News Archive

First division – day 23

Alavés got back to winning ways after they beat Levante 2-0 in the Monday night game, the result taking them back up to sixth. The Vitoria based team had lost their last three games, but Laguardia headed them in front from a corner midway through the first half, and Jony took advantage of a defensive mistake to wrap things up in injury time. (11.02.19)

Barcelona dropped points again after they were held to a 0-0 draw at Athletic Bilbao on Sunday evening, although Real Madrid’s win over Atlético the day before meant that they maintain their six point lead at the top of the table. Messi played the full 90 minutes despite the knock picked up last weekend, and hit the bar with a long shot before the break, but otherwise the Basque side had the better chances, Ter Stegen having to make first class saves from Susaeta, Williams and others before De Marcos was sent off in the dying minutes. Fourth placed Sevilla were also held 2-2 by Eibar, although they will be grateful for a point after going two down to goals by Orellana and Charles, and having Banega sent off with five minutes to go. Late strikes though by Ben Yedder and Sarabia saved the red faces. Betis are now five points below their city rivals after they were beaten 3-0 by Leganés, En-Nesyri getting a hat-trick for the locals to take them four points clear of the bottom three. And Valencia stay a point behind Betis after they were held 0-0 in Mestalla by Real Sociedad, their thirteenth draw of the season in the league to date. (10.02.19)

Real Madrid haven’t given up on the league title just yet, and they followed up their midweek cup draw in the Nou Camp with a 1-3 victory at Atlético Madrid on Saturday which took them above their city rivals to second spot. Casemiro put them ahead on the quarter hour mark following a Kroos corner, and although Griezmann made it all square a few minutes later, Sergio Ramos restored the lead from the penalty spot shortly before the break. Morata had a strike rule out for a borderline offside after the restart, but Bale made it three with fifteen minutes to go, and the locals ended with ten men when Thomas was shown a second yellow card near the end. Getafe are now fifth after they won 3-1 against Celta earlier in the day, despite going behind to an Araujo header in only the second minute. Maxi Gómez was sent off though for protesting about a penalty which Mata converted five minutes before the interval, and Jorge Molina and Mata added two more after the restart for the final result. Celta stay a point above the drop zone after Rayo Vallecano lost 2-1 at Espanyol, Abdoulaye Ba heading the visitors in front before the break, but Borja Iglesias converting a second half penalty after new signing Wu Lei was brought down in the area, and Darder volleying home the winner in the fifth minute of time added on to take the Catalans five points clear of their opponents. Girona are level with Celta after they lost 0-2 to bottom club Huesca, Chimy Ávila scoring twice before the break to give the visitors their second win in a row. And Villarreal stay in next to bottom spot after they were held to a 0-0 draw by Valladolid in the Friday night game, Sergio González’s side inching three points clear of the drop zone as a result. (09.02.19)