Tag: Osasuna

Sevilla moved closer to relegation from La Liga by losing 2-1 at Osasuna on Sunday, while Elche picked up three vital points with a 2-1 win at Real Oviedo.

Villarreal continued their strong season with a 2-1 victory over Celta Vigo to tighten their grip on third place.

Luis Garcia Plaza’s Sevilla took the lead through Neal Maupay in the 69th minute, but Raul Garcia pulled the hosts level and Alejandro Catena struck in stoppage time to deal a blow to the Andalucians’ survival hopes.

The seven-time Europa League winners are 18th, a point behind Mallorca in 17th place, after the islanders lost at Alaves on Saturday.

“I have a knot in my throat,” said Sevilla defender Gabriel Suazo. “We have to keep moving forward, we have to keep fighting, there are five finals left, and whoever gets to play, if it’s me, I’m going to put my life on the line for this club.”

Elche moved up to 13th with their victory, three points above the drop zone, but are still looking nervously over their shoulders.

Only six points separate Athletic Bilbao, 10th, from Sevilla, with the remaining five rounds of fixtures offering plenty of intrigue as to who will ultimately drop out of the top flight.

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The only side cut badly adrift are Oviedo, who are seven points from safety with only 15 left to play for.

At the other end of the table, high-flying Villarreal defeated Celta to move five points clear of fourth-place Atletico Madrid.

Gerard Moreno’s early penalty sent the Yellow Submarine ahead, and Nicolas Pepe doubled their lead to give them a comfortable advantage at half-time.

Celta, seventh, still have hope of qualifying for European football next season and pulled one back through a Borja Iglesias spot-kick, retaken after encroachment when his first effort was saved.

Ferran Jutgla hit the post for the Galicians, but they could not find an equaliser, suffering a fifth consecutive defeat across all competitions.

Earlier, Alemao struck deep in stoppage time to secure Rayo Vallecano a thrilling 3-3 draw against Copa del Rey winners Real Sociedad.

On Saturday, leaders Barcelona took a big step towards defending their La Liga title with a 2-0 win at Getafe that allowed them to open up an 11-point lead on rivals Real Madrid.

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Raul Garcia’s superb 90th-minute strike consigned leaders Real Madrid to a 2-1 defeat at Osasuna in La Liga on Saturday, in a blow to their title hopes.

Champions Barcelona trail Madrid by two points but can overtake them on Sunday if they beat Levante at Camp Nou.

Alvaro Arbeloa’s Madrid put on a below-par performance in Pamplona and fell behind to an Ante Budimir penalty, before Vinicius Junior pulled the visitors level.

The second leg of Madrid’s Champions League play-off against Jose Mourinho’s Benfica on Wednesday seemed to play on their minds as they failed to kick on at El Sadar.

Vinicius, who scored a sensational goal to give Madrid a slender first-leg lead but was then the victim of alleged racial abuse, thought he had earned his team a point before Garcia blasted home the winner.

Croatian target man Budimir curled narrowly wide of Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois’s far post early on, the first of many problems he gave the visitors.

The Belgian stopper made an excellent save a few minutes later, after Budimir tried to nod home Ruben Garcia’s cross under pressure from Alvaro Carreras.

Budimir also clipped the post with a header as Osasuna impressed, with their victory helping them rise to ninth.

Madrid defender David Alaba came close when Alejandro Catena blocked his shot, shortly before the hosts took the lead.

Budimir burst into the area and went down under a challenge from Courtois. Although he was initially booked for diving, a VAR review showed the goalkeeper stood on his foot.

The veteran forward took the resulting penalty himself and sent Courtois the wrong way to give Osasuna the lead.

Osasuna sat deep at times in the second half, looking to fend off 15-time European champions Madrid.

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Arda Guler came close with a vicious shot that flew just over.

Chasing an equaliser, Arbeloa threw on creative duo Trent Alexander-Arnold and Brahim Diaz and his team began to take control.

French superstar Kylian Mbappe put the ball in the back of Osasuna’s net but had edged offside, although the equaliser was not long in coming.

Fede Valverde charged into the box with the ball, unperturbed by Osasuna’s defenders bouncing off him, before crossing for Vinicius to tuck home.

It was the Brazilian’s fifth goal in his last four games across all competitions, having found his best form since Arbeloa replaced Xabi Alonso at the helm in January.

Mbappe, La Liga’s top goalscorer, should have put Madrid ahead with 10 minutes to go, but Javi Galan brilliantly blocked his shot.

Alexander-Arnold curled a free-kick wide as the clock ticked down, and it looked like Madrid were left ruing two points dropped, when the third was taken away from them too.

Raul Garcia cut inside the sliding Raul Asencio brilliantly and fired across Courtois and in at the far post.

The striker’s celebrations were cut short by the offside flag, but a VAR review showed he was onside and the goal was given.

It was the first time Osasuna have beaten Madrid in La Liga for 15 years.

Real Betis, fifth, were held 1-1 at home against Rayo Vallecano earlier Saturday, leaving them three points behind fourth-placed Atletico Madrid.

Diego Simeone’s side host Espanyol later on, aiming to make amends after last weekend’s 3-0 defeat by Rayo.

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PAMPLONA: Croatian striker Ante Budimir missed a crucial last-minute penalty, resulting in Osasuna losing against Valencia during their La Liga clash at El Sadar Stadium on Monday.

Valencia were on the cusp of a comfortable 1-0 victory when the home team earned a penalty in the dying minutes of the game to level the scores.

Budimir was entrusted with the responsibility to take the crucial strike, however, he blew the chance with a disastrous effort.

Watch La Liga 2023/24 Live on ARY ZAP

He started a stuttered run-up and took a weak shot which went straight into the hands of goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili.

Both teams entered the game carrying momentum from victories in their last games.

Within the first ten minutes, Osasuna nearly scored, but Moi Gomez’s shot was blocked, causing the home team to miss their chance at taking the lead.

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However, Andre Almeida took the visitors ahead after he found Diego Lopez in the 17th minute and hit the bottom left corner of the net to score the only goal of the match.

Valencia will play their next La Liga match against Real Betis on 20 April, while Osasuna will face Rayo Vallecano on the same day.

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PAMPLONA: Ante Budimir scored a late goal to guide Osasuna to a 1-0 victory over Alaves in their La Liga 2023-24 clash at El Sadar Stadium on Monday.

The first half of the game remained goalless as both teams made several efforts to earn the lead but could not get a breakthrough.

Budimir came close to opening the scoring in the 36th minute when he found a cross by Ruben Garcia following a corner and hit a header but it narrowly missed the goal.

Watch La Liga 2023/24 Live on ARY ZAP

Meanwhile, Alaves goalkeeper made an impressive save to deny Budimir another goal at the stroke of the first half.

But the Croatian striker did not slow down and broke the deadlock to score the only goal in the match, leading Osasuna to their 10th victory in the ongoing La Liga season.

Budimir once again met Garcia’s cross and hit a left-footed shot from outside the box which hit the top left corner a mere 14 minutes before the final time.

The Croatian stood out in the match courtesy of his brilliance in the field and the black protective face mask he wore.

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After the match, he reflected on his performance as well as the mask, which he wore after suffering a nose injury during the Las Palmas match last week.

“The mask has been good. It was the only way to play, and playing is the only thing that matters,” said Budimir.

“As for the goal, it was a clean strike. And then you just enjoy seeing it hit the net.”

Meanwhile, in another La Liga clash, defending champions Barcelona and Atheltic Club settled for a goalless draw.

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