Tag: LaLiga

Nahuel Molina and Mario Hermoso scored first-half goals to give Atleuitoc Madrid a 2-1 win over Rayo Vallecano in La Liga on Sunday and move closer to rivals Real Madrid in the standings. 

A superb streak of 12 unbeaten league games has propelled Atletico to a 57-point tally – only two points behind second-placed Real, who faced a shock 2-3 defeat at Bernabeu against Villareal on Saturday.

Barcelona, on the other hand, are leading the standings with 71 points with a game left against Girona on Monday.

Molina took the lead in the 22nd minute after Alvaro Morata set up the Argentina international for his first goal since joining the club last summer.

Hermoso doubled his side’s lead a few minutes later with a header from a corner, taking advantage of a poor clearance by Rayo goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski.

The hosts were a man down after defender Florian Lejeune was sent off early in the second half, but left back Fran Garcia restored some hope by pulling one back in the 85th minute with a brilliant long-range low shot.

The hosts were reduced to 10-man after defender Florian Lejeune’s sent off early in the second half. However, left-back Fran Garcia brought some jubilant moments for the home crowd as he slotted the goal in the 85th minute with a brilliant long-range low shot.

Earlier, Almeria beat Valencia 2-1 to move out of the relegation zone with a minor advantage of three points.

Cadiz thrash nine-man Real Betis 2-0 thanks to second-half goals by Ruben Alcaraz and Chris Ramos.

Mallorca, on the other hand, held Valladolid to a 3-3 draw in the action-packed game at the latter’s home ground, thanks to an extra-time penalty by Vedat Muriqi.

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MADRID: Samu Chukwueze scored a brace to give Real Madrid a major blow to already faint title hopes in La Liga as they were handed a shocking 3-2 defeat by Villarreal at home on Saturday.

Just days after thrashing arch-rivals Barcelona 4-0 at Camp Nou to reach Cop del Rey final. Real fell to a bitter loss which left them 12 points behind the table-topers Barca.

Barcelona, however, have an opportunity to extend their lead to 15 points at the top when they face Girona on Sunday.

Despite taking the lead twice, Carlo Ancelotti’s side could not build on the momentum.

Madrid opened the scoring after 15 minutes through Villarreal’s Pau Torres’ own goal but Chukwueze slotted the equalizer in the 39th.

Vinicius Jr restored the one-goal cushion for the home side after the break with a simple finish in front of the Villarreal goal for his ninth league goal of the season.

Quique Setien’s side overcame Real’s lead again in the 71st minute when Jose Luis Morales fired home from close range, with a VAR check reversing the initial offside call.

Chukwueze scored his second 10 minutes from time and silenced the home crowd at Santiago Bernabeu with an excellent strike from the edge of the box to the top left corner.

With the win, Villarreal climbed to fifth place with 47 points and are in contention for a Champions League spot.

Earlier, Real Sociedad beat Getafe 2-0 at home to go forth on the standings with 51 points.

Meanwhile, Athletic Club thumped Espanyol 2-1 thanks to Inaki Williams and Nico Williams’ goals.

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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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BARCELONA: Franck Kessie scored a stoppage-time winner as Barcelona snatched a 2-1 Clasico win over Real Madrid on Sunday at Camp Nou and moved 12 points clear of the arch-rivals at the top of La Liga.

The thrilling victory strengthened Barca’s chances to win the title for the first time since 2019 as Madrid’s hopes to defend the championship had been effectively dented with only 12 games of the season left.

The visitors took the early lead through a freak own goal from Ronald Arujo in the ninth minute but Barcelona rebounded strongly when Sergi Roberto struck the equalizer on the stroke of half-time.

Both teams created chances in the second half and Marco Asensio tucked home for Real but ht effort was ruled for offside after a long VAR check.

Instead, Alejandro Balde set up Kessie in the second minute of additional time who sent the ball past goalkeeper Rudiger into the bottom left corner.

The intensity from the crowd was phenomenal as Kessie wrapped up Barcelona’s 100th win against arch-rivals Real Madrid.

Earlier, Getafe beat Sevilla 2-0 as they jumped past the opponents to 13th place in the standings.

Meanwhile, Villareal wreaked havoc on Osasuna as they sealed a commanding 3-0 win thanks to a brace from Jose Luis Morales and Samuel Chukwueze’s early goal.

Real Sociedad came out on top against Elche with a 2-0 win after Takefusa Kubo and Ander Barrenetxea hit goals each.

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MADRID: Vinicius Junior, Eder Militao and Marco Asensio made strikes as Real Madrid fought back after conceding an early goal to beat Espanyol 3-1 at Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday.

Second-placed Real Madrid cut leader Barcelona’s advantage to six points at the La Liga top and maintained their thin chances to defend the title by moving up to 56 points.

Barcelona, however, have a chance to regain nine points lead when they face Atheltic Club on Sunday.

Espanyol, who remain 13th, took the lead early on as Joselu smacked the ball into the top corner past goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois following Ruben Sanchez’s cross in the 8th minute.

Madrid made a forceful response to the poor start as Eduardo Camavinga had a shot on target before Vincus stepped up with his masterful skills to pierce into the box, evading two defenders and firing in the leveller in the 22nd minute.

The 22-year-old registered his 19th goal this season in all competitions and moved ahead of Karim Benzema as the club’s top scorer this season.

Pushed back to their own area, Espanyol had no answer to Militao’s thunderous header through Aurelien Tchouameni’s cross six minutes before halftime.

Madrid kept the pressure on the opponents after the break with Rodrygo nearly scoring on a free kick but the ball deflected off the crossbar.

Asensio wrapped up the win for Madrid in the added time as he produced a superb finish with his left foot after a brilliant sprint from Nacho.

In another La Liga fixture on Saturday, Celta Vigo thrashed Rayo Vallecano 3-0 thanks to Iago Aspas’ brace.

Later, Valencia prevailed at home as they beat Osasuna 1-0.

Earlier Elche held Valladolid to a 1-1 draw through Tete Morente’s leveller deep into the stoppage time.

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MADRID: Dutch forward Memphis Depay got off the mark with two goals for Atletico Madrid as the side thrashed Sevilla 6-1 in La Liga on Saturday. 

Antoine Griezmann and Yannick Carrasco also scored goals each before Alvaro Morata had a brace in the win that marked manager Diego Simeone’s record 613th game as coach.

Atletico seized the opportunity to go third in the standing with 45 points after Real Sociedad drew at home 0-0 against 14th-placed Cadiz on Friday.

Sociedad now sit fourth on 44 points, while holders Real Madrid are second on 52 points with leaders Barcelona seven points ahead of them, both with a game in hand.

Sevilla end up 16th with 25 points, only one point clear of the relegation zone, after consecutive defeats in the last three games.

Atletico dominated the visitors completely throughout the game to record Simone’s 359th win as the club’s manager compared to  Luis Aragones’ 308.

Playing his first game for Atletico since he transferred from Barcelona in January, Depay received a long pass from the French forward Griezmann and slotted past the goalkeeper to open the scoring in the 23rd minute.

The Dutch striker doubled the lead three minutes later with another assist from Giezmann.

Sevilla retaliated through Youssef En Nesyri, who was quick enough to beat goalkeeper Jan Oblak inside the box from close range and made it 2-1 in the 39th minute.

Atletico, however, unleashed a more vigorous attack in the second half with Griezmann regaining the two-goal cushion for his side eight minutes after the break.

Carrasco extended Atletico’s lead in the 69th minute, before Ivan Rakitic missed a penalty, hitting the post from the spot.

Substitute Morata delivered the final blows to a hopeless Sevilla, who had Pape Alassane Gueye sent off in the 81st minute.

Earlier Mallorca beat Elche thanks to Lucas Boye’s late winner two minutes before time while Villarreal dominated Almeria 2-0 to go sixth on the table.

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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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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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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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