News Archive

Match round-up - First Division, Day 5

All three matches on Thursday ended with two to one scorelines, Espanyol and Valencia clocking up their first victories of the season, and Leganés coming from behind to beat Deportivo. Espanyol won 1-2 at Osasuna, a result which took the Catalans away from the danger zone, and left their hosts down at the bottom of the table. Visiting keeper Diego López had to make early saves from Sergio León and David García, and Jaime Romero also fired an angled shot just wide of the mark. However Leo Baptistao hit the outside of the post, and with four minutes to go to the break he got above the defence to head a Javi López centre past Mrio for the opener. Sergio León levelled the scores after Romero set him up midway through the second half, but Marc Roca headed a chance just wide, and with twenty minutes to go Roca put Gerard Moreno through for him to lift an angled shot past Mario.

Later in the evening bottom club Valencia beat Alavés 2-1, another win for caretaker coach Voro, who took over once again after Pako Ayestarán was fired midweek. Voro has been called upon a few times in similar circumstances, winning five of the seven matches he has been in charge of, and his side got off to a confident start, Enzo Pérez, Rodrigo and Nani all going close before Laguardia headed Gayà’s cross back in to his own net. The visitors though were defending an unbeaten record which included a win in the Nou Camp in their last outing, and Toquero headed the equalizer from Katai’s corner on the stroke of half time. After the restart however Mangala headed against the upright and Santi Mina brought a good save out of Pacheco, and with three minutes to go Parejo got the winner from the penalty spot after Llorente tripped Bakkali in the area.

Leganés meanwhile recorded their second victory of the season in Galicia after their opening day win at Celta, the Madrid based side coming back from a goal down to beat Deportivo 1-2. Serantes had to save a couple of times from Marlos Moreno early on, and with half an hour on the clock Celso Borges connected with a Luisinho cross to fire a shot past the visiting keeper. Either side of half time Víctor Díaz deflected a Luisinho centre on to his own crossbar and Andone headed against the post. But soon afterwards Luciano Neves headed a return pass from Gabriel past Lux to make it all square, and seven minutes later Gabriel himself headed a Víctor Díaz cross in off the post for the second, the referee waving away claims for the positional offside of two players. With the game coming to a close Serantes kept out Andone again, and the frustrated local fans booed their players off the park at the end. (22.09.16)

Leaders Real Madrid were held to a 1-1 draw by Villarreal on Wednesday, the result bringing to an end their record run of sixteen league wins in a row. Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale were back in the line-up alongside Benzema, and all three had chances before the break, Benzema and Ronaldo bringing good saves out of Sergio Asenjo, and Ronaldo and Bale shooting wide. Kiko Casilla had to be at his best though to tip a shot from Cheryshev over the top, and with the first half coming to a close the visitors were awarded a penalty when Sergio Ramos blocked a shot from Trigueros with his arm. Bruno stroked home a “Panenka” style soft spot kick, but just two minutes after the restart Ramos made up for his mistake, the Spanish international defender levelling the scores with a header from a James corner. This time however Zidane’s side were unable to repeat the comeback they had achieved in their last home game against Sporting Lisbon, Asenjo in particular making key saves from Kroos, Morata and Ronaldo to keep up his team’s unbeaten record.

Real Madrid stay two points clear at the top of the table however after Barcelona and Atlético Madrid also drew 1-1 later in the evening. As has been the case recently in clashes between these two sides, Atleti’s well disciplined defence allowed their opponents few chances, Oblak only having to save from Messi and Iniesta, and Neymar firing a shot just wide of the post. Carrasco tested Ter Stegen in a rare attack from the visitors, but with five minutes to go to the break Rakitic got on the end of Iniesta’s cross to head the opener. After the interval though Ter Stegen had to keep out an early shot from Griezmann, and Luis Enrique had to make two unprogrammed changes when Busquets and Messi both went off, the former suffering from a bout of flu and the latter with a recurring groin injury. Simeone brought on Correa and Fernando Torres and it had an immediate effect, Correa picking up a quickly taken free kick and taking advantage of a slip by Mascherano to fire home the equalizer. Neymar and Godín brought further saves out of the two keepers later on, and Piqué headed Neymar’s free kick just past the post, but in the end the points were shared, leaving Barça below Sevilla in third place, and their opponents a point below them in fourth.

Las Palmas drop out of the Champions League spots to fifth though after they lost 4-1 at Real Sociedad. The Basque side took the lead with less than a minute on the clock, Willian José turning a shot past Javi Varas on the far post after Carlos Martínez crossed from the right wing. And midway through the first half Carlos Vela made it two from the penalty spot, Boateng getting himself sent off for stopping a Willian José header with his hand as it was entering the net. That left the Canary Islanders reeling, and with ten minutes to go to the break Zurutuza got on the end a Xabi Prieto centre to head home the third. Willian José added a fourth with a second penalty after David Simón pulled back Oyarzabal in the area early on in the second half, and although Tana got one back three minutes later after Roque put him through, the game was already over.

Athletic Bilbao moved up level with Atlético, Villarreal and Las Palmas after they won 1-2 at Granada, a third league win in a row for Valverde’s team. Raúl García picked up a deflected cross to fire the opener in off Ochoa’s far post on the quarter hour mark, and the keeper had to be on his toes to save from Aduríz a few minutes later. With half time approaching though Carcela-González latched on to a loose ball in the area to make it all square, and a couple of minutes after the restart Kepa did well to tip a long effort from Alberto Bueno on to the bar and out for a corner. Kravets tested the Spanish under 21 keeper again later on, and Raúl García and Aduríz came up against Ochoa in reply, but with a quarter of an hour to go the local keeper could only block a San José header from a Beñat corner, and Laporte was on hand to turn in the rebound.

Sporting Gijón are down to tenth spot after they were beaten 2-1 at Celta, a first victory of the season for the Galicians. Berizzo’s side had only scored one goal in their first four league games, but with only a minute gone Cuéllar had to save from a Cabral header, and a few minutes later the visiting keeper did well to tip a shot from Bongonda over the bar. Like many teams, the Asturians had made several changes for the midweek match, and Sergio Alvarez was only troubled by a couple of efforts from Viguera and Víctor Rodríguez before the break. With an hour on the clock though Cuéllar had to keep out Pione Sisto, and five minutes later the Danish winger cut through to lay the ball back for Hugo Mallo to score. With ten minutes to go though it looked as if Abelardo’s team were going to save a point when Duje Cop converted a penalty for a foul by Roncaglia on the Croatian striker, but with full time approaching Celta were awarded a second penalty for a trip by Amorebieta on Radoja, and Iago Aspas stepped up to fire home the winner. (21.09.16)

Games are coming thick and fast at this stage of the season, and no sooner had week four finished than week five began. Two matches on Tuesday evening, Málaga kicking things off with a 2-1 victory over Eibar. Sandro went close a couple of times and Chory Castro tested Riesgo as the locals controlled the early play, but with three minutes to go to the break debutant Nano gave the visitors the lead after Inui crossed in from the left wing, the striker beating Kameni at the second attempt after the keeper saved his first header. However just two minutes later Sandro equalized, turning past Mauro Dos Santos before firing a shot inside Riesg’s near post, and before the half time whistle Dos Santos deflected a shot from Rosales for a corner. Adrián missed a chance to restore the lead later on the second half, but Riesgo had to save from Sandro and En-Nesyri, and the young substitute fired home the winner with a quarter of an hour to go.

The big derby game between Sevilla and Betis followed, the locals running out 1-0 victors in what was, as always, a physical match. Sampaoli’s side had the better of the first half, Vázquez, Escudero and Vietto all wasting chances, and some six minutes in to the second half Mercado got a slight touch to Nasri’s free kick to deflect the ball past Adán. Two minutes later though it looked as if the visitors had levelled it when Alex Alegría turned a Rubén Castro cross in to the net, but referee Estrada Fernández ruled out the strike for a non-existent offside. Durmisi fired a free kick over the top and Castro brought a good save out of Sergio Rico later on the second half, but Vázquez came close to increasing the lead with a shot which went just past the post. Bragging rights to the red side of Sevilla though, and they end the day in second spot pending the rest of the midweek games. (20.09.16)