Tag: LaLiga 2022-23

SAN SEBASTIAN: Barcelona closed in on winning their 27th La Liga title after a hard-fought 1-0 victory against Osasuna at Camp Nou and Real Madrid’s disappointing 2-0 loss at Real Sociedad on Saturday. 

Jordi Alba scored the decider after 85 minutes of a see-saw contest as visitors Osasuna braved Barcelona’s solid attack despite getting reduced to 10-man in the 26th minute.

Later Madrid faced a powerful punch to their title defence as Sociedad came out dominantly at home, leaving the champions 14 points behind leaders Barcelona with five games remaining.

The results give Barca, who now moves to 83 points, the chance to bag their first LaLiga title since 2019 with a win in their next encounter against city rivals Espanyol on May 14. They only need a win in the remaining five games to clinch the title.

Real Madrid would only be able to reach 83 points if they win the rest of their games. However, they could slip to third place on Wednesday if their city rivals Atletico Madrid win their home match against lowly Cadiz.

Sociedad took control early in the game but were made to wait 47 minutes before scoring their first goal through Takefusa Kubo.

They doubled their lead in the 84th through 21-year-old forward Ander Barrenetxea, taking advantage of defender Dani Carvajal sent off on the hour mark for a second yellow card.

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BARCELONA: Andreas Christensen, Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha scored goals as Barcelona outclassed 10-man Real Betis 4-0 on Saturday to consolidate their position at the top and moved a step closer to their 27th LaLiga title.

With only six games remaining, Barca dominate the standing with 79 points, 11 ahead of second-placed Real Madrid, who beat Almeria 4-2 earlier in the evening.

The result took Barca back on track after they faced a surprise 2-1 defeat to Rayo Vallecano on Wednesday.

Barcelona opened the scoring in the 14th minute with a point-blank header from Christensen following a cross from Raphinha.

Unsettled Betis suffered a setback in the 33rd  minute when Edgar Gonzalez was sent off for two bad bad tackles, 21 minutes after he came off the bench to replace injured Luis Felipe.

The host capitalized on the advantage, scoring twice within three minutes before the break thanks to strikes by Lewandowski and Raphinha.

LaLiga top scorer Lewandowski increased his tally to 19 for the season with a first-touch shot from inside the box assisted by Jules Kounde in the 36th minute.

A couple of minutes later Raphinha hit Barca’s third goal of the night but the effort was initially ruled out his effort for offside before a VAR check overturned the decision.

With a victory in sight, the Catalan side relaxed a bit after the break but still managed to extend their lead through Guido Rodriguez’s own goal while he was trying to clear a cross from Ansu Fati inside six yards.

Real Madrid, on the other hand, thrashed Almeria 4-2 at Bernabeu after Karim Benzema scored thrice in the first half and a goal from Rodrygo in the second half.

The hat trick saw the French forward surpass Hugo Sanchez as the fourth-highest scorer in La Liga history with 236 goals.

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MADRID: Barcelona suffered a shock 2-1 defeat against Rayo Vallecano on Wednesday and wasted a golden chance to stretch their lead at the top of La Liga. 

Atletico Madrid, on the other hand, celebrated their 120th anniversary in fashion as they beat Mallorca 3-1 to close in on city rivals Real Madrid with a difference of just two points.

Alvaro Garcia and Fran Garcia scored goals in each half to upset the lacklustre Barca, who still enjoy a healthy 11 points lead over second-placed Real.

With seven games to play, defending champions Real faced a severe jolt to their title hopes when they were stunned 4-2 at Girona on Tuesday.

Xavi’s side, however, are poised to win their first title since 2019 despite running out of luck at the end of the race as they won just one of their last four league matches – a close win over Atletico on Sunday.

Rayo lived up to the expectations at a sold-out Estadio de Vallecas as they broke the seven-game unbeaten streak of the Catalan giants in the league.

They proved to be the better side for most of the match and took the lead in the 19th minute after Sergio Camello tackled Gavi and quickly fed Alvaro Garcia who fired an unstoppable low shot past Barca goalkeeper.

Rayo doubled their lead in the 52nd minute thanks to a superb effort from Fran Garcia, who stole the ball from Frenkie de Jong in midfield and ripped through the Barca defence to finish with a fine touch past Ter Stegen.

Lewandowski scored the consolation goal for Barca in the 83rd minute.

Earlier Atletico put on an impressive show on their 120th anniversary with Antoine Griezmann assisting two of three goals scored by Rodrigo de Paul, Alvaro Morata and Yannick Carrasco.

Donned in special blue and white kits at home to mark the special occasion, Atletico faced an early setback as Matija Nastasic put Mallorca ahead after 20 minutes of play.

De Paul levelled right before the break after Predrag Rajkovic saved a shot from Griezmann, but the Frenchman crossed the rebound to his teammate.

The host then took the lead early in the second half when Morata fired a header home from Nahuel Molina’s cross.

Carrasco struck the third for his side after 77 minutes after Griezmann set him up with a fine lobbed pass.

Almeria moved up to 15th with a 2-1 win over 10-man Getafe, which left the hosts 17th, one point above the bottom three.

Celta Vigo earned a 1-0 win over rock-bottom Elche thanks to defender Joseph Aidoo’s diving header in the dying minutes of the game.

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MADRID: Karim Benzema netted three goals in seven first-half minutes as Real Madrid stormed through Valladolid 6-0 on Sunday to cut leader Barcelona’s lead to 12 points in La Liga. 

The hat trick took the French forward to 14 league goals this season — three behind the top-scorer Barca’s Robert Lewandowski.

Rodrygo opened the scoring in the 22nd minute before Benzema seized control at the Bernabeu, scoring a hat-trick in just seven minutes to totally outclass the opponents before the first half.

Benzema netted his first one with a diving header from a Vinicius Jr cross while barely escaping a collision with the far post.

The Brazilian then set up the second only three minutes later with a simple pass for the striker to score from the edge of the box.

The French forward completed his hat trick with an impressive overhead effort from inside the six-yard box and grabbed a Rodrygo cross that was behind him to score while his back was towards the goal.

Rodrygo then assisted Marco Asensio in the second half as he played a one-two pass with the Brazilian forward before sending the ball home.

Lucas Vazquez produced the final of the evening in the added time set up by Eden Hazard, who made his first league appearance since September as a substitute for Benzema.

With the win, second-placed Real surge to 59 points, five ahead of third-placed Atletico Madrid, who beat Real Betis 1-0 later on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Villareal edged past Real Sociedad to take sixth place in the standings with 44 points, thanks to second-half strikes by Dani Parejo and Nicolas Jackson.

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ELCHE: Robert Lewandowski scored a brace as Barcelona wreaked havoc on bottom-placed Elche to win 4-0 and go 15 points clear of arch-rivals Real Madrid at the top of La Liga on Saturday.

The Catalan giants strengthen their position in the title race after this win while second-placed Real will look to keep their slim hopes alive with a win against Valladolid on Sunday.

League’s top scorer Lewandowski ended his goal drought after three goalless games when he opened the scoring in the 20th minute with a close-range finish after Ronald Araujo headed the ball down to him in front of the goal.

Ansu Fati doubled the lead in the 55th minute by receiving a pass from Ferran Torres in his own half, moving towards the outside of the box, and hitting low into the far corner for his first league goal since October.

Lewandowski scored his second of the night 10 minutes later after Gavi snatched the ball off Elche’s defence and set up brilliantly for the polish strike in the box.

Torres slotted the fourth goal of the visitors in the 70th minute to wrap up the game.

With the rout, Elche were pushed deep into the crisis with only 13 points from 27 games, 14 points away from the safety zone.

Earlier, Sevilla beat Cadiz 2-0 to go 13th in the standing on 31 points while the opponents were left stranded on the brink of the relegation zone.

Meanwhile, 14th-placed Getafe held Athletic Club to a nil-nil draw at home.

Girone edged past Espanyol, thanks to a late penalty scored by Christian Stunai two minutes before time, to jump to 10th place with 34 points.

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GIRONA: Alvaro Morata scored a late winner to help Atletico Madrid beat Girona 1-0 on Monday to tighten their claim on third place in the La Liga standings.

Atletico now move to 48 points, three ahead of fouth-placed Real Sociedad, which drew 1-1 against Mallorca on Sunday. Girona, however, are in 12th place with 30 points, four points above the relegation zone.

Leader Barcelona top the standing on 65 points, nine points clear of arch-rivals Real Madrid.

Attleico had a fortunate day at Montilivi as they snatched the win in stoppage time following some tense moments when substitute Morata’s effort was initially disallowed but after a VAR check, the visitors were finally handed the lead.

The Spanish striker registered his 10th goal of the season with that last-gasp strike

Atletico Madrid next host relegation-threatened Valencia on Saturday, while Girona face Rayo Vallecano in an away game.

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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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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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MADRID: Real Sociedad goalkeeper Alex Remiro erected a bulwark to leave Real Madrid frustrated as they finished in a nil-nil draw at Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday. 

An unwanted outcome at home left Madrid five points behind leaders Barcelona who edged Girona 1-0 on Saturday to extend their lead to 47 points in La Liga.

Madrid made 20 goal attempts but Sociedad weathered the storm thanks to a string of excellent saves by Remiro, who ensured a point for his side on its visit.

Vinicius Junior wasted three chances, including two from close range with Remiro repelling all of them. The keeper also blocked the efforts by Karim Benzema, Toni Kroos and Rodrydo.

Real unleashed a solid attack from the beginning and created a few chances in the first half through Benzema and Vinicous’ slick moves.

Benzema constructed Real’s first chance in the seventh minute when he dribbled past three defenders but had his close-range shot stopped by Remiro.

Vinicius created another soon afterwards, beating defender Igor Zubeldia to run into the box but his right-footed effort went wide.

Rodrygo also fired a shot from the edge of the box in the 35th minute and once again, Remiro thwarted the effort with a stunning save.

Vinicius had his second chance before the break when he received the ball from Benzema but Remiro blocked his low shot with his left leg.

The Brazilian winger received his last opportunity in the 70th minute but the goalkeeper intercepted the one-on-one chip shot.

Earlier Atletico Madrid, however, edged past Osasuna 1-0 thanks to a second-half winner by Saul Niguez in an away fixture at El Sadar.

Meanwhile, Celta Vigo shocked Athletic Club with Iago Aspas scoring the decider in the 71st minute to steer his side above the relegation zone and equal points with 17th-placed Valladolid, who beat Valencia 1-0 on Sunday.

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BARCELONA: Pedri’s first-half strike earned Barcelona three more points and maintained their top position in the La Liga table as they beat Getafe 1-0. 

Barcelona jumped to 44 points, three ahead of their arch-rivals and second-placed Real Madrid who also defeat Athletic Club 2-0 later on Sunday.

Getafe, however, slipped to 16th and level on 17 points with Celta Vigo and 18th-placed Real Valladolid, barely above the relegation zone thanks to a better goal difference.

In preparation for Wednesday’s Copa del Rey quarterfinal match against Real Sociedad, head coach Xavi Hernandez made many adjustments to his starting lineup, resting key players including Robert Lewandowski, Ronald Araujo, and Frenkie de Jong.

Pedri broke the deadlock in the 34th minute by latching onto Raphinha’s pass and guiding it to the back of the nets.

Barcelona dominated the opposition throughout the game, holding possession of the ball for about 70% of the time. However, with only four shots on target during the entire match, the Catalan Giants did not produce many obvious opportunities to widen their lead.

Meanwhile, experienced Karim Benzema and Toni Kross scored goals to take Real Madrid home with flying colours at San Mames.

Ballon d’Or winner Benzema gave his side a lead in the 23rd minute with an eloquent left-footed finish from the centre of the box while Toni Kroos extended the lead in the dying minutes of the game with a long-range shot.

Earlier, a late penalty shot from Dani Parejo deep into the stoppage time helped fifth-placed Villareal sink Girona 1-0 at El Madrigal.

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