Villarreal managed a 1 - 1 draw against bottom placed Real Betis. The locals went ahead in the 70th min thanks to a penalty that was not. Stiff for Betis as they watched how Villarreal player Soriano converted. Real Betis reacted with pure nerve & their forward Ruben Castro equalized in the 84th min. Valuable point for Betis, they cling onto faith to stay in Liga next season.
The match of the day, the Madrid derby between 2º placed Atletico de Madrid & 1º placed Real Madrid, ended in a 2 - 2 draw. The results keeps Real Madrid on top of the Liga ladder but puts Atletico further away from winning the Liga title. A game that saw Real Madrid get out alive from the "Vicente Calderon Stadium" after Atletico had them on the ropes, created numerous chances but failed to finish their rivals off with the last goal.
The match turned into a battle after Real Madrid went ahead early from a Karim Benzema goal in the 3rd min. Atletico de Madrid changed tactic & used their best resource, the physical man-to-man game they thrive on. The match turned into a clash of titans, very tough on the field & very contested. The limits of "violence" were reached in certain moments & this put Real Madrid on the defensive as Atletico grew in presence.
The controversial moment came in the 12th min when Sergio Ramos fouled Diego Costa in the goal area & the referee failed to call the penalty. From here things got heated & rough with Atletico equalizing in the 27th min from Koke. Atletico grew more & more with their physical play & Atletico Captain Gabi produced a "power driver" from 25 mts that put his team ahead in the 45th min.
The second half was again a battlefield & Atletico de Madrid created many chances with Diego Costa involved in most of the situations. Atletico de Madrid goalkeeper Courtois also did his job to keep out Real Madrid but Atletico was clearly superior. But as Football shows us time over, if you don't take your chances & if you allow the opponent to keep breathing you will pay. Atletico paid dearly for their earlier ineffectiveness in front of goal when Cristiano Ronaldo received a Carvajal pass alone in the goal area where he equalized in the 82nd min. A vital goal that keeps Real Madrid in the title hunt from a player that executes in the vital moments.
Real Madrid post match complained about the hardness of the match, Atletico regretted not taking their chances when available. Said this Atletico is still in the title hunt, although a bit more further then yesterday.
Sevilla FC "took the wind" out of the Real Sociedad sails this afternoon with an important 1 - 0 win at home. The dangerous Real Sociedad forward line was kept under control all match while Sevilla progressed throughout the match from starting ordinary to scoring the winner in the 77th min through Gameiro. The Real Sociedad goalie Bravo stopped the ball but it went loose for Gameiro to place into the net.
Madrid Club Rayo Vallecano hoovering at the bottom of the Liga table won 1 - 0 against Valencia CF. The visitors started well & looked strong with Alcacer hitting the bar, but Rayo improved & they also hit the bar via a Larrivey shot. The home side continued getting better & boxed in Valencia managing to put themselves ahead in the 61st min with a Larrivey goal. The equalizer nearly came for Valencia CF in the last moment but Vinicius failed in his attempt. Surprise result, but Rayo very happy with tonights effort as they are fighting to stay next season in the Spanish Liga category.
FC Barcelona jumped onto the field to play Almeria knowing that arch rivals Real Madrid had drawn their match with Atletico de Madrid. A win by Barça would reduce the 3 point gap to just 1 on the ladder & the whole team was focused towards that objective. After 90 mins the final result was a 4 - 1 win to Barça to put more spice into the Liga title race.
FC Barcelona was relevatively dominate all match except for some moments when Almeria admirably reached the goal area & caused real danger. Their only goal came in the 27th min from Trujillo with a header that was their equalizer. Before this Alexis had put Barça ahead in the 9th min, Messi scored a fabulous free-kick goal in the 24th min, Puyol got the third in the 83rd min & Xavi Hernandez the fourth from long-range in the 89th min. Barça could have scored many more goals but failed some real sitters that are hard to explain, apart from Almeria goalie Esteban who played his part in keeping the scoreline as low as possible.
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