Levante back to fourth in La Liga after Betis win
Levante back to fourth in La Liga after Betis win
After stumbling through 2012 without a victory, early season surprise package Levante have won two straight games.

Valencia: Levante moved back into the Spanish league's final Champions League place thanks to a 3-1 victory over Real Betis on Monday.

After stumbling through 2012 without a victory, early season surprise package Levante have won two straight games to move one point clear of Athletic Bilbao and Malaga into fourth.

Jose Barkero curled a left-foot free kick home for the 34th-minute opener at the Ciutat de Valencia stadium, and Xavi Torres headed home to double the advantage eight minutes later.

Jorge Molina took advantage of a defensive mishap to pull one back for the visitors before half-time, but Arouna Kone scored his ninth of the season to seal it in the 51st.

"Our objective isn't the Champions League," Levante coach Juan Ignacio Martinez said. "We wanted the three points and if we end up in this place than it is just anecdotal."

"It's going to be difficult to finish there. If we don't win more games, we could still go down."

Levante captain Sergio Ballesteros became the club's all-time leader in minutes played in the first division after the 36-year-old defender topped over 5,200 minutes with his appearance on Monday.

"When they get ahead they play very comfortably. They have a very compact defence," Betis coach Pepe Mel said after his club stayed in mid-table, six points above the drop. "It's very hard to beat them."

Meanwhile, Spanish leaders Real Madrid are 10 points ahead of Barcelona after both won weekend games, Madrid routing Espanyol 5-0 and Barcelona beating Sporting Gijon 3-1.

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