News Archive

Match round-up - First Division, Day 13

Real Madrid stay in third place after a 0-2 victory at Eibar on Sunday afternoon. Rafa Benítez’s side were obliged to win to stay in touch with the top two, and Cristiano Ronaldo brought two or three good saves out of Riesgo before Bale got on the end of a Modric cross to head the opener just before the break. Inui tested Keylor Navas a couple of times though and Pantic steered a header just wide following a corner, and with Madrid not making much headway against a well ordered defence, the result was in doubt until the last few minutes. However with eight minutes to go Ronaldo (who had had two previous penalty claims turned down) fired home a spot kick after Dani García tripped Lucas Vázquez in the area to put the game beyond the reach of the Basque side. Not the most convincing of performances, but the win keeps them six points behind Barcelona, and two below Atlético.

Villarreal drop two places to sixth though after they were beaten 2-0 at Getafe in the mid-day game. The locals needed points themselves to climb away from the danger zone, and Areola had to be at his best to keep out an early Scepovic header. Manu Trigueros bounced a shot against the crossbar and Samuel volleyed wide at the other end, but with just over twenty minutes gone Lafita picked up the ball on the left of the area and cut in past his marker to fire a low shot inside Areola’s near post. The visitnig keeper had to make further saves from Sarabia and Scepovic before the interval, and soon after the restart Alvaro Vázquez made it two after a long cross from Lafita came across to him near to goal. There was little reaction from Marcelino’s side though, clearly tired after their midweek European game, and Getafe closed ranks for a win which takes them four points clear of the relegation spots.

Athletic Bilbao are now just a point below Villarreal after they won 0-3 at Rayo Vallecano, later in the evening. With less than a minute on the clock top scorer Aduríz ran on to a long clearance from Raúl García, and with a kamikaze Juan Carlos charging out of his area, the striker took the ball past him and ran it into the net. Midway through the first half Aduríz made it two from the penalty spot after Raúl García was pulled down in the area by Raúl Baena, and Raúl García himself brought a couple of saves out of the local keeper before the break, and then hit the post soon after. Trashorras went close with a couple of long range efforts in reply, but with an hour gone Aduríz completed his hat-trick with a header from close up after Laporte headed across a Beñat free kick. Laporte got himself sent off for bringing down Manucho as he advanced on goal a few minutes later, but although Rayo threw everything forward after that, the game was already lost

Elsewhere Sevilla beat Valencia 1-0 in the last match of the weekend to move up to tenth spot, just a point behind their opponents in the table. Both teams had had disappointing results in the Champions League midweek, but the locals were the better side early on, Llorente bringing a couple of early saves out of Mat Ryan, who was returning after a long injury lay off. With ten minutes to go to half time the Ches were left with ten men when Cancelo picked up a second booking, and Konoplyanka went close with efforts either side of the break before Escudero got on the end of a Banega free kick to volley in what was to prove the only goal. Any hope that the Ches had of salvaging something ended when Javi Fuego was also dismissed for a second bookable offence, and after the game ended coach Nuno announced that he had agreed with the club’s owners to step down. (29.11.15)

Leaders Barcelona kept up their recent great form with a comfortable 4-0 victory over Real Sociedad on Saturday afternoon. Luis Enrique’s side came into the game having scored ten goals in their last two matches against Real Madrid and Roma, and with Messi back in the starting lineup they dominated the early minutes, Rulli saving from Messi and Iniesta heading against the post before Neymar connected with a Dani Alves cross to open the scoring. Either side of half time Luis Suárez and Neymar added two more, the first an acrobatic volley from another Alves centre, and the second after Iniesta and Mathieu combined to set him up. Bravo still had to make a save from Bruma in a rare attack by Eusebio’s side, but for the rest of the match the Barça players tried their best to gift Messi a goal, the Argentinian superstar hitting the bar and having a couple of shots blocked before he finally got his name on the scoresheet with an easy tap-in from Neymar’s cross in injury time.

Luis Enrique’s side remain four points clear of Atlético Madrid, who consolidated second spot with a 1-0 win over Espanyol later in the evening, their third single-goal victory in a row. Griezmann followed up his midweek brace with the only goal in the third minute, the French striker turning a shot under the legs of his marker and inside the far post following good work by Oliver Torres, one of several changes to the line-up. There was bad news for Simeone when Tiago was carried off with a broken leg after clattering in to Marco Asensio, but Atleti kept up the pressure, Juanfran and Filipe Luis going close either side of half time. The Catalans hardly had a shot at goal all night, and the scoreline could have been bigger in the end, Godín and Fernando Torres hitting the woodwork and Pau López making first class saves from Oliver and Thomas near the end.

Celta are back up to fourth after beating Sporting Gijón 2-1 in the last match of the evening, their first home win in two months. Orellana opened the scoring on the quarter hour mark, turning the ball into an empty net after Bongonda played across a long pass from Nolito, and before half time Bongonda and Guidetti both brought good saves out of Cuéllar. Isma López had a strike ruled out for offside though, and after the restart Halilovic fired a shot just wide before Carlos Castro levelled the scores just seconds after coming on, the young striker taking advantage of a poor clearance to steer a shot past Sergio Alvarez. However with the game seemingly heading for a draw Nolito charged down a Cuéllar clearance, the ball rebounding back into the net, and the Spanish international forward almost added a third with an impressive lob onto the crossbar shortly before the final whistle.

Celta’s neighbours Deportivo are now fifth though after they won 0-2 at Las Palmas earlier in the evening. The Galicians took the lead in the twentieth minute when David Simón turned a Lucas Pérez cross into his own net under pressure from Cani, and with the first half coming to a close Alex Bergantiños hit the upright, and then saw Javi Varas produce the save of the night from his follow up shot. Tana and Araujo tested Lux either side of half time, and Jonathan Viera had a strike ruled out for offside, but Varas had to save from Pucas Pérez and Luisinho, and with the game injury time Pérez wrapped things up after Fayçal Fajr passed across to him following a rapid counter-attack.

Las Palmas stay in the bottom three, together with Levante and Málaga, who were held to a 2-2 draw by fellow strugglers Granada. The locals had only scored in two games all season, but they went two up with strikes by Charles and Pablo Fornals either side of half time, the first a well placed header from a Miguel Torres centre, and the second an acrobatic volley after Andrés could only push out a shot by Amrabat. Before the second goal though Tissone got himself sent off for a second bookable offence, and although Juan Carlos and Charles came close to increasing the lead, the visitors came back to save the draw with headed goals in the last ten minutes by El-Arabi and Rochina from Foulquier and Biraghi crosses. The result keeps Granada a point ahead of their regional neighbours in the table. (28.11.15)

Betis moved up to the top half of the table pending the rest of the weekend games after a 0-1 victory at Levante on Friday evening. Rubén Castro combined with Joaquín to score the only goal following a short corner early on, the striker curling a shot wide of Rubén from left of the area. However the locals wasted the chance of the game to equalize some five minutes later, Verza winning the ball of Bruno and lobbing a shot against the upright, and Deyverson firing the rebound against the crossbar with the goal gaping in front of him. Rubén was in action later in the first half to tip an effort from Joaquín over the bar, but soon after the restart Deyverson hit the bar again when presented with another opportunity. Roger broke through a few minutes later only to see Adán save his shot (although he was then pulled up for handball by the referee), and the Andalusians were left with ten men after Westermann picked up a second booking with ten minutes to go. They held on though for a win which takes their points tally away from home to 14 from seven games, and the defeat leaves their hosts in next to bottom spot. (27.11.15)