News Archive

Match round-up - First Division, Day 21

Granada are off the bottom of the table after a 1-0 victory over Las Palmas in the Monday night game, the result taking them above Osasuna and level on points with Sporting. Andreas Pereira fired home the only goal of the game with just over a quarter of an hour gone, but after that the Canary Islanders were on top, and only a couple of efforts by Adrián Ramos caused any problems for Javi Varas in the visiting goal. Boateng went close with a scissors kick before the break, Ochoa had to save from Montoro and Viera soon after the restart, and new boy Jesé missed a complete sitter just a minute after coming on. Later on the second half Ochoa was in action again to keep out Jesé and Tana, but the Andalusians held on for only their second win of the season. (06.02.17)

Third placed Sevilla end the weekend two points below Barcelona after they were held to a 0-0 draw by Villarreal in the Sunday mid-day kick-off. Despite the result it was a lively game, the visitors having a penalty claim turned down in the first minute after Víctor Ruíz held back Jovetic as he advanced on goal. Adrián López put a good chance wide midway through the first half and then hit the side netting after the interval, and just three minutes after the restart Sergio Asenjo saved a Nasri penalty after Mario brought down Vitolo on the edge of the area. With an hour on the clock Ben Yedder got the ball in the net only for the strike to be ruled out for a questionable offside, and Asenjo made further saves from Nasri, Sarabia and Iborra to keep his team in sixth spot.

Real Sociedad are now three points clear of Villarreal though after they came from a goal down to beat neighbours Osasuna 3-2 on a cold and rainy night in San Sebastian. Kenan Kodro gave the visitors a first half lead after running on to a long ball from Tano, and at the start of the second half Illarramendi had to clear a shot from Carlos Clerc off the line with the keeper beaten. However Raúl Navas levelled the scores after Willian José headed up a corner, and with twenty minutes to go Carlos Vela put Eusebio’s team in front after combining with Oyarzabal. Five minutes later substitute Juanmi added a third just a minute after coming on, but Sergio León got another one back soon afterwards, and only a great save by Rulli (with the floodlights failing!) prevented Jaime Romero from saving a point for the visitors. The defeat leaves the Pamplona based team still in next to bottom spot pending Granada’s game on Monday.

Sporting Gijón stay in the bottom three as well after they lost 2-4 to Alavés, the Asturians ending the weekend five points away from safety. With the two-leg cup semi-finals taking place either side of this match, Pellegrino put out a much changed line-up, but even so Rubén Sobrino put his side ahead after picking up an assist from Katai with only ten minutes gone. Christian Santos and Edgar Méndez added two more from the penalty spot in the second half, and it was not until six minutes from the end that the locals responded, new signing Traoré opening his account just a quarter of an hour after making his debut. Alexis headed a fourth for the visitors though from Oscar Romero’s cross, and with many disgruntled fans already on the way home, Carlos Castro completed the scoring in the last minute. (05.02.17)

Bad weather in the North West of Spain caused the postponement of two matches this weekend, Friday’s fixture between Deportivo and Betis, and Sunday’s between Celta and leaders Real Madrid. Both were called off after high winds caused damage to the roofs of the Riazor and Balaidos stadiums.

Madrid now have two games in hand over the rest, but they remain in top spot, a point ahead of Barcelona after Luis Enrique’s side beat Athletic Bilbao 3-0 on Saturday afternoon. With a heavy schedule coming up the coach left Luis Suárez on the bench, and Valverde also rested Aduríz, with Yeray making his first appearance since undergoing an operation for testicular cancer only a few weeks ago. The early chances fell to the visitors, Ter Stegen tipping a Raúl García shot on to the post and Williams heading a Laporte cross wide, but with just over a quarter of an hour gone Paco Alcácer got on the end of Neymar’s assist to score his first league goal for his new club. Ter Stegen had to save from Raúl García and Williams once again, but with five minutes to go to the break Messi made it two with a wide free kick which went through the hands of Iraizoz. Messi himself was also rested early on in the second half, and a few minutes later Aleix Vidal fired home his team’s third to put the game beyond the reach of the Basque team.

Later in the evening Atlético Madrid consolidated fourth spot with a 2-0 victory over city neighbours Leganés. Fernando Torres and Saúl Ñíguez went close for the locals early on, and with a quarter of an hour on the clock they were awarded a penalty when new signing Siovas tripped Torres in the area. Herrerín managed to save Griezmann’s spot kick, but Torres was on hand to turn in the rebound. The visitors put up a good fight after that though, Alberto Bueno, Víctor Díaz, Szymanowski and Unai López all trying their luck before the break, but just six minutes in to the second half Torres ran on to Correa’s through ball to score his second of the night. That ended the contest, and although both teams had chances, the scoreboard remained unmoved.

Athletic’s defeat means that Eibar and Espanyol move up level with Valverde’s side in the table, the Basques beating Valencia 0-4 in the last match of the evening. The locals started well, Zaza in particular heading a good chance wide. However Arbilla curled a shot just past the post at the other end, and with just under half an hour gone Sergi Enrich headed the opener from Escalante’s cross. With half time approaching Adrían González made it two from the penalty spot after youngster Carlos Soler was sent off for retaliating to a push from Escalante in the area, and early on in the second half Dani García volleyed home a spectacular third after a cross from the right was only partly cleared. Many of the home fans left the stadium at that point and they therefore missed Eibar’s fourth, scored by Sergi Enrich after Fran Rico played the ball in to the area with a quarter of an hour or so to go.

Espanyol meanwhile won 0-1 at Málaga in the early kick-off to make it three victories in a row for Quique Sánchez Flores’ side. Visiting keeper Diego López had to save from Juanpi and Michael Santos early on, but soon afterwards Piatti gave the Catalans the lead with a shot from outside of the area which bounced past Kameni in to the net. Diego López had to save twice again from Juanpi either side of half time, and Camacho and Charles also wasted chances, but Gato Romero’s team were unable to avoid another defeat which leaves them down in the lower reaches of the table after eight games without a win. (04.02.17)