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Match round-up - First Division, Day 6

Getafe beat Mallorca 1-0 in the Monday night game to move out of the relegation spots. Luis García's side had only won once all season, and after the rest of the weekend's results they found themselves down in the bottom three. Mallorca though came in to the match unbeaten and full of confidence, and in the first five minutes Nsue and Hemed brought good saves out of Moyà, and Pereira hit the post. The islanders were left with ten men however when Ximo Navarro was given a straight red card for a hard tackle on Diego Castro in only the tenth minute, and only a full stretch dive by Dudu Aouate prevented Barrada from opening the scoring soon afterwards. Four minutes after the restart Getafe got the goal they were looking for when Barrada laid the ball back for Castro to fire a shot inside the near post, and although both teams had chances after that, the locals held on for a win which takes them back up to mid-table. (01.10.12)

Just one week to go to the next "Clásico" in the Nou Camp, and Real Madrid threw down the gauntlet to arch-rivals Barcelona with a convincing 5-1 win over Deportivo on Sunday. The Galicians actually went ahead when Madrid old-boy Riki beat Casillas, but Ronaldo equalised from the penalty spot after Manuel Pablo tripped Di María midway through the first half. A few minutes later Modric put Di María away, and although Aranzubia managed to deflect his shot on to the post, the Argentinian midfielder ran on to head the rebound in to the net. And with the first half coming to a close Ronaldo made it three, running in to head the ball down in to the net after the visiting keeper could only parry an angled shot from Sergio Ramos. Mourinho brought on Kaká and Xabi Alonso in the second half, and twenty minutes after the restart Pepe got on the end of a long Alonso free kick to head the fourth. Soon afterwards Aranzubia had to save from Ronaldo and Kaká, and Camuñas was pulled up for a borderline offside in a rare Deportivo attack. With eight minutes to go though Ronaldo completed his hat-trick with a second penalty after Kaká's cross hit Evaldo on the hand, keeping Madrid eight points behind the leaders going in to next Sunday's big game.

Madrid are still only sixth though, and their city neighbours Atlético Madrid stay in second spot after beating Espanyol 0-1 later in the evening. Simeone was forced to rest the injured Falcao after his efforts midweek, but Raúl García stepped in to his shoes to head what was to prove the only goal from Juanfran's cross on the half hour mark. The locals had only picked up one point all season, and their only effort at goal in the first half was a volley over the top by Cristian Gómez. Longo and Víctor Sánchez brought good saves out of Courtois early in the second half, and half time substitute Stuani and Longo both headed just wide later on. Cebolla Rodríguez tested Cristian Alvarez a couple of times at the other end though, and Adrián came close to a second in the dying minutes when his shot went under the legs of the keeper only to hit a defender as it was going in. Another defeat for Espanyol however, heralding their worst ever start to the season, and fans chanted for the resignation of the board after the match ended.

Other than that though it was a high scoring weekend, with Valladolid back up to seventh after thrashing Rayo Vallecano 6-1. Curiously the visitors scored first, Chori Domínguez picking up a pass from Adrián González before running on to beat Jaime with an angled shot. That was all they could muster though, and in the next quarter of an hour the locals scored three times, with Bueno levelling the scores after Oscar González headed the ball on, and Manucho and Oscar assisting each other to score two more. Rubén kept out Oscar a few minutes later, but with eight minutes to go to the break Rukavina picked up an Omar Ramos assist to make it four, and soon after the restart Oscar got the fifth after Manucho put him through again. Ebert and Bueno could have added to the lead after that, and with five minutes to go Manucho completed the rout with an angled shot from Ebert's low cross.

Osasuna clocked up their first win of the season, beating Levante 4-0 to move off the bottom of the table. Only a block by Diop prevented Nino scoring early on, and Munúa had to be at his best to push a long shot by Timor around the post. Juanfran almost caught Andrés off his line with a shot from the halfway line in reply, but early in the second half the locals took the lead, Cejudo's shot hitting the post and a defender blocking Armenteros's follow up, but Iborra only clearing to the feet of the ex Sevilla winger for him to score from close range. The visitors came to close to an equaliser when Navarro fired a shot over the top following a corner, and Andrés did well to keep out a Martins header soon afterwards. But in the last ten minutes Osasuna scored three more for what was in the end a flattering result, Lamah following up after Munúa saved from Llorente, Timor converting a penalty after Juanfran brought down Kike Sola, and Nino finishing things off with an angled shot.

Osasuna's win was not enough to take them out of the bottom three though as Granada won 2-1 against Celta in today's mid-day game. All the goals came in the first twenty minutes, with Siqueira opening the scoring from the penalty spot in the twelfth minute after Bellvis brought down Torje. Six minutes later Torje got on the end of Siqueira's cross to make it two, but two minutes later Iago Aspas picked up a long clearance down the right wing, and cut in past his marker to fire a shot under Toño. Augusto Fernández went close a couple of times after that, and Toño pulled off two great saves from Aspas and Oubiña before the break. Javi Varas did well to keep out Borja and El-Arabi either side of half time, but only some first class keeping by Toño in the second half prevented Aspas and Park from saving a point for the Galicians in the end. (30.09.12)

A sensational end to the game in the Sánchez Pizjuán stadium on Saturday evening, with Barcelona scoring twice in the last four minutes to beat Sevilla 2-3. Although Pedro brought a couple of early saves out of Palop, Trochowski put the Andalusians ahead midway through the first half after Mascherano blocked a shot from Medel. And just three minutes after the restart Negredo made it two after Medel won the ball in midfield to put him through. Fàbregas got one back though soon afterwards, and after Messi tested Palop with a long free kick, a clash between Medel and Fàbregas ended with the Chilean midfielder getting his marching orders for retaliation. Sevilla held on though with ten men until Messi found Fàbregas for him to level the scores, and with the match in the third minute of injury time substitute David Villa combined with Messi to give his side a sixth win in a row, equalling their best ever start to a season.

Málaga are up to second after they won 4-0 against neighbours Betis, extending their unbeaten record this season to eight games. The match swung in their favour on the quarter hour mark when visiting keeper Casto was sent off for giving away a penalty which Joaquín converted, and a few minutes later Saviola combined with Portillo (who appeared to be in an offside position) to add the second. Jorge Molina headed against the bar before the break, and Rubén Castro came on to cause a few problems for the local defence, but Demichelis missed a sitter when he shot straight at Nacho with the goal at his mercy. With twenty minutes to go however Amaya could only turn Monreal's cross in to his own net, and two minutes later the on-form Isco scored his third goal in twelve days to wrap things up.

Real Sociedad won the first of this season's Basque derbies, the San Sebastian based side beating Athletic Bilbao 2-0 in the Anoeta stadium. Both teams had chances in the first half, with De Marcos and Aduríz going close, and Griezmann and Illarramendi bringing good saves out of Iraizoz. After the interval though Agirretxe and Illarramendi both fired shots just wide, and with just over an hour gone Griezmann picked up a cross from Agirretxe and turned in an angled shot which went past everyone in to the far corner of the net. Ten minutes later Iraizoz pushed out an effort from Griezmann, and Xabi Prieto's follow up shot hit Amorebieta on the arm, Carlos Vela firing in the resulting penalty after the Athletic defender was sent off for a second bookable offence. The victory takes Real up to the Europa League spots pending Sunday's games, but Bielsa's side could find themselves in the bottom three if other results go against them over the next two days.

Valencia won 2-0 against Zaragoza in the opening match of the weekend to clock up only their second win of the season. With only twelve minutes gone Feghouli opened the scoring after Jonas had played on Cissokho's cross, beating Roberto at the second attempt after Alvaro blocked his first shot. And later in the first half Tino Costa fired a shot just wide of the post, and Jonathan Viera and Joao Pereira both had penalty appeals turned down. Montañés and José Marí had efforts saved by Guaita before the break however, and Víctor Rodríguez fired a shot against the crossbar soon after the restart. But Jonas hit the post following a rapid breakaway, and on the hour mark Jonathan Viera made it two after a shot from Jonas deflected in to his path. The Ches were left with ten when Feghouli picked up a second booking, although they could have won by an even bigger margin in the end. (29.09.12)