Atletico de Madrid keeps up its winning streak with a convincing 4 - 2 win at home against Almeria. The home side was serious & disciplined & managed to "kill off" their opponents in the right time to remain comfortable. The visitors were gritty in defeated & to their merit managed to score two goals.
David Villa opened things with his 14th min goal for Atletico, which was followed by a second by Diego Costa in the 36th min. Almeria reacted & got one back in the 39th min which lifted their hopes at the end of the first half. However, Atletico lifted again & got a third via a great fix play free converted by Thiago in the 64th min & the game sealer came in the 67th thanks to a nice goal from Koke. Levante gave the result a "cosmetic touch" with a second goal in the 90th min from Vidal.
Levante hosted Real Sociedad in a game that ended in a 0 - 0 draw. Real Sociedad perhaps had their minds on Champions League while Levante was unlucky. Xabi Prieto hit the woodwork for Real Sociedad in the 67th min, while Real Sociedad keeper Claudio Bravo saved his team from defeat keeping out Levante from scoring all the second half. Shared points with Levante perhaps disappointed that they should have been prized more for their efforts.
FC Barcelona hosted an always difficult Sevilla FC to just win 3-2 & in "controversial" fashion. Controversial because Sevilla will claim that a goal was unfairly disallowed mid way through the second half plus the winner for Barça may have been outside the given extra-time, & after watching the replays, mmmmmmm.
Apart from the above, Sevilla took the position that most visitors take at "Camp Nou", solid defending while awaiting their chance to counter-attack. This sometimes works especially if your patient enough & await for possible Barça mistakes. The bad news for Barça is the injury to Jordi Alba which will go examination later to see to what extent.
The first half was for Barça hitting the woodwork & creating multiple chances. Neymar was dangerous & combining well with Messi along with the whole team. The opening goal came in the 36th min when Alves headed home from an Adriano pass.
The second half witnessed a Barcelona side go from good to worst with terrible defensive mistakes towards the end. A Sevilla goal was - I think - unfairly disallowed in the 72nd min, which some after lead to the second goal for Barcelona in the 75th min from a Cesc - Neymar play which Messi scored. From here Sevilla went looking for the luck & their man of the match Rikitic scored in the 80th min. From here the Barça defence fell apart & Sevilla had multiple chances of goal. The equalizer came in the 90th min when Coke scored for Sevilla.
Then in the last moment & over the 3 minutes given of extra-time Alexis gave Barcelona the winner in the 94th min from a great Messi play.
Controversial finish which will have debate, that saw a FC Barcelona side pushed around late by a brave & unlucky Sevilla FC.
Villarreal CF drew 2 - 2 with Real Madrid in a game that they should have won. They did not win because Real Madrid goalie Diego Lopez showed why he is ahead of Casillas making 6-7 game savers, because Villarreal missed some unexplained sitters & the individual talents of Real Madrid players - for example Cristiano Ronaldo - saved their day.
Real Madrid signing Gareth Bale debuted & showed signs of his talents & even scored the equalizer in the 38th min from a Carvajal pass, but the team risked having him on the field up to the 60th min as his psychical state was low & he still needs to tactically settle into the team. Patience needed here.
Villarreal is a very good team, very well placed on the field, disciplined & with a talented midfield ( Bruno & Cani ) of ball players that opened up Real Madrid all night & created multiple goal chances all match.
Real Madrid has some important players injuried - Marcelo, Arbeloa, Coentrao, Xabi Alonso etc ...& lots of new members which basically has the "under construction" sign still hanging on the wall of the Club. Lastly Benzema is a poor sight to watch & is close to risking his place in the team with Morata close on his heels which he substituted around the 70th min mark.
Villarreal scored first with Cani in the 20th min, which Real Madrid answered with a Gareth Bale equalizer in the 38th min. Real Madrid went ahead thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo in the 63rd min & Villarreal equalized thanks to Giovani in the 69th min.
In summary, shared points, great match from Villarreal, warning to Real Madrid & their "Best Player" was goalkeeper Diego Lopez which says is it all about tonight's Club & Villarreal performance.
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