News Archive

Match round-up - First Division, Day 4

The Monday night game between Deportivo Alavés and Deportivo La Coruña ended 0-0, the result leaving both sides safely in mid-table. Theo Hernández had a couple of good runs for the locals in the first half, and Marlos Moreno and Deyverson fired shots wide either side of half time. And at the other end, Andone steered a shot over the bar when free on goal on the quarter hour mark, and the Romanian striker had two or three efforts saved by Pacheco after the restart. However the closest anyone came to scoring was when Laguardia headed a long Fajr free kick against his own goalpost with ten minutes to go. The goal-less stalement shouldn’t come as a surprise though, as both teams registered similar results in their last home and away matches respectively. (19.09.16)

Real Madrid stay three points clear at the top of the table after they beat Espanyol 0-2 in the last game on Sunday, a sixteenth league win in a row equalling the record set by Barcelona five years ago. Ronaldo and Bale were both left at home for various reasons, and Zidane decided to give a run out to the out-of-favour James after a good performance coming off the bench in the midweek Champions League game. Honours were fairly even in the first half, Leo Bapistao testing Casilla and then heading wide, Sergio Ramos going close, and Benzema having a headed goal ruled out for offside. However on the stroke of half time James put the visitors in front with a long shot past Diego López, and only a reaction save by the local keeper prevented Benzema from adding a second soon after the restart. Ten minutes later though Benzema did find a gap inside the near post from a Lucas Vázquez cross to put the game beyond Espanyol’s reach, and although Casilla had to keep out an effort from Caicedo, Isco saw a late effort pushed round the post by Diego López.

Villarreal are up to sixth after they beat Real Sociedad 2-1 earlier in the evening. The visitors had the better of the opening minutes, Illaramendi and Oyarzabal failing to convert chances, but with a quarter of an hour gone the locals were awarded a penalty when Rulli brought down Sansone in the area. Pato fired the spot kick wide, but soon afterwards Jaume Costa and Roberto Soriano combined to put Sansone through for the opener. Just three minutes later Sansone got his second of the evening, catching Rulli off his line with a shot from over fifty metres out, and the Italian striker came close to a hat-trick when he chipped a shot just wide of the mark after that. However with ten minutes to go to the break Yuri pulled one back after latching on to a pass from Willian José, and Juanmi had a couple of efforts blocked by Sergio Asenjo and his defence either side of half time. Both teams had chances later on, but the scoreline remained unmoved, and the Basque side ended with ten men when Zaldúa picked up a second booking in injury time.

Athletic Bilbao clocked up their second victory in a row after they came from behind to win 2-1 against Valencia, and they end the day in the top half of the table. With only two minutes on the clock Alvaro Medrán got on the end of Nani’s cross to give the visitors the lead, However Susaeta missed the easiest of chances and Williams brought a good save out of Diego Alves, and soon afterwards Aduríz climbed above the defence to head a wide Beñat free kick past the visiting keeper. Parejo and Rodrigo fired efforts over the top later in the first half, but with four minutes to go to the break Aduríz latched on to Beñat’s lofted pass to lift the ball over the keeper and in to the net. Both keepers had work to do after the break, Kepa saving from Rodrigo and Nani, and Alves keeping out Raúl García and Aduríz, but Athletic held on for a win which restores their confidence after Thursday night’s defeat in the Europa League.

Valencia remain at the foot of the table without a single point in their first four matches, and Osasuna and Celta occupy the other two relegation spots after they drew 0-0 in the Sunday mid-day kick-off. Enrique Martín gave a first run out to Mario Fernández, and the experienced keeper had to make saves from Wass and Bongonda early on. Wass fired a free kick against the bar, and Mario pushed a header from Cabral against the upright, Guidetti’s follow up strike ruled out for offside, and after the restart substitute Rossi also tested Mario a couple of times. His opposite number Sergio Alvarez was hardly called upon until he had to keep out a Jaime Romero header later on in the second half, but although Aspas hit the crossbar again with another free kick, the Galicians failed to take advantage. (18.09.16)

Barcelona moved back to the top of the table pending Real Madrid’s game on Sunday after they beat newly promoted Leganés 1-5 on Saturday lunchtime. A capacity crowd turned up at the Butarque stadium hoping for a repeat of the surprise win by Alavés against the Catalans last weekend. However Luis Enrique was taking no chances with his line-up this time, and the front three of Messi, Luis Suárez and Neymar combined in various ways to tear the local defence apart and score a goal apiece before the break. Ter Stegen did have to keep out Machís at the other end, Umtiti blocking the forward’s follow up, but otherwise Barça dominated, and some ten minutes in to the second half Messi made it four from the penalty spot after Bustinza pulled down Neymar in the area. Serantes had to be at his best to push a shot from Messi on to the post soon afterwards, Paco Alcácer turning in the rebound only to be ruled offside, and a few minutes later Rafinha cut in from the right to score an impressive fifth. With ten minutes to go Gabriel got one back with a well struck free kick to give the home fans something to cheer about, but by then Barça were already thinking about next Wednesday’s clash with Atlético in the Nou Camp.

Atlético themselves though also notched up a “manita” in a 5-0 victory over Sporting Gijón later in the afternoon. Within five minutes they were already two up, Griezmann picking up Gameiro’s assist to open the scoring, and Gameiro himself cutting in from left of the area to curl in the second. Gaitán and Carrasco went close after that, and Gameiro had a strike ruled out for a questionable offside, and with just over half an hour gone Griezmann ran through to fire the third past Cuéllar. Sporting’s best efforts came from Cop and Burgui before the break, but Carrasco hit the outside of the post, and Griezmann came close to his hat-trick before Simeone decided to give him a rest. That brought on Fernando Torres though, and within five minutes “El Niño” got on the end of Correa’s centre to make it four. Nacho Cases should have scored for the visitors when through on goal if he had not snatched his shot wide, but with the game coming to an end Torres wrapped things up from the penalty spot after Lillo fouled Gaitán in the area.

The win takes Atleti up to fourth, but Las Palmas stay a point above them in third spot after a 1-0 win over Málaga in the last match on Saturday. The only goal came early on, Momo converting a penalty after Recio brought him down in the area. However for the rest of the first half the visitors were on top, Charles, Camacho and Jony in particular all failing to find the target with long shots. Bigas and Momo tried their luck at the other end either side of half time, but Javi Varas had to save from Sandro and En-Nesyri, and Charles volleyed a good chance over the top. In the end however the Canary Islanders could have won by a bigger margin when Araujo hit the post in the dying minutes.

Sevilla slip to fifth however after they were held to a 1-1 draw against an Eibar side who ended the game with nine men. Both coaches had changed their goalkeepers, Yoel replacing Riesgo, who was suspended after being sent off last weekend, and Sirigu given a run out by Jorge Sampaoli in the place of Sergio Rico, and they were in action early on to keep out Ganso and Kike García. Midway through the first half however Vietto picked up a through ball from Kiyotake to put the visitors ahead, and with the first half coming to a close Yoel was sent off for bringing down Vietto outside of the area. The locals fought back though, Capa going close before Pedro León controlled a cross from Luna to level the scores. Substitute keeper Areitio had to save from Vitolo, and Vietto missed an easy chance, but even when Dani García was also red-carded for a tackle on Vietto, the Andalusians could not find the route to goal. Another opportunity lost, and they have actually not won away in the league since May last year. (17.09.16)

An entertaining game to start off the weekend, Betis coming back from two goals down to draw 2-2 against neighbours Granada. The visitors started well, Adán having to save from Alberto Bueno before Carcela cut in to open the scoring with under a quarter of an hour on the clock. Bueno made it two with an angled shot some twenty minutes later, but three minutes after that youngster Alex Alegría headed one back, and before the break Ochoa had to keep out Joaquín and Rubén Castro. Joaquín hit the post with a free kick after the restart, and soon afterwards Granada were left with ten men when Rubén Vezo picked up two bookings in as many minutes. Alegría levelled the scores five minutes later after Piccini set him up, and Mandi came close to a third when he headed against the woodwork. In the following play though Adán gave away a penalty on Atzili, but the keeper saved Ponce’s spot kick and Pereira’s follow up, and a defender cleared a third effort from Ponce off the line. That set up a frenetic finish, and either team could have scored before the referee blew the final whistle. (16.09.16)