Skip to main content

Mikautadze helps Villarreal tighten grip on third place with 1-0 win at Levante in Spanish league

MADRID (AP) — Villarreal strengthened its hold on third place in the Spanish league with a 1-0 win at Levante on Wednesday in a match that was initially postponed last year.

Georges Mikautadze scored the 57th-minute winner as Villarreal moved three points ahead of fourth-place Atletico Madrid.

Villarreal is 10 points behind second-place Barcelona and 12 behind leader Real Madrid after 24 rounds.

It was Villarreal’s second victory in three matches following a sequence of five straight winless games across all competitions.

Levante, which remained in second-to-last place, has lost three in a row and hasn’t won in four matches.

The game had been scheduled for Dec. 14 but was called off because of heavy rain in the Valencia region. A weather alert was issued in the region.

___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

The arrival of AJ Dybantsa gives Wizards hope

For the first time in almost a half-century, the Washington Wizards could be closer to contending for an NBA title with the arrival of AJ Dybantsa. The team drafted the 6-foot-9 forward with the first pick of the 2026 NBA draft after finishing as one of the worst teams in the league in the past three years. They got the No. 1 overall pick after winning the draft lottery in May for the first time since 2010 -- when they drafted John Wall. The Wizards hope, with the arrival of Dybantsa, that they can start winning games and competing for the playoffs with a chance to win their first championship since 1978. In the past three seasons, they finished with a combined record of 50-196. “We’re definitely getting a difference maker on the basketball court. There’s no doubt about that,” Wizards general manager Will Dawkins said. “What I would want our fans to know night one is that he is a worker. He is a passionate person who loves basketball and will continue to work and get better.”
Read Next Story