Raul and Higuain help Real stretch lead at top of table

(GETTY IMAGES)

Real Madrid took another step towards retaining their La Liga title with a 2-0 win at Racing Santander yesterday. Raul tapped in Robinho's cross early on and Bernd Schuster's men withstood some sustained pressure from Champions League-chasing Racing, before Gonzalo Higuain stroked in a second in injury time. Real's players swamped the Argentine to celebrate as the victory put them 10 points clear at the top of the standings with five matches left to play.

Villarreal are now their closest challengers on 62 points after they leap-frogged Barcelona with a 2-0 win over at Valladolid. The Turkish striker Nihat Kahveci sprinted on to Santi Cazorla's pass to open the scoring in the first half and returned the favour for Cazorla to add the second just after the break. Barça are third with 61 points.

Fourth-placed Atletico Madrid, on 54, slipped to a 3-1 home defeat against Real Betis on Saturday. At the foot of the table, the new Levante coach Jose Angel Moreno got off to a winning start with a 3-1 home win over Copa del Rey finalists Getafe, but his team remain 12 points from safety. A Daniel Guiza hat-trick helped condemn second-bottom Real Murcia to a 4-1 home defeat against Real Mallorca that leaves them eight points adrift.

Recreativo Huelva are 18th, level on 37 points with 17th-placed Real Zaragoza, who have the edge over them in head-to-heads after Saturday's 3-0 home win.

The Italian striker Luca Toni scored twice to give Bayern Munich a 2-1 extra-time win over Borussia Dortmund in the German Cup final in Berlin on Saturday. Toni scored his first goal in the 11th minute after a fine run by Franck Ribéry. Bayern were looking good before Mladen Petric struck in the second minute of added time. Bayern struggled to keep Dortmund at bay in extra time before Toni wrong-footed the Dortmund goalkeeper, Marc Ziegler, in the 103rd minute to seal the victory.

Lyons got their challenge for a seventh successive French title back on track with a 2-1 victory over 10-man Strasbourg who took the lead in the 22nd minute through Wason Renteria. The dismissal of Eric Mouloungui on the stroke of half-time turned the match as Mathieu Bodmer and Fabio Grosso scored in the second half to clinch the win. Lyons are four points above Bordeaux.