ALMERIA: Barcelona faced a shock 1-0 defeat at the hands of Almeria in the top Spanish League on Sunday thanks to the winner scored by El-Bilal Toure.
La Liga leaders Barcelona wasted the opportunity to extend their lead to 10 points over arch-rivals and second-placed Real Madrid who finished a tense 1-1 draw against Atletico Madrid on Saturday.
The disappointing result ended the seven-game winning streak of the Catalan Giants in La Liga and came just days after the team was knocked out of the Europa League on Thursday by Manchester United.
Almeria capitalized on the home advantage and proved their dominance n the first half with a goal in the 24th minute when Luis Suarez sent a superb long pass to Toure who was ghosting behind the opponents’ defence. The Malian forward rushed towards the area and hit a tremendous strike in off the crossbar.
It was only the eighth goal Barcelona conceded in the current season.
Barcelona made five substitutions in the second but failed to find an equalizer against Almeria’s disciplined defence.
Almeria earned their first win after eight games and gained three crucial points in their bid to leave the relegation zone.
In another fixture LaLiga fixture on Sunday, Osasuna sealed a thrilling win over Sevilla by 3-2 thanks to the 85th-minute decider by Abde Ezzalzouli.
Earlier Celta Vigo breezed past Valladolid 3-0 at Balaídos while Girona stunned Athletic Club 3-2 at San Mames.
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ELCHE: Real Betis scripted an astounding comeback from being two goals to beating home side Elche 3-2 with Willian Jose scoring on a penalty in the stoppage time.
Last-placed Elche were off to a dream start to their home clash with Real Betis as the side attained a two-goal lead within the first 10 minutes into the game with Fidel Chaves and Lucas Boye scoring for the hosts.
Yet Pablo Machin’s team’s fortunes began to deteriorate in the second half. The visitors made several significant adjustments and soon benefited from having an extra man as the referee sent back Pape Cheikh Diop in the 57th minute.
The advantages soon resulted in Betis pulling back first through Borja Iglesias’s penalty in the 65th minute. Iglesias then fed Juan Miranda who struck three minutes later to equalize the hosts’ lead at 2-2.
Iglesias had another penalty opportunity two minutes before regulation time, but Elche’s goalkeeper Edgar Badia made a fine stop on his effort from 12 yards out to bar Betis from taking the lead.
Elche were then looking solid for holding Betis for a point but the hosts conceded another penalty in the stoppage time, which Jose made no mistake in converting and steered his side to victory.
Following the victory, Betis moved one point within the fourth-placed Atletico Madrid, while Elche remained at the bottom at 13 points from safety.
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PAMPLONA: Defending champions Real Madrid battled hard to seal a comprehensive 2-0 away triumph over Osasuna to cut the gap with La Liga leaders Barcelona to five points.
Young Brazilian forward Vinicius Jr led Madrid’s attack as Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema missed his side’s away fixture against Osasuna as coach Carlo Ancelotti rested the France attacker ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League last-16 first leg at Anfield.
Benzema’s absence did not trouble the visitors much as Vinicius nearly opened the scoring in the 10th minute but Osasuna keeper Sergio Herrera blocked it with a brilliant effort.
The Brazillian then had the ball in the net for Real Madrid in the 52nd minute after a heated first half that witnessed four players booked, but the goal was chalked off when he was found to be offside when the ball was played into him.
Vinicius set up Federico Valverde for the opening goal in the 78th minute before Asensio slammed home a pass from teenager substitute Alvaro Rodriguez in stoppage time to steer Madrid to triumph.
Following a tense victory, the defending champions move five points within table-toppers Barcelona, who play Cadiz on Sunday.
Meanwhile, in other La Liga fixtures, Real Betis edged Valladolid 2-1, while Mallorca thwarted Villarreal 4-2.
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MADRID: Karim Benzema netted two goals on penalties as Real Madrid stormed bottom-placed Elche at Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday to restore the eight-point gap to leaders Barcelona.
Marco Asensio and Luka Modric also scored goals in each half during Real’s comfortable 4-0 win, which cut short arch-rival Barcelona’s eleven-point lead over them.
Real, who won the Club World Cup in Morocco on Sunday for a record fifth time, are second on the La Liga table with 48 points after 21 games.
Madrid fully dominated the visitors throughout the game with Asensio breaking the deadlock in just eight minutes when he went past Elche’s defence and fired a low shot into the bottom left corner.
Ballon D’Or winner Benzema double the lead after the half-hour mark from the spot, after his header was handled by Enzo Roco in the area.
The French forward made it 3-0 before half-time through another penalty, awarded to Real for a foul on forward Rodrygo.
Benzema’s brace took him to 11 league goals in the season, three short of leader Robert Lewandowski of Barcelona.
Modric rounded off the rout for Real, 10 minutes before time, hitting into the top left corner from the edge of the box.
Defending champions Real will face Osasuna on Sunday in their next La Liga fixture.
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SPAIN: Real Betis’ Andres Guardado’s match-winning goal propelled the side to move closer to fourth-placed Atletico Madrid with a victory over Almeria while Valencia failed to escape the relegation zone following a 1-2 defeat against Athletic Club.
Betis, which had been struggling in their previous fixtures amid an otherwise strong season, triumphed over Almeria 3-2 to move just one point within the fourth-placed Atletico Madrid.
Midfielder Sergio Canales, deflected a floated pass by Rodri Sánchez with his chest before chipping the ball over the advancing goalkeeper with his left boot without letting the ball touch the ground in the 42nd minute to power Betis to lead 2-1.
Almeria forced level in the 62nd minute before Guardado then headed in a cross from Canales in the 70th minute to secure the victory.
Rodri opened the scoring for Betis in just the sixth minute while Luis Suárez and Samu Costa scored for Almeria in the loss.
Meanwhile, Valencia failed to escape the relegation zone despite a firm start at home against Athletic Club letting the game slip away 1-2.
Samu Castillejos put Valencia in front in just the 17th minute, only for Nico Williams and Oihan Sancet to score for sixth-placed Athletic Club and sealed the victory for the tourists.
Following the defeat, Valencia hold the 18th position with only 20 points after Cadiz escaped the drop zone on Friday with a win.
In another fixture, Sevilla stunned better-ranked Mallorca 2-0 to secure 12th position in the standings while Jorge Sampaoli’s side remained at 10th.
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Holders Real Madrid suffered a shock 1-0 defeat at Mallorca, damaging their bid to defend the La Liga title as Barcelona extended their lead at the top after defeating Sevilla 3-0 on Sunday.
Barcelona went eight points clear of their arch-rivals and second-placed Real Madrid and stretched their La Liga winning streak to five games.
Jordi Alba, Gavi and Raphinhea scored second-half goals to thrash Sevilla following a disappointing outcome for Real earlier in the day.
A bizarre own goal from Nacho in the 13th minute spoiled the game for Real, who couldn’t find the equalizer rest of the way.
Nacho left everyone stunned when he tried to clear a cross and headed the ball into the nets, going over the head of his own goalkeeper.
Real failed to make a breakthrough despite having perfect control and about 70% of the possession. At the hour mark, they had a fantastic opportunity, but Predrag Rajkovic made a brilliant save to deny Marco Asensio a penalty goal.
Meanwhile, at Camp Nou, the host also witnessed Robert Lewandowski’s two attempts getting blocked by Yassine Bounou in the first half.
However, Barcelona rebounded sharply after the break and broke the deadlock in the 59th minute when substitute Franck Kessie showed great skills to set up the ball for Alba, who breached Sevilla’s defence to slot it in from close range.
Gavi doubled the lead twelve minutes later with a beautiful low cross from Raphinha, who then hit the third goal in the 79th minute with a point-blank strike, through Alba’s assist.
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BILBAO: Olhan Sancet put up a stellar performance to take Athletic Club back on the winning track as they claimed a commanding 4-1 win over Cazid in La Liga on Friday.
The Spanish forward Sancet opened the scoring for the hosts in just the 10th minute to set up a solid foundation for a dominant show over struggling Cadiz.
Gonzalo Escalante, however, struck back 15 minutes later to neutralize Athletic Club’s lead but only for Sancet to strike again and restored his side’s lead in the 35th minute.
Yeray Alvarez then joined Sancet as he struck a timely goal in the closing minutes of the first half to give his side complete command at the halfway mark.
Sancet then once again managed to breach the Cadiz defence and scored his third to propel the home side to a commanding win over weak visitors.
Following a humiliating defeat, Cadiz entered the unwanted relegation zone as they slipped to the 18th place with Valladolid one point ahead of them following their 1-0 victory over Valencia.
The Athletic Club, on the other hand, secured the seventh position with 29 points.
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MADRID: Marco Asensio and Vinicius Junior scored second-half goals to put Real Madrid’s La Liga campaign back on track as they sealed a dominant 2-0 win over struggling Valencia on Thursday.
The defending champions jumped to 45 points in second place, five behind table leaders Barcelona. who beat Real Betis on Wednesday.
Valencia, who sacked manager Gennaro Gattuso the previous day, were handed their fifth straight defeat last night and are 14th in the standings with 20 points, one clear of the relegation zone.
Valencia defender Gabriel Paulista was sent off with a straight red 18 minutes from final time as he chopped down Vinicius with a ruthless tackle, almost starting a brawl among players on the pitch.
Real controlled the game for most parts but wasted a few opportunities in the first half. VAR ruled out Antonio Rudiger’s goal just before the break for a Benzema foul in the build-up.
Real rebounded strongly after half-time as they scored two in two minutes, an excellent curling shot into the top corner by Asensio after 52 minutes followed by Vinicius’ close-range smash to finish off a swift counter-attack.
Real Madrid will next face Mallorca on Sunday.
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SEVILLE: Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski struck a goal each to take Barcelona 2-1 up against Real Betis on Wednesday and extend their lead to eight points at the top of La Liga.
Betis goalkeeper Rui Silva made a string of excellent saves to deny Pedri before Raphinha scored from Alejandro Balde’s cross.
Betis created their chances too on and almost scored through Borja Iglesias and Sergio Canales but found Jules Kounde to block their effort.
It took 65 minutes for Barcelona to break the stalemate with Raphinha tapping the ball into the nets from close range before Lewandowski scored his 14th goal of the season to make it 2-0, 15 minutes later.
Kounde’s own goal in the 85th minute threatened to spoil the party for Barcelona but the visitor hung on to claim three points.
Following the win, Barcelona cemented their position at the top with 50 points from 19 matches, eight points ahead of second-placed Real Madrid, who will host Valencia on Thursday.
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VILLAREAL: Sergio Camello struck a second-half winner to take Rayo Vallecano to seventh place in the La Liga table as they beat Villarreal 1-0 at El Madrigal on Monday.
Vallecano jumps ahead of eighth-placed Osasuna with 29 points while Villareal takes fifth position and levels on point with sixth-placed Real Betis.
Barcelona, however, cemented their position at the top since they are five points clear of second-placed Real Madrid, who were held in a nil-nil draw by Real Sociedad on Sunday.
Vallecano dominated the home side right from the start and made a few unsuccessful attempts in the first half.
Camello broke the deadlock in the 72nd minute with a superb solo and finding the back of the back nets from the edge of the box.
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