First division - day 32
No change at the top of the
table after the first three sides all won their respective matches.
Barcelona made hard work of beating Levante, but in the end they
ran out 1-0 winners thanks to a first half goal by Eto'o after Molina could
only push Xavi's pass into his path. Frank Rijkaard's side had most of the
play, and Messi hit the bar in the second half, but the visitors almost saved a
point when Kapo missed an easy chance in the final minutes.
Sevilla hold on to
second spot, a point behind the leaders, after a 3-1 victory over
Espanyol. The Andalusians had several chances to score in the first
half, and Antonio Puerta and Chevantón put them two up in a three minute
period early in the second half. Corominas got one back on the hour mark, but
Martí put the game beyond Espanyol's reach a few minutes later with a
long shot wide of Kameni.
It looks like being a three
horse race this year though, and Real Madrid stayed a point behind
Sevilla after a convincing 1-4 win at Athletic Bilbao in the last match
of the weekend. Sergio Ramos headed home a Beckham free kick early on to open
the scoring, and Van Nistelrooy added two more either side of half time.
Llorente reduced the gap with ten minutes to go, but Guti finished things off
with a fourth goal near the end.
Defeats though for the
bottom five sides, who between them are fighting to avoid the three relegation
spots. Gimnàstic must now be favourites for the drop after losing
0-3 to Villarreal, Diego Forlán getting a goal in each half
before Mati Fernández completed the scoring in injury time.
Real Sociedad also
faltered after a 1-0 defeat at Getafe, only the second time they have
lost in their last seven games. Alexis returned to Bernd Schuster's line up to
head the winner from Cotelo's corner twenty minutes from the end, leaving the
Basque side still three points away from safety.
Celta's brief revival
under Hristo Stoichkov suffered a setback as they lost 0-3 to Mallorca.
Strikes by Arango and Varela put the islanders two up at the break, and
substitute Maxi López made it three later in the second half. The defeat
takes the Galicians down into the bottom three, below Levante on goal
difference.
Elsewhere a last minute
headed goal from Sergio García gave Zaragoza a 2-2 draw at
Osasuna, keeping them in fifth place. Juanlu volleyed the locals into an
early lead, but Aimar equalised with a free kick before the break. A Valdo
strike appeared to have given Ziganda's side a first home win in eight games
though until García's last minute strike.
And Racing Santander
and Deportivo played out a 0-0 draw, a result which leaves both
safely in mid-table. The Cantabrians had not beaten their opponents in the
Sardinero stadium for over ten years, and although both sides had several
chances, in the end they had to settle for a point. (29.04.07)
Valencia moved back
up to the Champions League spots after beating Recreativo 2-0 on
Saturday evening. The visitors are chasing the European spots themselves, and
they held their own until the hour mark, when a defence splitting pass from
David Villa allowed Joaquín to score his first goal in the Mestalla
stadium. And just three minutes later the ex Betis winger got on the end of
David Silva's lifted pass to volley home his second and wrap things up.
Atlético
Madrid are further away from the top four though after they were held to a
0-0 draw by Betis. Luis Fernández put out an ultra-defensive line
up looking for a point to take his side away from the danger zone, and they
hardly allowed their opponents a shot at goal. Their best chance was an effort
from substitute Petrov in the final minutes, and to make matters worse Fernando
Torres had to leave the pitch injured. (28.04.07) |