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Match round-up - First Division, Day 17

Barcelona stay at the top of the table going in to the two-week lay-off after beating Getafe 2-5 on Sunday afternoon. Atlético’s victory the day before meant that they needed a good win, but things looked grim for Tata Martino’s side when they went two down with only a quarter of an hour gone, Escudero running on to Lafita’s back-heel pass to fire a shot past Pinto, and Lisandro López heading a second from a Pedro León corner. However by half time the visitors were in front, Pedro helping himself to a quick fire hat-trick in the ten minutes leading up to the break, the first with a shot which Moyà got to but couldn’t stop from running on in to the net, and the next two following assists by Iniesta and Jordi Alba. Diego Castro came close to levelling it again when he shot just wide with an hour on the clock, but soon afterwards Fàbregas connected with Pedro’s lofted pass to volley in the fourth, and the ex Arsenal midfielder completed the scoring from the penalty spot after Borja barged over Pedro inside the area.

Real Madrid remain five points behind the two leaders after they clocked up a late 2-3 win at Valencia in the last game of the weekend. Ronaldo fired a shot just wide before Di María put the visitors ahead, cutting in from the right wing to fire an angled shot across Guaita. A few minutes later Piatti headed the equalizer from Bernat’s cross, but shortly before half time Ronaldo restored the lead with a header down past the keeper from a wide Di María free kick. Jonas and Benzema both went close either side of half time, and a quarter of an hour or so in to the second half Mathieu made it all square again with a header from a Dani Parejo corner. Diego López had to save a long shot from Canales after that, and Jonas turned another effort wide of the post, but with eight minutes to go Jesé picked up Modric’s pass and squeezed a shot between Guaita and the near post to give his team the three points.

Athletic Bilbao consolidated fourth spot after a 2-1 victory against Rayo Vallecano, the win keeping them four points above neighbours Real Sociedad, who they visit in the opening game of the new year. San José looped a header against the bar before the defender opened the scoring on the half hour mark, beating Rubén at the third attempt after he and Toquero had had shots blocked. Toquero missed a good chance to make it two after the restart, but Iraizoz had to be at his best to keep out a couple of long shots from Adrián González, and with an hour gone Alberto Bueno levelled the scores with an acrobatic overhead kick after Adrián and Viera had headed on a centre from Lass. Just five minutes later though Mikel Rico put the locals back in front after Aduríz laid the ball back, and Aduríz himself could have added to the lead had Gálvez not cleared his shot off the line with the keeper beaten.

Rayo stay in next to bottom spot, now two points behind Osasuna, who picked up a valuable point in a 1-1 at Celta. It could have been more though, the Pamplona based side totally dominating the early minutes, Fontàs having to clear in front of goal from Oriol Riera and Roberto Torres shooting just wide before Armenteros ran through to open the scoring. Torres fired another shot against the upright and Yoel did well to keep out Riera, but Krohn-Dehli finally tested Andrés at the other end, and shortly before half time the Galicians equalized, Lolo heading Rafinha’s cross past his own keeper under pressure from Augusto Fernández. Both keepers had work to do after the break, Yoel saving a shot from Armenteros and a free kick from Puñal, and Andrés turning efforts from Nolito and Santi Mina for corners, but in the end the two teams settled for a draw.

Osasuna remain in the relegation zone, although they are level on points with Valladolid, who were beaten 4-2 by Espanyol in the Sunday mid-day game. The Catalans raced in to a four goal lead, Sergio García getting the first early on from the penalty spot after Jesús Rueda brought down Stuani. A few minutes later Diego Mariño prevented Víctor Sánchez from scoring again, but with eight minutes to go to the interval Stuani made it two after picking up a pass from Sergio García. Casilla had to save from Oscar on the stroke of half time, but midway through the second half Alex Fernández set up Víctor Sánchez for a third, and soon afterwards Sánchez laid the ball across for Stuani to slide in the fourth. After that though the Catalans relaxed and the visitors restored a little bit of pride with two late goals, Javi Guerra heading Oscar’s cross over Casilla, and Víctor Pérez scoring with a low free kick which took a deflection off a defender to send the keeper the wrong way. (22.12.13)

Barcelona's record run of 54 weeks in a row as leaders of the first division is under threat after Atlético Madrid beat Levante 3-2 on Saturday evening. Simeone's side went behind in the first minute when Ivanschitz connected with a Nikos pass to turn a shot past Courtois, but with half an hour on the clock Godín headed the equalizer from Juanfran's cross, and soon after the restart Diego Costa got on the end of Gabi's free kick to beat Keylor Navas for a second time. However a few minutes later Pedro Ríos won the ball in his own half and ran through to make it all square again, and it was not until twelve minutes from the end that Costa got the winner with a controversial penalty after Juanfran fell in the area, the Hispano-Brazilian striker's nineteenth goal in the league this season. Any hope that the visitors had of saving a point ended when their own Juanfran was shown a red card following an off-the-ball incident with Filipe Luis, and Costa could have had a hat-trick had he not fired a shot wide when free on goal in injury time. Atlético move three points clear of Barcelona overnight, and Tata Martino's team need to equal or better their score tomorrow against Getafe to finish the year in first place.

The top three teams are already well out of the reach of the rest, but the fourth Champions League spot is still up for grabs, with several clubs vying for position. Current incumbents Athletic Bilbao host Rayo tomorrow, but Real Sociedad moved to within a point of them after a 1-3 win at Granada in the last game of the day. The two teams traded shots early on, Bravo saving from Brahimi and El-Arabi and Roberto keeping out Griezmann and Bergara at the other end. With half an hour gone Carlos Vela just got ahead of the local keeper to a Griezmann through ball to poke a shot in to the net off the post, and although Piti levelled the scores with an impressive shot from outside of the area, Griezmann latched on to a half-clearance from Foulquier to restore the lead shortly before half time. Roberto and Bravo had to be at their best to stop Agirretxe and Brahimi after the interval, but a few minutes later Vela picked up Bergara's pass to fire home his team's third.

The win takes the Basque side above Villarreal, who were beaten 1-2 by seventh placed Sevilla in the first match on Saturday. The Andalusians needed a good result to help them forget their embarrassing midweek cup defeat against second division B club Racing Santander, and Carriço headed a corner wide before Cala steered another header over Sergio Asenjo from Rakitic's long free kick. Either side of half time Beto did well to turn a shot by Trigueros round the post and Giovani fired a free kick just wide of the mark, but Bacca responded with a header against the bar, and Asenjo had to be at his best to keep out another Rakitic free kick. With twenty minutes to go however Bacca forced home a second for the visitors after Musacchio failed to clear Rakitic's cross, and although Perbet got one back from the penalty spot after Cala was sent off for hacking down Jaume Costa, the goal came too late to change the result.

Earlier in the afternoon Sevilla's city neighbours Betis lost 0-1 to Almería, and they go in to the short festive break at the bottom of the table. Azeez got what was to prove the only goal of the game in the fifth minute, his long shot taking a deflection off Paulao to wrong-foot Guillermo Sara, and the Nigerian midfielder would have repeated the act later in the first half had the local keeper not reacted quicker this time around. For the rest of the first half though the locals were in command, Rubén Castro heading wide, Esteban tipping a long shot from Vadillo over the bar, and Juan Carlos firing another shot against the crossbar. After the break it was more of the same, Esteban making first class saves from Castro, Molina and in particular from a long Matilla free kick. However with the crowd increasingly on their backs, the players gradually ran out of steam, and Oscar Díaz should have wrapped things up when he shot wide with the goal at his mercy after Aleix Vidal set him up on a quick breakaway. A vital win for Almería, and they climb out of the relegation spots pending Sunday's games, now six points above Juan Carlos Garrido's side in the table. (21.12.13)

The last round of matches before the winter break take place this weekend, Málaga kicking things off with a 0-1 victory at Elche on Friday night. Schuster's side had not won away all season, but they took the lead in the sixth minute when Camacho got on the end of Duda's wide free kick to head the ball past Toño. For the rest of the first half the better chances fell to the locals, Carles Gil firing a shot wide and ex Elche keeper Willy Caballero having to save from Coro and Carlos Sánchez. However with an hour on the clock they were left with ten men when Damián Suárez picked up a second booking for a two-footed tackle on Camacho, and the visitors could have extended their lead had Samuel, Weligton, Portillo and Duda taken their chances later on. (20.12.13)