News Archive

Match round-up - First Division, Day 34

Four games to go to the end of the season, and the Liga picture is starting to look clearer. Barcelona and Real Madrid will be battling it out once again for the title, and Atlético and Sevilla are tied in the fight for the third Champions League spot (which gives direct access to the league stage of the competition) after the Andalusians beat Celta 2-1 on Thursday. Iborra headed against the post and Joaquín Correa brought a good save out of Sergio Alvarez as the locals dominated the first half, and just four minutes after the restart Correa cut across the area to open the scoring. Soon afterwards Iago Aspas made it all square from the penalty spot after Lenglet pulled back Guidetti in the area, but a minute later Pablo Hernández was sent off for a second bookable offence, and with ten minutes to go substitute Ben Yedder got on the end of Nasri’s cross to score the winner.

Atlético and Sevilla have an eight point gap over the chasing pack, Athletic Bilbao returning to sixth place after a 2-1 victory over Betis later in the evening. Both keepers were in action early on, Adán saving from Aduríz, and Kepa stopping a shot from Jonas Martin. Midway through the first half De Marcos hit the post, and a few minutes after the interval Aduríz got the opener from the penalty spot after he was brought down in the area by Mandi. With an hour on the clock Muniain headed the second from a Raúl García cross, but three minutes later Rubén Castro got one back after Kepa could only push out an angled shot from Alex Martínez, and Rubén Pardo came close to levelling it late on when Yeray deflected his shot out for a corner.

Only two points separate fifth placed Villarreal from seventh placed Real Sociedad however, and Eibar are now seven points adrift in eighth spot after they were held to a 0-0 draw at neighbours Alavés. Riesgo made a good save early on from Camarasa on his return to the line-up, but with half an hour gone the visiting keeper was sent off for handling the ball outside of the area. Later in the first half Ibai Gómez fired a free kick against the crossbar, and Pacheco had to save at the other end from Lejeune and Kike García either side of the break. With the game coming to a close Yoel had to keep out Oscar Romero and Katai, and Lejeune cleared off the line from Deyverson with the substitute keeper beaten, but in the end both teams settled for a point. Alavés have a place reserved for them in Europe if they can beat Barcelona in the Spanish cup final, but if they lose then the third Europa League spot will go to whoever finishes seventh in the league. (27.04.17)

Barcelona and Real Madrid stay neck-and-neck at the top of the table after both clocked up big wins on Wednesday. Barcelona were first up, and they thrashed bottom club Osasuna 7-1 to make sure of top spot for another few days, albeit having played a game more than their arch rivals. Luis Enrique rested some of his key players after the weekend win at Real Madrid, but Messi was in the starting line up, and with only twelve minutes gone he intercepted a poor pass by Fausto Tienza to run on and lob the ball over Sirigu. André Gomes added a second after Rakitic set him up on the half hour mark, and only a good save by Sirigu prevented Paco Alcácer from adding a third before the break. The visitors came in to the match with eleven players out through injury, but they put up a brave fight, Roberto Torres getting one back after the restart with a well struck free kick, and Ter Stegen having to save from Torres a few minutes later. Sirigu pushed a Mascherano header on to the post soon afterwards however, and André Gomes and Messi added two more in a four minute period around the hour mark. Messi handed over his place to youngster Aleñá after that, but Alcácer scored two more, and Mascherano also got in on the act from the penalty spot, his first goal for the club after 319 games! A heavy defeat in the end for the Pamplona based side, and a victory for Leganés later in the evening meant that they are already mathematically relegated.

Real Madrid responded to Barça’s win though with a 2-6 victory at Deportivo, despite lining up with nine changes from the side which lost to the Catalans in Sunday’s “clásico”. With less than a minute on the clock Morata had already put them in front, and Isco and Marco Asensio both hit the post before James poked in the second on the quarter hour mark. Morata had a strike ruled out for a non-existent offside, and Lux made brave saves from Lucas Vázquez and Morata before Andone pulled one back from a Kakuta assist. Kiko Casilla had to save from Juanfran, and Sidnei headed an effort just wide as the Galicians looked to equalize, but with half time approaching Lucas Vázquez scored a third for the visitors after good work by Isco and Marcelo. Midway through the second half James made it four after Morata set him up, and a few minutes later Isco fired the fifth past Tyton, who had replaced the injured Lux at the break. Joselu headed a second for the hosts with six minutes to go, but Casemiro completed the “set” for Zidane’s side near the end.

Seventeenth placed Leganés took a major step towards salvation after they beat Las Palmas 3-0, the result taking them six points clear of Sporting Gijón, and condemning Osasuna and most probably Granada to relegation. The Madrid based side had only taken three points from their last seven games, but they had by far the better of the first half, Diego Rico rattling the crossbar, and Samu García and Luciano Neves going close. Some ten minutes in to the second half a bad mistake by Javi Varas gifted the ball to Guerrero, who passed across for Neves to score in to the empty net, and just four minutes later another defensive error by Hélder Lopes allowed Guerrero to make it two. Soon afterwards the locals were awarded a penalty when Neves fell under a challenge from Lemos, the Brazilian striker himself converting the resulting spot kick, and only a good save by Varas prevented Rubén Pérez from increasing the lead late on.

Elsewhere Real Sociedad won 2-3 at Valencia to move back up to sixth in the table pending Athletic’s game on Thursday. The Basque side took the lead in the first minute, Diego Alves deflecting a Juanmi cross in to his own net, and Willian José added the second from the penalty spot on the half hour mark after Siquiera was penalized for catching Odriozola with his arm. Juanmi headed another chance wide before the break, and some twenty minutes in to the second half Oyarzabal made it three after connecting with a cross from Odriozola. The Ches fought back though with two goals in the next seven minutes, Nani converting a second penalty after Raúl Navas handled in the area, and Zaza sliding the ball past Rulli from Cancelo’s cross, and they could have saved a point had Zaza not headed a long free kick just wide of the mark near the end. (26.04.17)

Another round of midweek fixtures this week, with three games kicking off on Tuesday. Third placed Atlético Madrid were surprisingly beaten 0-1 by Villarreal in the last match of the evening, the result taking the visitors to within eight points of their hosts. Simeone’s side had all the chances in the first half, and only a string of top class saves by Andrés prevented Correa, Saúl, Griezmann and Koke from giving them the lead at the break. After the restart the visiting keeper saved again from Gaitán, and substitutes Carrasco (who had to go off again with an injury), Gameiro and Fernando Torres all went close. A few minutes later however Oblak was tested for the first time by Roberto Soriano, and with eight minutes to go Soriano got on the end of Bakambu’s cross to fire home the winner.

Earlier in the evening Sporting Gijón and Espanyol drew 1-1, a result which didn’t help either team with their objectives in the run up to the end of the season. Diego López had to save a couple of times from Víctor Rodríguez in the first half, and Marc Nvarro headed a good chance wide of the mark at the other end. With six minutes to go to the break Víctor Rodríguez caught out the visiting keeper with a wide free kick which he fired inside the near post, but soon after the restart Gerard Moreno made it all square following a good run by Leo Baptistao. Cuéllar kept out Moreno and Baptistao after that, and Duje Cop missed a sitter when free on goal, but in the end both teams had to settle for a point which leaves the Asturians three points away from safety, and the Catalans six points off the Europa League spots, all still dependent on the rest of the midweek games.

Granada are now four points below Sporting after they lost 0-2 to regional rivals Málaga, and if results go against them they could be relegated by the weekend. Tony Adams’ side hardly got going in the first half, Ochoa making good saves from Camacho and Recio, and Keko and Juan Carlos failing to find the target. Just three minutes in to the second half the visitors took the lead, Sandro thrashing a shot past the Mexican keeper after Keko intercepted a clearance. Kameni had to save from Krhin, and Carcela-González and Adrián Ramos went close as the locals looked to get back in the game. But Sandro fired a shot against the post late on, and with the game in injury time the Ex Barcelona striker wrapped things up after latching on to a pass from Javi Ontiveros. A third win in four games for Málaga, and they are now mathematically sure of first division football at the Rosaleda stadium for another season. (25.04.17)