MADRID — Vedat Muriqi moved closer to Kylian Mbappe at the top of La Liga’s scoring charts this season with a brace as relegation-threatened Mallorca beat Rayo Vallecano 3-0.
The Kosovo striker scored four minutes apart near the end of the first half for his 20th and 21st goals of the season in the league, and within two of Mbappé’s 23 goals, AP reported.
The Real Madrid forward was held scoreless in the team’s 1-1 draw against Girona on Friday and hasn’t scored in the competition since February.
Muriqi has scored three goals in his last two matches with Mallorca. He also scored in the team’s 2-1 win over Madrid last weekend.
Jan Virgili was the other scorer Sunday for Mallorca, which has won three of its last four matches to move to 15th place, two points from the drop zone.
Rayo, which has one win in five matches, stayed a point ahead in 13th place.
Fifth-placed Real Betis missed a chance to close the gap to the top four after a 1-1 draw at midtable Osasuna.
Abde Ezzalzouli put Betis ahead in the seventh minute and Ante Budimir equalized for the hosts by converting a 40th-minute penalty. Betis hasn’t won in seven league matches, while Osasuna has one victory in six games.
Later Sunday, sixth-placed Celta Vigo hosted relegation-threatened Oviedo and third-placed Villarreal is at midtable Athletic Bilbao.
On Saturday, Barcelona beat Espanyol 4-1 at home to increase its lead over second-place Real Madrid to nine points after 31 rounds.
