'Van Gol' Strikes Twice To Crush Heartbroken Levante Levante 0 - 2 Real Madrid After bravely battling for three quarters of the match, Levante suc

With basement boys Levante in disarray off the pitch and having lost 3-0 midweek, a match against the league leaders seemed to be a foregone conclusion.

Watching the first half, it was: one team was superior, largely outfighting their opponents, who looked devoid of ideas for much of the encounter. The only strange thing was that Levante were the ones doing the dominating in that first period.

But Madrid did come back into the game towards the end and, just as when they faced Zaragoza in the Liga last week, there was a fairytale ending from 'Van Gol'. Levante had simply run out of puff, and Madrid were waiting to strike via the penalty spot and then a moment of attacking class.

In a sense, it was just. Their second half performance perhaps merited a goal, but the hosts will still feel hard done by after their earlier action.

The Valencians' hierarchy would have watched the considerable crowd assemble through gritted teeth - the courts have seized the gate receipts in order to settle the issue of unpaid creditors and players. But on the pitch, they were the better side early on, and although they almost conceded during the first period, coach De Biasi would have been proud with how they played.

Levante's side, weakened by free transfers and squad disputes, lined up in a sort of 4-5-1, with Tomassi and Berson playing just behind Pedro Leon in a central trio, he in turn supporting lone striker Riga. Juanma and Courtois were kept busy throughout on the flanks, while

Madrid were without Sergio Ramos and Mamadou Diarra, but elsewhere, they had their usual wealth of talent. Baptista joined stand-in Gago in midfield while Sneijder had a tough game out on the right: up front, Van Nistelrooy and Raul watched and waited.

But they were left cooling their heels for some time as the game's early moments focused on the other end of the pitch. Within three minutes, Alvaro had brought out the best in Casillas with a powerful header, and although any "goal" would have been ruled out for a foul on Cannavaro, it was a worrying moment for the visitors.

Emboldened by that early chance, Levante settled into a bustling, defensive game, closing down Madrid before any moves could take place in midfield while maintaining a strong back line behind.

It took fifteen minutes for Madrid to even have a sniff of goal, and that was when the unimpressive Wesley Sneijder fired straight at Kujovic. Levante immediately hit on the break and won a corner, as seemed to be their gameplan. Soon afterwards, Pedro Leon had a great effort cleared by Cannavaro, and it was game on.

In pressing forward, Levante sought to use the flanks. Courtois and Juanma were kept busy throughout going forward, but the former's best contribution came at the back.

For all Levante's pressure, Madrid had the best chance of the first period, Baptista and Raul both seeing chances cleared off the line by Courtois during a goalmouth scramble.

Juanma came down the right a few more times in that first period, but with Riga increasingly isolated in the centre-forward position, there were relatively few clear-cut chances. Madrid had run out of ideas themselves, and coach Schuster would have been pleased to hear the half-time whistle go.

Soon after the restart, Pedro Leon was given time and space to drive a shot goalwards, but his twenty-yarder flew just wide. Baptista then hit the post during yet another goalmouth scramble - his last action before being taken off for Guti.

While Levante's bench mostly comprised fresh-faced youngsters, Schuster had the likes of Guti and Saviola in reserve. By bringing on the playmaker, he clearly showed that this was a game he intended to win.

However, while the pace of the game did not drop, Madrid's newfound impetus to press forward once again resulted in relatively few chances.

Raul's long-range effort was about the best of the bunch, but frustration grew as chances were found to be hard to come by.

With twenty minutes to go, though, the mood of the game changes considerably. Higuain came on for the hapless Sneijder, with the young Argentine keen to impress after his midweek exploits. Then, Robinho smashed a one-on-one effort off the post.

Levante were clearly spooked, with the midfield beginning to panic rather than controlling play, and eventually their fears came to fruition.

For Gonzalo Higuain, who had just come on, played the ball off Jose Serrano's arm to win a penalty seventy-five minutes in. Up stepped Ruud Van Nistelrooy to strike home his tenth Liga goal of the season.

What a blow for Levante. But, to their credit, forward they came, with Pepe needing to recover well to prevent Riga from going one-on-one.

Iker Casillas, who recovered from illness in time to play, then threw the ball out of play due to an apaprent injury, and Robinho went off for Drenthe in order to run down the clock further.

Levante had already brought on newbies Iborra and Saul by this time in order to look for a midfield miracle, but none was forthcoming. Instead, Van Nistelrooy was on hand again to make it 2-0, this time via a trundler from just outside the area.

Once again, it was a bitter moment for Levante, who moments before had another chance of their own through Riga. But Madrid showed the Granota side just how counterattacking was done: truly, it was Zaragoza all over again.

And that's another three points for Madrid on what is increasingly looking like a rocky, yet straightroad towards the title.

For Levante, a single-digit points tally is still all they have to show for their travails. They did well here in midfield, and held their own for much of the game, but had little attacking class, and are almost certainly going down.