News Archive

Match round-up - First Division, Day 15

Atlético Madrid moved level with Barcelona at the top of the table after they came from behind to beat Athletic Bilbao 2-1 on Sunday evening. The two teams traded shots early on, Oblak having to save a couple of times from Aduríz, and Vietto having a headed goal ruled out for a borderline offside, but midway through the first half Laporte put the Basque side in front after Griezmann could only head Beñat’s corner back across goal. Griezmann and Carrasco saw efforts deflected past the post though before the break, and with the one minute of injury time already completed, Saúl Ñíguez got on the end of Koke’s corner to head in the equalizer. After the interval Oblak and Irureta were in action to keep out Aduríz and Saúl, but midway through the second half Griezmann latched on to a loose ball after Correa was tackled to curl a shot wide of the visiting keeper. Atleti are now unbeaten since the end of September, and with Barcelona’s game next weekend postponed, Simeone’s side will be hoping to spend Christmas at the top of the table.

Real Madrid though are now five points behind the joint leaders after they lost 1-0 at Villarreal in the last game of the weekend. The East coast side had not beaten their opponents in over six years, but they got off to an electric start, Jonathan Dos Santos firing a shot against the upright before ex Madrid striker Soldado turned Bakambu’s pass under Keylor Navas with only nine minutes on the clock. Benzema responded with a shot over the top, but Bakambu could have added to the lead with a couple of efforts off target before the break. After the restart there were chances at both ends, Ronaldo having a good penalty appeal turned down, Areloa saving well from Bale and Benzema going close, and Keylor Navas in particular pushing Soldado’s shot against the post. But it was another defeat for Rafa Benítez’s side, and the coach is already under pressure after his side’s worst start to a season in seven years.

Elsewhere Eibar and Valencia played out a 1-1 draw, a result which leaves both teams two points outside of the top six. The Basque side had the better of the first half, Borja Bastón heading wide and Jaume Domenech having to push a shot from Sergi Enrich onto the post, and on the stroke of half time Enrich got on the end of a Capa cross to give them the lead. Saúl Berjón should have added a second soon after the restart when Lucas Orbán was sent off for what the referee considered to be an elbow on Dani García inside the area, but Jaume Domenech guessed correctly and saved the forward’s spot kick. And with five minutes to go the Ches equalized, the ball rebounding into the net after André Gomes and Juncà battled to reach a pass from Negredo. The game ended with a second red card for Iván Ramis after he brought down Alcácer as he advanced on goal, but the final whistle went seconds later.

Earlier in the day Málaga won 1-2 at Rayo Vallecano in this Sunday’s mid-day game, the Andalusians moving above their hosts and out of the bottom three as a result. Javi Guerra gave the home side an early lead after connecting with a pass from Pablo Hernández, and Bebé, Jozabed and Hernández all tried their luck again before the break. Charles made it all square though after controlling a pass from Juan Carlos with an hour gone, his team’s first away goal of the season, and although Lass wasted a couple of good chances to restore the lead, Juan Carlos set up Duje Cop to poke home the winner with three minutes to go. (13.12.15)

A surprise in the Nou Camp on Saturday afternoon, Barcelona throwing away a two goal lead against fifth placed Deportivo, who came back late on to draw 2-2. Lux had to save from Messi and Luis Suárez before Messi opened the scoring with a well struck free kick shortly before the break. Jonathan Rodríguez went close a couple of times after the restart, but Luis Suárez had a strike ruled out for a non-existent offside, and soon afterwards Rakitic made it two with a shot from outside of the area. That appeared to have wrapped things up, and Luis Enrique started to make changes thinking of the long journey to play in the Club World Cup in Japan in the following days, in particular bringing on Mathieu for Jordi Alba. However with a quarter of an hour to go Lucas Pérez (who had hit the bar minutes earlier) ran on past Mathieu to pick up a pass from Cardoso and beat Claudio Bravo, and with five minutes to go Pérez slipped the ball through for Alex Bergantiños to fire home the equalizer. Barça’s league game at Sporting next weekend has been postponed to make room for the trip to Japan, but when they come back they may well be off the top of the table as both Atlético and Real Madrid are closing in.

Celta meanwhile consolidated fourth spot with a 1-0 victory over Espanyol. The Galicians had the better of the first half, Orellana, Iago Aspas and Nolito going close before Aspas ran through to chip a shot over Pau López with three minutes to go to the break. Bondonga had a strike ruled out for a non-existent offside shortly before the half time whistle, but just four minutes into the second half the locals were left a man short when Pablo Hernández picked up a second booking. However other than a header from Raillo which Sergio Alvarez kept out, the Catalans hardly troubled their hosts, and the locals could have won by a bigger margin, Aspas and Bongonda both hitting the woodwork later on.

Sevilla are up to seventh pending Sunday’s games after they beat Sporting Gijón 2-0. The goals though didn’t come until late on, visiting keeper Cuéllar and his defence keeping out efforts from Llorente, Banega and half time subsstitute Konoplyanka. However with a quarter of an hour to go the Andalusians were awarded a rigorous penalty when Luis Hernández was given a second yellow card for a foul on Llorente, and Gameiro (who had also just come on) stepped up to convert the resulting spot kick. Some five minutes later the French striker wrapped things up with a header from Konoplyanka’s cross, and Banega came close to a third when he rattled the post near the end.

Further down the table Granada moved out of the relegation spots after a 1-2 win at fellow strugglers Levante. Andrés Fernández had to save from Rubén García, Deyverson and Camarasa before the break, but just four minutes after the restart 18 year old Peñaranda picked up a long ball from Rochina to give the Andalusians the lead. Simao brought another save out of Andrés though before he levelled the scores with a header from Verza’s wide free kick, and Camarasa and Ghilas both tested the visiting keeper after that. However with two minutes to go Peñaranda battled past four defenders to score his second of the evening, opening up a three point gap over the Valencia based side, who ended the day at the foot of the table.

Later in the evening Las Palmas moved off bottom spot to within a point of escaping the drop zone after they beat Betis 1-0. The Andalusians had picked up the majority of their points away from home this season, but they were bettered by their hosts in the first half, Araujo in particular wasting two or three chances. After the interval Rubén Castro went close against his old side, and Varela, Araujo and Nauzet also failed to hit the target. However with the game in the third and final minute of time added on, and a scoreless draw on the cards, Willian José controlled a Jonathan Viera pass on his chest and turned past his marker to poke home the winner. (12.12.15)

Getafe and Real Sociedad cancelled each other out in the Friday night game, a 1-1 draw keeping the Basque side a point above their hosts in the table. Neither team created too many chances in a dull first half, the best when Bruma ran through but fired his shot wide. Sarabia headed the locals into the lead immediately after the restart from a Juan Rodríguez cross, but Agirretxe levelled it midway through the second half with his twelfth goal of the season. (11.12.15)