind the pacesetter. Udinese holds Inter Inter Milan struggled at the San Siro again in a 0-0 draw with Udinese in Serie A Thursday, as the visitors' 17-year-old goalkeeper Simone Scuffet blocked out the Nerazzurri. Still, Inter moved one point ahead of Parma in the race for fifth place and the final Europa League spot. Udinese remained 14th, 11 points above the relegation zone. The draw was all the more surprising since Udinese left former Italy forward Antonio Di Natale on the bench. Scuffet denied Inter playmaker Hernanes twice and also stopped a late effort from Esteban Cambiasso. It was a performance that could put him in discussion for the third goalkeeper spot on Italy's World Cup squad behind Juventus' Gianluigi Buffon and Paris Saint-Germain's Salvatore Sirigu. Udinese defender Maurizio Domizzi preserved the draw with an acrobatic clear off the line when Scuffet appeared beaten by a close-range effort from Danilo D'Ambrosio in the 88th minute. — Agencies
