News Archive

Match round-up - First Division, Day 24

A dramatic round of games on Sunday, Real Madrid holding on to top spot after fighting back from two down to beat sixth placed Villarreal 2-3 in the last match of the weekend. All the goals came after the break, Trigueros giving the locals the lead after Samu Castillejo headed back an Adrián López cross, and Bakambu making it two after Roberto Soriano put him through to beat Keylor Navas. Soon afterwards though Ronaldo volleyed a shot against the upright, and some twenty minutes in to the second half Bale got one back with a header from a Dani Carvajal cross. With a quarter of an hour left on the clock Ronaldo levelled the scores from the penalty spot after a shot from Kroos came off Víctor Ruíz and hit Bruno on the arm, and with seven minutes to go Morata headed the winner from Marcelo’s centre.

Earlier in the afternoon Barcelona had temporarily overtaken Zidane’s side after a late 1-2 victory at fourth placed Atlético Madrid. Griezmann tested Ter Stegen early on and Luis Suárez had a headed goal ruled out after a shot from Messi came back off the post, the referee ruling that the striker had handled the ball during the play. Oblak had to save from Messi, and Luis Suárez fired a shot wide either side of half time, and Ter Stegen saved again from Griezmann before Rafinha put the visitors in front midway through the second half. Six minutes later Godín headed the equalizer from Koke’s wide free kick, but with four minutes to go Messi got the winner, connecting with a Luis Suárez centre and beating Oblak at the second attempt after his first shot was blocked.

Villarreal’s defeat leaves the European spots wide open, and Athletic Bilbao moved to within a point of Fran Escribá’s side after beating Granada 3-1. Susaeta gave the Basque side the lead after Beñat won the ball off Hongla outside of the area, but just three minutes later Cancela-González equalized after picking up a centre from Héctor. With just over half an hour gone though Ochoa gave away an indirect free kick inside the area, and Susaeta squared the ball across for Lekue to fire a shot through the legs of a defender. Five minutes in to the second half Uche Agbo came close to levelling it again when he curled a shot against the upright, but with twenty minutes to go Ochoa failed to connect with a long punt from Balenziaga, and San José picked up the ball and turned it in to the net. The Mexican keeper did redeem himself partly with saves from Williams and Susaeta, but the damage was already done.

Espanyol stay three points behind Athletic after the Catalans beat bottom club Osasuna 3-0 in the mid-day kick-off. The visitors started strongly, Diego López having to save from De las Cuevas, but with with a quarter of an hour gone Caicedo headed the opener from a Hernán Pérez cross. A few minutes later Gerard Moreno fell in the area, and although it appeared that Sirigu (if anybody) had brought him down, the referee sent off Oier and awarded a penalty. The Italian keeper saved Caicedo’s spot kick, but just a minute in to the second half Jurado made it two with a shot from outside of the area which took a slight deflection off Unai García. That wrapped things up, and with the game in injury time Moreno added a third after intercepting a poor back pass from Causic.

Celta drop below Espanyol to tenth after a 1-1 draw at Sporting Gijón. After the epic victory against Shakhtar Donetsk on Thursday, Berizzo made several changes to his line up, but they were lucky not to go behind by the break, Rubén Blanco keeping out Burgui and Traoré, and Moi Gómez firing a shot against the outside of the post. Just a minute after the interval Moi Gómez put the Asturians ahead from the penalty spot after Planas brought down Carmona in the area, and a few minutes later Traoré headed against the upright. However with a quarter of an hour to go Meré was sent off for bringing down Bongonda as he advanced on goal, and Iago Aspas fired the resulting free kick under the defensive wall to level the scores. After that the Galicians came close to winning it, Planas having a strike ruled out for a dubious offside, and Pablo Hernández hitting the bar with a shot from outside of the area.

All of that left Granada and Sporting still in the bottom three, two points below Deportivo, who confirmed that coach Gaizka Garitano had been fired today. (26.02.17)

Sevilla are joint leaders overnight after they came from behind to beat city neighbours Betis 1-2 on Saturday afternoon! The locals dominated the first half, Rico having to save from Rubén Castro and Mandi heading against the bar before Durmisi opened the scoring with a direct free kick shortly before half time,. After the interval however Mercado levelled the scores after Adán pushed out a header from substitute Iborra following a Nasri free kick, and a few minutes later Iborra poked home the winner after N’Zonzi headed on another free kick from the French midfielder, the referee waving away appeals for offside.

Real Madrid are at sixth placed Villarreal and Barcelona visit fourth placed Atlético on Sunday, and Eibar consolidated seventh spot after a 3-0 victory against Málaga in the last match on Saturday evening. All the goals came in a ten minute period around the break, Adrián González opening the scoring after Sergi Enrich laid the ball across to him. Some five minutes in to the second half Adrián got his second of the night from the penalty spot after Juan Carlos tripped Pedro León in the area, and Sergi Enrich volleyed home the third from Arbilla’s cross just two minutes later. Charles, Ontiveros and Santos tested Yoel after that, but a second yellow card for Rosales put paid to any hope of a come-back by Gato Romero’s side.

Alavés came from a goal down to beat Valencia 2-1 in the lunchtime kick-off, the result taking the Vitoria based side up in to the top half of the table. Chances were few and far between though until twenty minutes from the end, when Carlos Soler gave the visitors the lead after Pacheco could only push a Dani Parejo free kick on to the crossbar. Eight minutes later though Ibai Gómez made it all square after picking up an Abdennour clearance to fire a shot past Diego Alves, and with four minutes left on the clock Katai got the winner after Rubén Sobrino put him through. The Ches ended with ten men after Orellana picked up a second yellow card near the end.

Later in the day Leganés beat Deportivo 4-0 to move above their opponents and five points clear of the drop zone, a result which probably signalled the end for visiting coach Gaizka Garitano (not to be confused with local manager Asier Garitano – no relation!) after eleven games without a win. Szymanowski hooked in an El Zhar centre to give the Madrid based side the lead in the twentieth minute, and ten minutes later Mantovani flung himself at Szymanowski’s corner to head in the second. With an hour on the clock visiting defender Albentosa got himself sent off for elbowing Guerrero, and in the last ten minutes Unai López and Alberto Bueno added two more with assists from Tito and Samu García respectively. (25.02.17)

Real Sociedad closed to within a point of fourth placed Atlético pending the rest of the weekend fixtures after a 0-1 victory at Las Palmas on Friday evening. The Basque side had the better chances in the first half, Iñigo Martínez, Yuri and Oyarzabal all failing to find the target. Rulli had to save from Tana, Jesé and Boateng after the restart, but with a quarter of an hour to go Xabi Prieto took advantage of a poor clearance by local keeper Javi Varas to roll the ball back in to the net, and the visitors could have won by a bigger margin had Jon Bautista not fired a shot wide when free on goal in the dying minutes. (24.02.17)