News Archive

Match round-up - First Division, Day 4

Barcelona made it four wins out of four after beating Levante 4-1 in the last match of Sunday evening. With an intense programme of games coming up, Luis Enrique rested the likes of Iniesta and Luis Suárez, giving a run out to Sandro and Munir up front. Even so they dominated for most of the game, the two youngsters and Messi all bringing good saves out of Rubén before Marc Bartra finally opened the scoring from Messi’s assist some five minutes in to the second half. Neymar got a second a few minutes later after the visiting keeper could only push a Dani Alves cross over to him, the Brazilian forward threading a shot through a sea of legs at the second attempt. And four minutes after that Messi made it three from the penalty spot after Trujillo bundled over Neymar inside the area. Víctor Casadesús got one back though after Ter Stegen failed to clear Toño’s cross, and Messi fired a second penalty over the bar after Feddal brought him down. However he made up for it with a “house special” in the last minute, running on from midfield past several defenders before steering a low shot wide of Rubén from the edge of the area. Barça stay two points clear of three teams, Real Madrid, Villarreal and Celta, who they visit in the midweek round of games on Wednesday.

Villarreal themselves won 3-1 against fellow Europa League contenders Athletic Bilbao to keep up their unbeaten record in La Liga this season. Both teams made several changes having played their European ties last Thursday, and there were few chances before Bruno opened the scoring from the penalty spot after Gurpegi fouled Leo Baptistao shortly before the break. Eraso, Laporte and San José all went close for the visitors either side of half time, but midway through the second half Mario picked up a short pass from Tomás Pina and curled a fierce shot past Iraizoz. Baptistao headed against the bar before picking up an Adrián assist to score a third with ten minutes to go, and Aduríz headed a last minute consolation after San José turned the ball back across goal following a corner.

Earlier in the day Celta beat Sevilla 1-2 in the mid-day kick-off to move up to fourth in the table. The Galicians have been in good form recently, and Nolito and Wass went close before Nolito cut in from left of the area to start things off with a quarter of an hour gone. Some ten minutes later Wass made it two after Hugo Mallo laid the ball back across the area, and Orellana, Nolito and Cabral all brought good saves out of Sergio Rico before the break. The Andalusians had won their opening game in the Champions League midweek, but they have yet to get going domestically, and their first attempt at goal didn’t come until Banega tested Sergio Alvarez shortly before the break. Half time substitute Llorente did head one back from Mariano’s cross, and Krohn-Dehli hit the bar later on, but Emery’s side couldn’t prevent another defeat which leaves them at the bottom of the table, albeit level with four other teams.

Rayo Vallecano are out of the drop zone completely though after they won 0-1 at Las Palmas. The locals had the better of the first half, Jonathan Viera missing a couple of chances and Roque bringing a good save out of Toño, as well as having a penalty claim turned down. However with three minutes to go to the break Javi Guerra picked up a Trashorras headed pass to lift a shot past Lizoain, the referee waving away appeals for offside. After the restart David Simón fired a shot just wide of the mark, although Rayo could have added to the lead after that, Bebé going close a couple of times and Lizoain saving from Manucho with three minutes to go.

Sporting Gijón move away from the danger area as well after they clocked up a 2-3 victory at Deportivo. The Asturians raced into a two goal lead, Tonny Sanabria beating Lux twice in the first eight minutes with headers from Lora crosses. However Juanfran got one back soon afterwards with a looping near post header from a corner, and Lucas Pérez had a strike ruled out for a previous foul before Luis Alberto levelled it with a shot from outside of the area. Luis Hernández almost put through his own net and Sidnei had another goal disallowed for a borderline offside, but with ten minutes to go the break Alex Menéndez picked up a pass from Halilovic to restore the lead for the visitors. After the restart Alberto pushed a Lucas Pérez shot onto the upright, and Luis Alberto curled another effort just wide of the post, but the visitors held on for their first win of the season. (20.09.15)

Real Madrid move to the top of the table pending Barcelona’s game on Sunday after beating Granada 1-0 on Saturday afternoon. It was a close call though, Benzema heading the winner from Isco’s cross early on in the second half, but the Andalusians failing to convert several chances to save a point. With twenty minutes gone El-Arabi got the ball in the net only to be pulled up for a non-existent offside, and Keylor Navas had to save from Isaac Success a few minutes later. Lucas Vázquez and Isco went close for the locals, Andrés did well to save from Modric and Ronaldo either side of half time, and Isco and Ronaldo had penalty appeals turned down after the restart. But Success chipped a shot wide when free on goal early on in the second half, and Navas had to keep out El-Arabi and others to ensure a record fifth clean sheet in a row. Three points for Madrid though, and Syrian refugee Zaid, who was one of the young mascots for today’s game, will be delighted with the result.

Atlético Madrid are up to second after they won 0-2 at Eibar later in the evening. The Basque side held their own throughout the first half, Riesgo having few problems keeping out Vietto, Jackson Martínez and Griezmann, and Oblak having to save in particular from Saúl Berjón either side of half time. Simeone though changed his plans at the break, bringing on Oliver and Fernando Torres, and with an hour on the clock he replaced Koke with Angel Correa. That did the trick, and a minute later Oliver sent his namesake Fernando through for him to set up Correa for the opener. Oliver fired a shot just wide soon afterwards, and with a quarter of an hour to go Oliver and Correa combined to set up Fernando Torres to score a goal which was reminiscent of the one he netted for Spain against Germany to win the 2008 European championships. El Niño is back!

Valencia continue to struggle this season, and although they are still unbeaten in the league, a 0-0 draw at home against ten man Betis left their demanding supporters calling for the head of team manager Nuño at the end. The coach made changes after the midweek defeat against Zenit in the Champions League, but even so they were pushed back early on, Westermann heading a free kick over the top, and Joaquín (much appreciated by his old fans) testing Jaume Domenech with another long free kick. Feghouli brought a couple of good saves out of Adán, and Rodrigo, André Gomes and Javi Fuego went close, and things seemed to go Valencia’s way when Dani Ceballos picked up a second booking just three minutes in to the second half. However Adán and his defence kept out Fuego, Santi Mina and Abdennour, and the Andalusians came away from Mestalla with a point which they weren’t expecting.

Meanwhile Espanyol beat Real Sociedad 2-3 in the last match of the evening, a result which gave the Catalans their first points since the opening day of the season, and left their hosts on the brink of the relegation zone. The Basque side started well, Carlos Vela going close before he crossed in for Agirretxe to open the scoring in the twentieth minute. However with the first half coming to a close Rulli brought down Marco Asensio as he entered the area, and after the keeper was shown the red card, Gerardo Moreno stepped up to fire the spot kick past substitute Oier. There were chances at both ends after that, Agirretxe and Hernán Pérez just missing the target and Moreno and Illarramendi bringing saves out of both keepers, and with just under twenty minutes to go Enzo Roco got on the end of Asensio’s cross to head the visitors into the lead. Jonathas levelled it again near the end after picking up a cross from fellow substitute Chory Castro, but Hernán Pérez headed home the winner after Alvaro headed over a last minute Víctor Sánchez corner. (19.09.15)

Getafe are off the bottom of the table after a 1-0 victory over Málaga in the Friday night game. Fran Escribá’s side got off to the best possible start, Scepovic heading in a Víctor Rodríguez cross with less than two minutes on the clock. The Serbian striker was making his home debut for his new club, and he should have had a second a few minutes later when he turned a Roberto Lago cross wide of the post with the goal at his mercy. Ricardo Horta fired a good shot wide before the break in reply, and after the restart Kameni and Guaita were both in action to keep out a shot from Víctor Rodríguez, and a deflected free kick from Duda. A much needed win for the Madrid based side though, and their opponents drop below them into the relegation zone having yet to score a single goal this season. (18.09.15)