Levante hosted Elche on Friday night & won 2 - 1 with the home side making a comeback. The opening goal came from the visiting Club which scored in the 28th min with a goal from Sapunara. Levante Coach Caparros then changed forward Baba for Barral & the latter turned the match around with two goals - 42nd & 80th min. The win gives Levante oxygen & breaks a losing streak.
Osasuna gave the surprise this Saturday drawing 2 - 2 at home with Real Madrid. The Osasuna ground has traditionally been a "hell hole" for Real Madrid with a very hostile crowd & an extra motivated home side. Media had been writing & commenting that Real Madrid had finally found their "perfect XI" & Coach Ancelotti put it on to start today. However, things don't always go as planned as Oriol Riera scored first for Osasuna in the 15th min. This shock up Real Madrid somewhat as their play was not flowing so well. The second for Osasuna came in the 39th min again from Oriol Riera. Some scruffy defensive work work in both cases that will lead to same talk post-match.
Real Madrid was heated up as a possible penalty to Modric was not called & in the 43rd min Sergio Ramos received a red card ( double yellow ) which left his team with 10 men in the worst possible moment. Its the 18th red card that Ramos sees at Real Madrid & it is something that needs attention, however doubtful the decision may have been. Real Madrid post - match decided that they will appeal the decision as next week they face Valencia without Ramos & Pepe ( the latter also saw a yellow card )
Real Madrid reacted two minutes later - 45th min - after an individual play piece from Ronaldo that found Isco who fired in the goal.
The second half was full of action as Osasuna had chances to score but Real goalie Diego Lopez had to do once again all his "party tricks". Real Madrid was not finding their game & was being continuously frustrated by a solid Osasuna defence. All until Osasuna player Silva got his second second yellow, & consequently a red card in the 78th min, with the following free kick being crossed by Isco to find the head of Pepe who equalized in the 79th min. Real Madrid attempted thereafter to find the winner but Osasuna held out to get a valuable point, while the draw will feel more like a loss for Real Madrid.
A bad performance from Bale who did nothing & was substituted with defender Carvajal not too good either. Benzema was silent & Ronaldo missed some sitters & was over anxious to score which did not help. Best player for Real Madrid Xabi Alonso, again.
Madrid Club Rayo Vallecano sank further into a hole after losing 0 - 2 to Granada. Rayo will be unhappy with some decisions - penalties - not called & with the Red card to Nacho for faking a penalty dive which left his team with 10 men. Granada took advantage of the Rayo confusion, frustration, players advantage & simply did their work with goals from Fran Rico in the 35th min & Riki in the 89th min. Alarm bells at Rayo Vallecano.
With Real Madrid drawing at Osasuna it was an excellent opportunity for FC Barcelona to open up further their Liga Ladder gap with their main rival to 5 points if they could win. The opponent in front of them was Villarreal who was sticky, intense & gave the home side some trouble although Barça managed to win 2 - 1. In the end the class of the Barça players shined through with Iniesta, Cesc , Neymar & especially Alexis Sanchez driving their team towards the victory & the three points.
The goals for Barcelona came from Neymar who has found a goal streak with his first in the 30th min via a penalty & the second in the 68th min from a Alexis gift pass. Villarreal managed their earned goal & equalizer in the 48th min from Musacchio which put Barça against the ropes for some moments. Barça reacted & they then had Villarreal goalie Asenjo working hard the last 20 mins.
Important victory for Barça as they open up "space" on the ladder with rival Real Madrid.
Malaga FC hosted Madrid Club Getafe to win 1 - 0. The victory possibly lessened for now the risk of a "departure" of Malaga Coach Schuster, & has given oxygen to a suffocating team that was being strangled by losses & consequent negative results lately. The winner came in the 75th min with a Santa Cruz header from a Duda free-kick. Until then the match have been even & "trapped" in a stalemate as both sides had created chances but little more. Relief for Malaga but Getafe now feels the cold tightening hands around their own necks.
Tweet
No comments:
Post a Comment