News Archive

Match round-up - First Division, Day 8

A thrilling end to a high scoring weekend, Sporting Gijón coming back with two late goals to draw 3-3 against bottom club Granada in the Monday night game. Bernardo headed the locals into an early lead from Lora’s long centre, but by half time the visitors had turned the scoreline around, Piti getting the last touch after El-Arabi turned an Isaac Success cross towards goal, and Success himself cutting in from the left of the area to score the second. When El-Arabi made it three with a shot which looped off a defender past Alberto it looked like the Andalusians were on for their first win in six games, but with ten minutes to go Miguel Lopes got himself sent off for a second bookable offence, and a few minutes later Nacho Cases got on the end of a Halilovic centre to fire one back. The referee added on five minutes due to injuries, and Granada were left with nine men when Doria stupidly was given a second booking for time-wasting. The Asturians threw everything forward, and in the dying seconds Guerrero latched on to Pablo Pérez’s headed pass to square the match once again and send the home fans wild. (19.10.15)

This season’s two revelation sides, Villarreal and Celta, met on Sunday lunchtime, the Galicians coming away 1-2 victors to move above their hosts and join Real Madrid and Barcelona at the top of the table. The locals started strongly, Leo Baptistao and Trigueros going close, and Mario bringing a good save out of Sergio Alvarez. However with three minutes to go to the break Orellana opened the scoring against the run of play with a long shot past Areola, and before the half time whistle Nolito fired an angled shot against the far post. Some two minutes after the restart things got worse for the locals when Eric Bailly was sent off for a second bookable offence, and soon afterwards Iago Aspas wasted two good opportunities to extend the lead. Midway through the second half though Denis Suárez levelled the scores with a shot which took a deflection off Hugo Mallo, but with the game coming to an end Nolito fired home the winner after a shot from Orellana came back off the bar.

Villarreal drop from first to fifth after Atlético Madrid beat Real Sociedad 0-2 later in the afternoon to edge past Marcelino’s team in the table. Griezmann ran through to score the first against his old club early on, and Jackson Martínez went close a couple of times either side of half time. The locals came back with efforts from Canales, Zurutuza and Bruma, but they couldn’t find the route to goal, and they were left with ten men when Diego Reyes was shown a second yellow card for protesting near the end. With the game in injury time Giménez flung himself to the ground to head the ball away from Jonathas, taking the striker down with him. But as the Real players protested to the referee, Atleti came away on a rapid breakaway, Fernando Torres playing the ball for Carrasco to run on round the keeper and wrap things up.

Deportivo hold on to sixth spot after coming back from two down to draw 2-2 at home to Athletic Bilbao. The Basque side took the lead on the half hour mark when Williams volleyed in a long centre from Balenziaga, the referee waving away claims from Depor that the game should have been stopped as one of their players was lying injured at the time. Luis Alberto came close to an equalizer when he hit the woodwork twice shortly before the interval, but some eighteen minutes in to the second half Aduríz made it two with a chip over the stranded Lux after Raúl García put him through. With ten minutes to go however Lucas Pérez got one back with an acrobatic volley after intercepting an effort from Juanfran, and Oriol Riera fired a shot just over the top before Arribas headed a Fede Cartabia cross wide of Iraizoz to save a point for the Galicians.

Elsewhere Getafe moved clear of the danger zone after a convincing 4-0 victory against next to bottom club Las Palmas, a result which cost the job of visiting coach Paco Herrera who was fired not long after the match ended. Víctor Rodríguez got on the end of an Alvaro Vázquez centre to open the scoring in only the third minute, and Sarabia headed a Pedro León cross past Javi Varas for his side’s second just eight minutes later. Rodríguez and Vázquez tested Varas again either side of half time, and Guaita had nothing to do until he tipped long effort from Jonathan Viera over the bar with a quarter of an hour to go. A couple of minutes later Culio got himself sent off for a reckless tackle on Sarabia, and substitute Scepovic added two more in the final minutes following assists by Moi Gómez and Roberto Lago. (18.10.15)

Real Madrid and Barcelona share top spot pending Sunday’s games after both won their respective matches on Saturday. Real Madrid kicked things off though with a 3-0 victory over Levante which keeps them ahead of their arch-rivals on goal difference. Cristiano Ronaldo presented his record fourth “Golden Boot” to the fans before the start, and midway through the first half he combined with Marcelo to set up the full back for the opening goal. Keylor Navas had to save from Deyverson a minute later, but soon afterwards Ronaldo picked up an assist from Kroos to make it two with a long shot past Rubén. Navas kept out Roger, Deyverson and Ghilas either side of half time, and Madrid replied with a shot from Kroos which Rubén stopped, and a header over the top from Ronaldo. With ten minutes to go though substitute Jesé latched on to a through ball from Lucas Vázquez to dummy past his marker and score the third, and it was game over.

Later in the evening Barcelona thrashed Rayo Vallecano 5-2, Neymar scoring four times to help the fans forget the injured Messi. The visitors struck first though, Javi Guerra getting on the end of a Bebé cross to beat Bravo, but Neymar won and converted two penalties in the next fifteen minutes or so to turn the scoreline around, the first after Llorente brought him down, and the second after he was tripped by Nacho. Toño had to save from Sergi Roberto a few minutes later, but Rayo came back after the break, Ebert firing a shot over and Guerra and Ebert both bringing good saves out of Bravo soon afterwards. With twenty minutes to go however Neymar scored two more in as many minutes, firing a shot back into the net after Toño could only push out a long effort by Luis Suárez, and then turning the ball into an empty net after Sergi Roberto headed a poor clearance back for Suárez to set him up. Soon afterwards Neymar returned the favour with a lofted cross which Suárez drove past the keeper, and although Jozabed scored a second for the visitors soon afterwards, it was too late to change the result.

Eibar are up to sixth after a 1-1 draw against Sevilla, who themselves remain four points behind their hosts in the bottom half of the table. Escalante fired a good chance wide before Borja Bastón headed the locals into an early lead from a long Saúl Berjón free kick, his fifth goal in four games. A few minutes later Riesgo had to save from Reyes, and the visitors had three penalty claims turned down, for a hand ball by Escalante before the break, and for fouls on Gameiro and Konoplyanka after the restart. With twenty minutes to go Gameiro levelled the scores, turning Iborra’s cross past Riesgo with his thigh, and the local keeper had to be at his best to save from Vitolo and Konoplyanka. However Borja tested Sergio Rico later on as well, and in the end both coaches settled for a point.

Valencia and Espanyol are now just a point behind the Basque side after both won their games at the end of the evening. Valencia beat Málaga 3-0, last week’s hat-trick hero Charles this time deflecting a wide Piatti free kick into his own net with twenty minutes on the clock. André Gomes made it two soon afterwards, the Portuguese midfielder picking up a loose ball in the area and running on past three defenders before squeezing a shot inside Kameni’s near post. And although the visitors had a chance to get back in the game when the referee incorrectly ruled that Aderlan had blocked a Rosales cross with his arm, Jaume Domenech guessed correctly and saved Duda’s spot kick. The closest Málaga came to scoring after that though was when Domenech had to keep out a header from his own defender, and Dani Parejo rounded things off from the penalty spot after Albentosa bundled over Danilo Barbosa inside the area.

Espanyol meanwhile won 1-3 at Betis in the last match on Saturday to close back up on the European spots. Marco Asensio was the star of the match for the Catalans though, Enzo Roco heading in his long free kick to open the scoring in only the fourth minute. Pau López had to save from Rubén Castro and Joaquín later in the first half, but some six minutes after the restart Caicedo made it two after Asensio set him up on a quick breakaway. Four minutes later Asensio was there again to cross in for Víctor Sánchez to fire home the third, and only a brave save from Adán prevented Caicedo from scoring a fourth. Substitute Rennella did finally get a late consolation for the Andalusians, but it was a disappointing defeat after two promising away wins, and they drop a point behind their opponents in the table as a result. (17.10.15)