Sociedad notch vital win

Juventus move closer to retaining crown in Italy

Real Sociedad took a huge step towards qualifying for the Champions League next season as they came from behind to beat Valencia 4-2 at Anoeta.

Roberto Soldado had headed the visitors into an early lead but Inigo Martinez levelled with a sweet volley finish 11 minutes before the break on Sunday.

Chori Castro then finished off a wonderful counter-attack to give Sociedad the lead on 73 minutes and Imanol Agirretxe looked to have sealed the points four minutes from time.

Jonas momentarily put the outcome back in doubt as he halved the deficit but Agirretxe rounded off the scoring with a beautiful chip over Diego Alves in the last action of the game.

The win moves Sociedad five points clear of both Valencia and Malaga in fourth place with just five games remaining.

Elsewhere, Malaga moved level with Valencia in fifth with a routine 2-1 win over Getafe. Roque Santa Cruz and Weligton got the goals for the hosts just before and after half-time and despite Juan Valera’s reply 20 minutes from time, Getafe’s own European hopes are dwindling after a third consecutive defeat. At the bottom, Granada gave their hopes of survival a big boost with their first win in 10 games at Espanyol.


Juve surge ahead

Juventus won a rain-soaked derby 2-0 at Torino on Sunday to put themselves on the verge of retaining the Serie A title, while AC Milan clung on to the Champions League playoff spot with a dramatic 4-2 win over Catania.

Milan scored three in the last 20 minutes to stay one point clear of Fiorentina, 3-0 winners at Sampdoria, while the day's action was marred by an injury to Inter Milan captain Javier Zanetti and allegations Juve’s Paul Pogba was racially insulted.

Arturo Vidal hooked in from 25 metres and Claudio Marchisio added another in stoppage time for leaders Juventus, who stayed 11 points clear of Napoli with four matches to play and can wrap up the title at home to Palermo next week.

After the game, Torino's Riccardo Meggiorini denied suggestions of racism against French midfielder Pogba. "There was an insult but it wasn't racist," he said, according to Gazzetta dello Sport.

Inter Milan's injury misery continued as Zanetti, 39, was carried off on a stretcher in the 17th minute of the 1-0 defeat at Palermo.