Tag: La Liga

MADRID: Jude Bellingham on Saturday scored a 95th-minute goal to seal a 2-1 victory for Real Madrid over Getafe in the ongoing La Liga season at the new-look Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.

This victory maintained Real Madrid’s undefeated streak in La Liga 2023-24 season as they won all four games and are comfortably sitting at the top of the table.

Bellingham arrived from Borussia Dortmund in the summer following a huge transfer deal and has already surpassed Madrid’s hopes by settling in quickly.

The England international netted his fifth goal in four games to snatch three points from the derby clash, Madrid’s first game without injured forward Vinicius Junior.

Getafe started the game brilliantly with an early goal by former Madrid striker Borja Mayoral in the eleventh minute to send the visitors ahead.

However, Vinicius Junior’s replacement Joselu scored an equalizer early in the second half to help the home side level under a roof at Madrid’s remodeled stadium.

The match remained at that level and it appeared to end as a 1-1 draw, however, Jude Bellingham beats goalkeeper David Soria to the ball and pokes home for the winner a mere 6 minutes before the final whistle.

Bellingham joined a small group of players to have netted in each of their first four Liga matches, including Madrid’s all-time record goal scorer Cristiano Ronaldo.

Earlier in another La Liga fixture, Takefusa Kubo hit a brace to help Real Sociedad earn their first win of the ongoing La Liga season, beating promoted side Granada 5-3 in San Sebastian.

Meanwhile, Real Betis climbed to sixth position in the La Liga points table with a 1-0 win over Rayo Vallecano and Alaves edged Valencia by the same score.

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Celta Vigo registered their first victory in the ongoing La Liga season as they edged past Almeria in a five-goal thriller, meanwhile, Cadiz handed Villarreal their second consecutive loss in the season.

Celta Vigo and Almeria, both entered Almeria’s home ground Power Horse Stadium, looking for their first win in the 2023-24 La Liga season as they both drew one and lost two of their previous three games.

However, the visitors gained an early advantage in the 24th minute as Unai Núñez scored off a header from very close range to the bottom left corner.

Jørgen Strand Larsen scored another goal within ten minutes to extend Celta’s lead to 2-0.

Almeria’s Largie Ramazani missed an attempt minutes before the first half, however, Sergio Akieme scored one for the home side just eight minutes into the second half.

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Sergio Arribas then scored an equalizer in the 68th minute, thanks to Largie Ramazani’s assist.

But the visitors finally scored a late goal to finish the match at 3-2. Williot Swedberg was assisted by Manu Sánchez with a cross to score the match-winning header from very close range to the centre of the goal.

In another game, Cadiz playing at their home ground Nuevo Mirandilla dominated Villarreal after the visitors started the game on high with an early goal in the tenth minute, courtesy of Alexander Sørloth.

However, this proved to be the only success they found throughout the game as the home side made a sounding comeback and won the game 3-1.

Chris Ramos scored the equalizer in the 18th minute but was shown a yellow card for excessive celebration. Four minutes later, Alfonso Pedraza of Villarreal was sent out with a red card for violent conduct.

Cadiz was awarded a penalty in the 30th minute which Darwin Machís successfully converted to get his team the lead over the visitors. He scored another one, right after the first half to further extend his team’s lead to close the match at 3-1.

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PUENTE DE VALLECAS: Atletico Madrid ruthlessly destroyed Rayo Vallecano in their own backyard on Monday with a score of 7-0, consequently jumping to second position in the La Liga points table at Campo de Fútbol de Vallecas (Estadio de Vallecas).

Both teams went to the ground without a loss in their previous two games, however, the visitors gained an early advantage as Antoine Griezmann scored in the second minute into the game courtesy of Rodrigo De Paul’s assist.

Rodrigo De Paul also attempted to score a goal of his own, but his attempt was missed.

Rayo Vallecano made two vain attempts before Atletico Madrid’s Memphis Depay extended the lead to 2-0 at the 16-minute mark.

Rodrigo De Paul made another assist in the 36th minute as Nahuel Molina scored the third goal for Atletico Madrid.

The home side made two attempts before the first half but failed to get a goal over Atletico.

The game appeared to be over at 3-0 in the first half but the visitors did not slow down, and struck the fourth goal in the 73rd minute thanks to Álvaro Morata, who came off the bench for injured Memphis Depay. The fifth goal came a mere six minutes later as Ángel Correa netted from outside the box.

Ángel Correa assisted Álvaro Morata to score another goal in the 84th minute before Marcos Llorente hit the final nail in the coffin with the seventh goal only two minutes later to hand a humiliating defeat to Rayo Vallecano.

This was the biggest-ever away win in La Liga for Atletico Madrid.

In another La Liga game, home side Getafe clinched a late victory over Alaves after a hard-fought game at Coliseum Alfonso Pérez. The scores were level at the 80-minute mark and the game appeared to be drawn, however, Alaves’ Xeber Alkain was shown a yellow card, awarding a penalty to Getafe. Borja Mayoral successfully converted the penalty to close the game with a 1-0 win.

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VILLARREAL: Defending champions Barcelona came back from behind to steal the victory from home team Villarreal in a thrilling clash in the ongoing La Liga season at El Madrigal on Sunday.

The team Villarreal began the game strong, but Barcelona quickly turned the tables with two goals in just three minutes, scored by Gavi and Frenkie de Jong, putting the hosts under immense pressure early on.

Villarreal, however, pulled one back at the 25-minute mark as Juan Foyth rose highest at a corner and headed past a helpless Ter Stegen. They did not stop there and Alexander Sørloth scored an equalizer in the 39th minute to close the first half at 2-2.

Just five minutes into the second half Villarreal’s Alex Baena stunned Barcelona with a right-footed shot from the left side of the box to give the home side an advantage over the defending champions.

Barcelona’s 16-year-old prodigy Lamine Yamal hit a right-footed shot from the centre of the box to equalize but it hit the bar to deny a lead to the Catalans.

However, Ferran Torres, who came off the bench to replace Oriol Romeu, scored an equalizer for Barcelona in the 68th minute. Meanwhile, they went ahead of Villarreal in the 71^st minute as Polish striker Robert Lewandowski finally got his name on the scoresheet with the winning goal, after failing to net the ball in the previous two matches against Getafe and Cadiz.

Barcelona’s Ansu Fati made two attempts in the last few minutes, however, the hosts denied any other goal to finish the game at a deficit of one goal.

In another La Liga fixture played at San Mames, home side Atheltic Club thumped Real Betis 4-2 to register their second consecutive victory in the season.

The visitors started the game tremendously with Willian José scoring at the two-minute mark into the game. They doubled the lead with a goal eight minutes later as Aitor Ruibal assisted Isco to lead by 2-0.

However, Nico Williams’ foul allowed a penalty to the home side, and Mikel Vesga converted the penalty to reduce the difference for Athletic Club. Mikel Vesga scored off another penalty to level the scores.

Just before the final whistle for the first half, Gorka Guruzeta netted the ball to give the lead to the home side.

Real Betis made several attempts in the second half but Athletic Club did not allow them to get past and dominated the game, and scored another goal in the 84^th minute to close the match at 4-2.

Meanwhile, Osasuna defeated Valencia (2-1) at their home ground Mestalla Stadium to deny them second spot in the La Liga points table.

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SEVILLE: Girona rocketed to the second position in the La Liga 2023-24 points table, after thumping home-side Sevilla 2-1 to register their second win in the ongoing La Liga season at Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium on Saturday.

The home side started the game on high with an early missed attempt by Lucas Ocampos, however, Girona quickly took things under control with a right-footed shot from the centre of the box by Yangel Herrera in the 15th minute.

Sevilla, however, kept challenging Girona’s defence and made several attempts but all in vain until Nemanja Gudelj finally hit the centre of the net minutes before half-time to level the scores.

Girona did not wait too long, as Arnau Martínez assisted Aleix García to give visitors the match-winning advantage in the 55th minute.

Sevilla’s Ivan Rakitic scored an equalizer four minutes later, however, it was ruled out after a VAR review further adding to the frustrations of the home side.

Sevilla fought hard till the end looking to equalize but Girona held their ground to deny any goal, keeping their lead intact to finish the game at 2-1.

In another match played at Nuevo Estadio de Los Cármenes, Granada edged Mallorca 3-2 to register their first win in the ongoing La Liga season.

Both teams kicked off this match looking for their first win in the season, however, home-side Gernada quickly gained the lead in the eleventh minute as Miguel Ángel Rubio scored thanks to a cross by José Callejón.

The visitors scored the equalizer in the 37th minute courtesy of Abdón Prats to close the first half at 1-1. The home side, however, made a resounding comeback in the first minute of the second half to get the lead back.

They further extended their lead with a penalty by Myrto Uzuni in the 69th minute after Cyle Larin was shown a yellow card for handball.

Mallorca made several attempts and consequently scored their second goal by Samú Costa in the 87th minute before the final whistle announced victory for the home side.

Meanwhile, in another La Liga fixture, Almeria scored a late equalizer in the extra-time over Cadiz to settle for a 1-1 stalemate.

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VIGO: Former La Liga champions Real Madrid continued their impressive start to the ongoing season as they triumphed 1-0 over Celta Vigo, courtesy of Jude Bellingham’s late winner.

Bellingham arrived from Borussia Dortmund in the summer following a huge transfer deal and has already surpassed Madrid’s hopes by settling in quickly.

The English midfielder, having scored in the two previous La Liga fixtures for Real Madrid, made it three in a row, after heading Joselu’s cross into the nets in the 81st minute to help Los Blancos prevail.

Celta Vigo did well to keep Real Madrid at bay for longer stretches, but in the end, failed to keep a clean sheet as Jude Bellingham sneaked past their defence and scored the winner in the dying moments.

Real Madrid had a perfect opportunity to pull ahead earlier, but Rodrygo’s penalty was saved by Celta keeper Ivan Villar.

Despite scripting a perfect start to their La Liga 2023/23 campaign — winning three consecutive opening matches and sitting at the top of the standings — problems emerged for Carlo Ancelotti’s side as their key striker Vinicius Jr was taken off the field due to an injury.

Vinicius went on a dash down the left side of the field and appeared to tweak the back of his left leg just 13 minutes into the game.

The Brazilian tried to keep going but only managed five more minutes before asking to be substituted.

Los Blancos, however, avoided a major setback as the initial reports suggested a minor thigh problem.

Real Madrid next face Getafe on September 2 while Celta Vigo will take on Almeria on the same day in their next La Liga fixture.

Meanwhile, in another La Liga fixture, Las Palmas and Real Sociedad settled for a goalless stalemate to share a point each.

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Alaves registered their first win in the ongoing La Liga season as they defeated Sevilla 4-3 in a hard-fought battle, while, Rayo Vallecano jumped to second position after thumping Granada 2-0.

Alaves, returned to La Liga this season, after earning a promotion in the play-off stage of Segunda División (second division). However, they started this season with a loss at the hands of Cadiz.

They started the game on high with a seventh-minute goal by Luis Rioja, however, Abdelkabir Abqar’s own goal in the 15th minute levelled the score.

Sevilla’s Erik Lamela scored a goal on his own in the 40th minute to give his side the lead, however, their lead was short-lived as Alaves equalized three minutes later with a goal by Rubén Duarte to close the first half at 2-2.

Click to watch La Liga 2023-24 Live on ARY ZAP

Alaves had a flying start to the second half as Kike García stunned the home crowd with two goals in five minutes to give his side the decisive 4-2 lead which remained intact until Sevilla’s Rafa Mir scored a goal in the final minutes of extra time to close the game at 4-3.

In another game of La Liga, Rayo Vallecano crushed home side Granada 2-0 to sink them to the bottom of the table with two losses, while they are comfortably sitting in the second position with two clean sheets in two games.

Both teams defended enough to not allow the opponent to score until Rayo’s Álvaro García gave the first goal in the 74th minute to give visitors an upper hand.

They extended their lead to 2-0 four minutes later with the match-winning goal by Pathé Ciss before the home side was reduced to 10 men as Antonio Puertas was shown the red card in the 85th minute.

Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid were held by Real Betis in a goalless stalemate.

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Pedri and Ferran Torres scored late goals to help defending champions Barcelona register their first victory in the 2023-24 La Liga season, as they edged Cadiz 2-0 on Sunday.

After a controversial drawn game against Getafe in their season-opener, Barcelona stepped into Montjuic -Barcelona’s new home as Camp Nou undergoes renovation-, looking for their first win in the ongoing season of La Liga, without their star winger Raphinha and coach Xavi.

Barcelona coach Xavi was banned for two games after being handed a red card for his touchline behaviour against Getafe, while Raphinha also received a red card for elbowing an opponent in the first half.

Cadiz, on the other hand, entered the match with the momentum gained from their 1-0 win over Alaves in their season-opener. However, they also missed their midfielder Gonzalo Escalante, who received a red card in the previous game.

Barcelona dominated the game from the first whistle and had a chance in the 28th minute when 16-year-old Lamine Yamal’s attempt was denied by a brilliant save by the Cadiz goalkeeper. The first half ended in a stalemate.

Barcelona made several attempts in the second half but to no avail, until Pedri finally gave the home side a much-needed lead at the 81-minute mark. Ferran Torres then replaced Lamine Yamal in the 85^th minute and scored in the extra time to close the match at 2-0.

In another La Liga fixture, Girona defeated Getafe 3-0 to jump to the third position in the points table with a superior goal difference.

Girona started the game strongly with a goal in the 12^th minute as Yangel Herrera scored off a header to give the advantage to the home side.

The first half closed at 1-0, however, Girona riding high on the momentum gained in the first half, came stronger in the second half.

Girona forward, Cristhian Stuani showed his brilliance and scored a brace in ten minutes to give Girona a decisive 3-0 lead, which remained intact until the final whistle.

Girona will now face Sevilla on August 27, while defending champions Barcelona will face Villarreal on the same day.

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Real Madrid started the 2023-24 La Liga with back-to-back victories as they registered a thumping win over Almeria 3-1 on Saturday, thanks to Jude Bellingham, who scored two goals in his second La Liga game.

This victory rocketed Real Madrid to the top of the table, while Almeria sunk to the bottom after the loss.

Almeria finished 17th last season and lost to Rayo Vallecano 2-0 at home in their season-opener, however, they started off well against Real Madrid with an early advantage as Sergio Arribas scored off a header in the third minute to give the home side a lead of 1-0.

However, Jude Bellingham pulled his side back with an equalizer in the 19th minute to bring the scores to level.

Both sides fought well to close the first half at a solid 1-1 after a goal by Toni Kroos in the extra time was ruled out by VAR.

The second half started equally well for both times, however, Real Madrid pulled things back in their favour just before the 60th minute, when Jude Bellingham met a Toni Kroos’ shot and successfully scored the header to give his team the lead.

Jude Bellingham further added an assist to his tally when he assisted Vinicius Jr to score a decisive third goal for Real Madrid in the 72nd minute.

Almeria’s Luis Suarez made several attempts to score but to no avail, as Real Madrid kept their lead intact until the final whistle.

This was Jude Bellingham’s second game for Real Madrid, after making his La Liga debut with a goal in Real Madrid’s season opener against Atheltic Bilbao (Athletic Club).

Notably, the 19-year-old English midfielder Bellingham joined Real Madrid this summer from Borussia Dortmund at a base transfer fee of €103 million.

In another game, the aforementioned Atheltic Bilbao defeated Osasuna 2-0 to register their first win of the season. They scored the first goal in the eleventh-minute curtesy Inaki Williams, meanwhile, Gorka Guruzeta further improved the lead to 2-0 in the 20th minute before being reduced to ten men as Oihan Sancet was sent out in the 59th minute.

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Valencia edged Las Palmas 1-0 at home to earn back-to-back victories which propelled them to pip Atletico Madrid at the summit of the ongoing La Liga 2023/24.

Midfielder José “Pepelu” Garcia, who arrived from Levante in the offseason, successfully converted a penalty in the 73rd minute after Javi Moz was booked for a handball in the area.

Valencia, who struggled to avoid relegation last season, started this campaign on a high as they claimed back-to-back victories, beating Sevilla 2-1 and Las Palmas respectively.

Ruben Baraja’s side lost several key players in the summer including their regular starters Samuel Lino, Edinson Cavani, Yunus Musah, Justin Kluivert, Ilaix Moriba and Nico González.

The first half of the game saw Las Palmas’ goalkeeper Álvaro Vallés saving shots by Diego López and Thierry Correa when the visitors enjoyed more possession but the hosts had better chances.

Valencia next face Osasuna on Sunday (August 27) while Las Palmas will take on Real Sociedad on August 27.

Meanwhile, in another La Liga fixture, Villarreal claimed a narrow 1-0 victory over RCD Mallorca, courtesy of a brilliant second-half goal by Gerard Moreno.

The two sides put on a rigorous battle at San Moix but despite Quique Setien’s aggressive lineup, Villarreal struggled to establish a rhythm and create chances at first.

Alex Baena and Ben Brereton Diaz then stood out in the later part of the first half, allowing Villarreal to push forward more.

The Yellow Submarine finally got the reward when a corner saw the ball fired towards Predrag Rajkovic, who deflected it to Gerard, who then guided it in for the only goal of the game.

Mallorca then made desperate efforts to push forward, leaving their defence wide open and substitute Etienne Capoue tried to make the most of it but Villarreal failed to strike again to make the victory more dominating.

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