Madrid win again as Mourinho brings up century

José Mourinho's 100th match in charge of Real Madrid CF ended in a 3-2 victory as the Merengues came from a goal down at Real Betis Balompié to record their 11th successive Liga win.

Having fallen behind to Jorge Molina's thumping finish in Seville, the league leaders equalised when Gonzalo Higuaín ran on to Mesut Özil's ball over the top and rifled beyond Fabri.

Cristiano Ronaldo's customary goal, his 31st in the Spanish top flight this season, put the visitors ahead after the break and, although Jefferson Montero equalised, the Portugal striker (73) struck again after Fabri had parried a Sergio Ramos header.

Madrid last failed to win a league game on 10 December when they lost 3-1 to FC Barcelona, who will trim the capital club's lead back to ten points if they beat Real Racing Club on Sunday.

Earlier, Málaga CF replaced Levante UD in fourth thanks to a 1-0 home victory against one of their rivals for Spain's final UEFA Champions League berth. José Rondón glanced in the winner after 51 minutes from Joaquín's free-kick.

Elsewhere, Imanol Agirretxe scored twice as Real Sociedad de Fútbol defeated struggling Real Zaragoza 3-0 and lowly Real Sporting de Gijón registered their first success in eight league outings, 1-0 against Sevilla FC.