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Match round-up - First Division, Day 10

Getafe and Athletic Bilbao came in to their Monday night game sure of occupying fifth and sixth spot, the only doubt being which of the two would end the day higher placed. In the end though the visitors moved three points clear of their hosts in the table after a 0-1 victory in the Alfonso Pérez coliseum. Part of that win was due to Gorka Iraizoz, the visiting keeper saving from Sarabia early on, and then keeping out a Diego Costa penalty after Gurpegui fouled Colunga in the area shortly before half time (the first spot kick that Costa had missed in sixteen attempts). Laporte headed the only goal from Susaeta's corner in the eighth minute, and Ander Herrera almost caught Moyà off his line with a long shot from midfield later on in the first half, but Valera came close to the equalizer when he volleyed a shot just wide a few minutes earlier. Iraizoz limped off at half time after picking up a knock, but his job was already done, and neither his replacement Herrerín nor Moyà were particularly troubled throughout the second half. Athletic had their first ever win in Getafe's stadium, and Luis García's side saw their run of four victories in a row come to an end. (28.10.13)

Atlético Madrid are still just a point behind leaders Barcelona after they trounced Betis 5-0 in the last match on Sunday evening. Simeone gave youngster Oliver Torres a first start, and with only fifteen seconds gone he scored his first goal for the club, steering a shot past Guillermo Sara on the far post after Koke played the ball across the area. Godín and Diego Costa both went close after that as Atleti dominated the first half, and soon after the restart David Villa scored twice in four minutes, the first a header from a Filipe Luis cross, and the second with an angled shot from the edge of the area after the ball fell to him following a tackle on Oliver. By then Andersen had replaced the injured Sara in goal, and the Danish keeper could do nothing as Villa sent Costa away for him to score a fourth. Anfd with the game in injury time Andersen could only block a shot by Adrián from right of goal, and Gabi was on hand to fire the rebound back in to the net. Betis's midweek European victory was already a distant memory, and after results elsewhere went against them, Pepe Mel's team end the weekend down in the bottom three.

Earlier in the evening fourth placed Villarreal beat regional neighbours Valencia 4-1 to move to within two points of Real Madrid. Marcelino's side were on top right from the start, Uche opening the scoring after connecting with a Giovani cross with just over a quarter of an hour gone, and Hernán Pérez heading Cani's long centre in off the near post some five minutes later. Pabón brought a good save out of Asenjo before the break, but soon after the restart Giovani headed against the post, and from the resulting play the locals were awarded a penalty when Mathieu tripped Uche in the area. Guaita managed to save Giovani's corner, but the Mexican forward made up for his mistake just a minute later, flicking the ball past the keeper with his heel after Uche headed in a corner. A quarter of an hour later Ricardo headed one back following another corner, but with six minutes to go Giovani picked up the ball in midfield and ran on to fire a long shot over the keeper. Bragging rights to the locals once again!

Real Sociedad are back up to ninth after they won 3-0 against bottom club Almería, a much needed victory after their midweek defeat at Old Trafford in the Champions League. It was a face-off between the two youngest managers in the league, Arrasate and Francisco, but the locals had the better of things early on, and Griezmann headed the opener after Xabi Prieto headed on a long Chory Castro throw-in. Rodri had a goal disallowed for a narrow offside, but otherwise Real were on top, and Griezmann headed home his second of the evening from José Angel's cross some five minutes in to the second half. José Angel himself made it three soon afterwards after turning Rafinha a couple of times down the left, and it was only when the home side slowed things down that the visitors caused any problems, Oscar Díaz firing a free kick wide and Bravo having to make a point blank save from Tébar late on. Another defeat for Almería though, and they are firmly anchored to the bottom of the table without a single win in their first ten games.

Sevilla are level with the Basque side after they beat ten man Osasuna 2-1 in this Sunday's mid-day kick-off. De la Cuevas and Gameiro traded shots early on, but the turning point of the game came with ten minutes to go to the break when Damià was sent off for pulling down Gameiro as he advanced on goal. Rakitic fired the resulting free kick over the bar, but early in the second half he opened the scoring after getting behind the defence to slide a long M'Bia centre past Andrés. Bacca hit the post a few minutes later, and with a quarter of an hour to go Jairo ran on to M'Bia's long clearance to fire an angled shot across the keeper for his side's second. Soon afterwards Andrés had to be at his best to keep out a Jairo header, and Riera's headed goal with three minutes to go came too late to prevent the Pamplona based side from dropping down to next to bottom spot in the table. (27.10.13)

The first "clásico" of the season is over, Barcelona beating Real Madrid 2-1 in the Nou Camp on Saturday evening to move six points clear of their arch-rivals in the table! Ancelotti surprised everyone putting out a line up which included three central defenders, Sergio Ramos playing a holding role in front of the back four and Bale starting up front in place of Benzema. The locals struck first though, Neymar picking up Iniesta's pass and firing in an angled shot which took a slight deflection off Varane before entering the net, and a few minutes later Messi got free on the right only to steer his shot wide of the far post. Madrid came back later in the first half though, Bale putting a good chance way over the top, and Khedira bringing a point-blank save out of Valdés shortly before half time. After the restart Diego López had to keep out Neymar, but Valdés had to save the day with stops from Ronaldo and Di María, Ronaldo felt he should have had a penalty when Mascherano bundled him over in the area, and Benzema fired a long shot against the crossbar. With twelve minutes to go however substitute Alexis caught Diego off his line with a lob from outside of the area, and although Jesé got one back in injury time from Ronaldo's cross, the goal came too late to change the result.

Later in the evening Barcelona's city neighbours Espanyol failed in their bid to make it back to the top six, a 3-0 defeat at Levante leaving them two points behind their hosts in the rankings. Stuani failed to convert a couple of chances for the Catalans early on, but midway through the first half referee Muñiz Fernández awarded a penalty to the locals after Víctor Sánchez tripped El Zhar as he was entering the box. El Zhar himself drilled home the spot kick, and just two minutes later the ex Liverpool midfielder crossed in for Babá to head home the second. Sánchez had an effort saved by Keylor Navas and David López headed wide before the break, but six minutes after the restart Babá played a long clearance on for El Zhar to fire in his second of the night. Aguirre had brought on Córoba at half time for his first appearance since signing in the summer, and the Colombian striker got stuck in straight away, hitting the post and bringing two or three good saves out of Navas, but it was too late to prevent what was surprisingly Levante's first home win of the season.

Further down the table Celta moved out of the bottom three after hammering Málaga 0-5. The Galicians had not won in seven games, but they went ahead in the fifth minute when Alex López picked up Augusto Fernández's pass and ran on to beat Willy Caballero. Midway through the first half Augusto scored the second himself with a cool volley past the keeper after Charles hooked over Aurtenetxe's cross, and López and Charles both went close later in the first half. Up to that point Yoel had hardly been troubled, and Bernd Schuster made two changes at the break, bringing on Morales and Anderson. Santa Cruz did put the visiting keeper to the test after that, but a few minutes later Nolito fired a shot against the upright, Caballero could only push out Augusto's follow up shot, and López headed the rebound in to the net from a wide angle. Ten minutes after that Nolito cut in from the left wing to make it four, and a few minutes later Charles turned in a David Rodríguez cross to complete the scoring. Luis Enrique's side move a point above their hosts in the table, and all the pressure switches from the Celta coach to his opposite number Don Bernd.

Granada also climbed away from the danger zone after they won 0-1 at Elche. The previous wins by Valladolid and Celta meant that the Andalusians started the match in the relegation spots, but Fran Rico fired an early shot just wide of the mark, and midway through the first half Iturra flung himself forward to head Rico's long free kick wide of Manu Herrera. Manu del Moral headed a cross just over the top prior to the break though as the home side fought back, and Damián Suárez almost caught Robert off his line with a shot from just over the half way line in the second half. But despite ending with ten men after substitute Boakye was stretchered off unconscious near the end with all three changes made, the visitors held fast for three vital points which take them to within a point of their hosts in the table. All of that meant that Betis find themselves down in the relegation spots pending their game at Atlético Madrid on Sunday. (26.10.13)

Rayo Vallecano and Valladolid kicked off week ten on Friday evening, the visitors running out 0-3 winners to move above their hosts in the table. Visiting coach Juan Ignacio Martínez put out an attacking line up with Manucho and Javi Guerra up front, and Manucho hit the side netting early on. Nery Castillo had a penalty appeal turned down at the other end, but on the half hour mark Ebert picked up a long ball from Peña and cut in from the right to fire an impressive shot across Rubén. Later in the first half Guerra made it two after picking up Rossi's pass and running on to beat the keeper with an angled shot, and just a couple of minutes after the restart half time substitute Larsson intercepted a poor back pass by Mojica and ran on past Rubén to make it three. Diego Mariño did have to make saves from Trashorras and Falqué after that as the locals tried to get back in the game, and Viera fired a shot just over the bar, but Valladolid could have won by a bigger margin in the end had Larsson been able to beat Rubén when free on goal late on. (25.10.13)