News Archive

Match round-up - First Division, Day 26

Third placed Sevilla lost ground on the two leaders after they were held to a 1-1 draw at Alavés on Monday evening. Manu García and Deyverson both missed early chances for the locals, and Ben Yedder put the Andalusians ahead midway through the first half after picking up a pass from Sarabia. Iborra and Ben Yedder could have extended the lead either side of half time, but Toquero and Camarasa went close at the other end, and with a quarter of an hour to go Katai levelled the scores after Sergio Rico let an Oscar Romero cross through his hands. (06.03.17)

Atlético Madrid held on to fourth place in the end after a 3-0 win over Valencia on Sunday afternoon. Simeone’s side had been overtaken by Real Sociedad the night before, but with only ten minutes gone Griezmann connected with a Koke through ball to give them the lead. Griezmann and Gameiro went close before the break and Diego Alves had to save from Carrasco soon after the restart, and a minute or so later Gameiro made it two with a shot from the edge of the area which took a slight deflection off Mangala. The visitors only troubled Oblak with a couple of efforts late on from Munir and Zaza, and with seven minutes to go Griezmann wrapped things up after Thomas poked on a pass from Gaitán, the referee waving away appeals for offside.

Later in the evening Athletic Bilbao beat Málaga 1-0 to move back up to seventh. Charles headed an early chance wide, but for the rest of the first half the locals were on top, Kameni saving from Susaeta and Balenziaga, and Lekue, Yeray and Raúl García all failing to find the target. Iraizoz had to keep out a header from Jonny after the interval, but Raúl García went close a couple of times before Camacho deflected a shot from Williams on to the post with his arm, Raúl Garcíaconverting the resulting spot kick. Camacho and Charles tried their luck after that, but it was another defeat for the Andalusians, and coach Gato Romero may be on his way out very soon.

Elsewhere Deportivo beat Sporting Gijón 0-1 in the mid-day kick-off to take the Galicians seven points clear of their hosts, who end the weekend in next to bottom spot. Sergio Alvarez and Traoré missed early chances for the locals, and with just over half an hour gone the visitors were awarded a penalty when Mikel Vesga handled in the area. Cuéllar saved Çolak’s spot kick, but with half time approaching Mosquera got on the end of a Fayçal Fajr corner to head the opener past the local keeper. Lux had to save from Burgui and Traoré either side of half time and Carlos Castro had a late penalty appeal turned down, but Depor held on to give new coach Pepe Mel a first victory.

Bottom club Osasuna are now even further adrift of the rest after they were beaten 5-2 at Las Palmas. The Pamplona based side were actually leading at half time, Kodro beating a shaky Javi Varas twice in a six minute period round the half hour mark to overturn an early opener from Jesé. Olavide missed an easy chance to extend the lead after the interval, but soon afterwards Livaja levelled the scores with a header from Roque’s cross, and with twenty minutes to go Unai García scored a comic own goal when he slipped and sliced the ball in to his own net trying to clear a centre from Livaja. A few minutes later Roque fired home the fourth, the referee allowing the strike to stand even though the ball had passed under the legs of the offside Lemos, and with four minutes left on the clock Jesé got his second of the night after Jonathan Viera put him through. (05.03.17)

Real Madrid and Barcelona both clocked up big wins on Saturday to keep up their push for the league title. Real Madrid were missing the injured Ronaldo and the suspended Bale, but they still beat seventh placed Eibar 1-4 to move back to the top of the table pending Barça’s match later in the evening. In the absence of his two colleagues, Benzema stepped up to the plate with two goals in the first twenty five minutes, the first following a Marco Asensio centre, and the second after a long free kick from James. Soon afterwards the striker turned provider for James to turn his cross in for the third, and Asensio and Benzema both brought good saves out of Yoel before the break. With an hour on the clock Asensio added a fourth after a shot from James came to him off the post, and it was only when the visitors relaxed that Eibar troubled Keylor Navas, Escalante having a strike ruled out for offside before Rubén Peña got on the end of a Pedro León centre to net a late consolation for the hosts.

Barcelona ended the day still a point ahead of Zidane’s team though, albeit having played a game more, after a 5-0 victory over Celta. Luis Suárez and Messi both hit the post before Messi scored a “house-special”, picking the ball up in midfield on running on to beat Sergio Alvarez midway through the first half. With five minutes to go to the break Neymar made it two with a clever lob over the keeper after Messi put him through, and soon after the restart Sergi Roberto got free on goal only to over-run the ball and allow the keeper to clear. Luis Enrique’s side added three more though in a seven minute period midway through the second half, Rakitic (from an offside position), Umtiti and Messi the scorers, and Ter Stegen was not troubled until Daniel Wass and Iago Aspas fired shots just wide later on. Barça now go in to their midweek Champions League tie against Paris Saint Germain with a virtually impossible task of overturning a four goal deficit, but knowing that the scorelines of their two home games this week would be enough to turn things around.

Meanwhile sixth placed Villarreal opened up a six point gap over the chasing pack pending Sunday’s games after a 2-0 win over Espanyol. Both keepers had saves to make in the first half, Diego López keeping out Bakambu and Roberto Soriano, and Andrés stopping an effort from Jurado. Gerardo Moreno had a goal disallowed for a previous foul, but with the first half coming to a close Soriano got on the end of Mario’s cross to turn the ball in to the net with his knee. After the interval Trigueros struck a free kick against the crossbar, and Jurado fired a shot over the top. With ten minutes to go though Diego López could only push out another shot from Trigueros, and Bakambu turned in the rebound which the keeper ended up deflecting in to his own net off the back of his head after pushing the shot against the post.

Further down the table Leganés took a big step towards survival after they beat relegation rivals Granada 1-0. The Madrid based side dominated for most of the match, Gabriel going close before the break and Ochoa having to save from El Zhar in particular after the restart. The visitors’ first effort at goal was a Wakaso free kick which Herrerín dealt with comfortably with a quarter of an hour left on the clock, and with seven minutes to go Machís got the only goal against his old side after Erik Morán played on a cross from Luciano Neves. The result takes Asier Garitano’s team five points clear of their opponents in the table. (04.03.17)

Real Sociedad moved up to fourth spot pending Atlético’s game on Sunday after beating Betis 2-3 in the Friday night match. Jon Bautista took advantage of a rare start to open the scoring for the Basque side, the youngster controlling a long pass from Illarramendi with his shoulder before turning a shot past Adán. Six minutes later though Mandi equalized with an acrobatic scissors kick following a short corner, and substitute Sanabria wasted a chance to give the locals the lead soon afterwards. Midway through the first half though Xabi Prieto restored the lead with an angled shot from the edge of the area, and Adán had to be at his best to keep out Yuri a minute later. After the restart Sanabria hit the bar before levelling it once again with a header from a Rubén Castro cross, but with twenty minutes to go Xabi Prieto headed the winner after Oyarzabal crossed in from the left wing. (03.03.17)