Ronaldo’s bad behavior at the end of the game almost cost Madrid the win, but another ref decision gave them a spot-kick and the win. Elsewhere, Barca dominate, Athletico win, and Valencia overtake Sevilla for fourth with a head-to-head win.
Let’s get to the games:
Cordoba (1) – Real Madrid (2)
The weekend started with a bang as Cordoba scored on a penalty a mere 55 second into the game. Bebe’s shot from just outside the area was handed by Sergio Ramos and referee Alejandro Hernandez gave the spot kick which was finished by Nail Ghailas. Madrid equalized in the 27th minute when James Rodriguez swung in a cross that was flicked on by Gareth Bale into the path of Karim Benzema who blasted it into the roof of the net. Late on, Ronaldo seemed to simply lose his cool as a punch to Ivan Crespo went unnoticed just minutes before he was given a straight red for kicking out at Cordoba defender Edimar. Madrid’s pressure continued, however, and Bale smashed a free-kick into the wall, hitting Cartabia’s hand in the box and prompting a final penalty for the visitors. Bale took the kick and finished, giving Madrid the three points on an otherwise awkward night for Los Blancos.
Elche (0) – Barcelona (6)
Barça dominated throughout, helped by braces from both Messi and Neymar, to keep the pressure on Madrid at the top of the table. Elche had taken seven points from their first three league games in 2015, but this match continued a bad streak, having now conceded a total of 18 goals in the four times these teams have met. Nine minutes before the break, a Xavi free-kick was chested and controlled by Pique before the defender slammed home a slightly deflected goal to take the lead. 10 minutes into the second half, the faucet opened when Elche’s Sergio Pelegrin felled Neymar, leading to an easy Messi penalty goal. A second yellow to Elche’s Fajr meant the hosts were down to 10 men, and Barcelona took advantage for the rest of the match. Messi started by easing past a defender to slot a pass to Neymar who finished grandly. Two minutes later, Neymar started a one-two with Messi that resulted in a Neymar volley into the top corner. Messi got his second on a solo effort past the defense and into the far bottom corner, and the scoring finished with a swift move from Neymar to set up Pedro for an easy tap in.
Athletico Madrid (3) – Rayo Vallecano (1)
Athletico kept pace with the leaders with an impressive win over cross-town Rayo. The scoring started in the 12th minute when Athletico’s Antoine Griezmann took advantage of a bad touch from Jose Ze Castro to race towards goal and score. 10 minutes later, Griezmann picked up the brace with a flick on from Mandzukic to easily poke home the goal. Griezmann has now scored 10 league goals for Athletico this season. 10 minutes before halftime, Rayo pulled one back when Athletico’s defense failed them and Roberto Trashorras was able to curl home a beautiful goal for the visitors. Finally, in the 55th minute Rayo keeper Tono was beaten by Griezmann’s corner that caught his own defender Manucho on the thigh and flew into the net for an own-goal.
Real Sociedad (1) – Eibar (0)
Real Sociedad return to winning ways in La Liga with a hard-fought victory at home. Devoid of a lot of clear chances, the deadlock was finally broken 10 minutes into the second half when Sociedad’s Prieto headed home a Reben Pardo header into the top-right corner. Neither team had very much in the way of serious chances as the second half came to an end, leaving Eiber eighth and Sociedad in eleventh.
Villarreal (1) – Levante (0)
Levante goalkeeper Diego Marino’s return to El Madrigal was ruined as Villarreal kept up with the top of the table with a win. Marino was easily the busier of the two keepers, and it was his mistake that allowed the goal. A shot from Villarreal’s Trigueros squirmed loose and was slammed home by Vietto to give the home team the only goal of the night. Villarreal remain 6th, only one behind Sevilla at the end of the weekend.
Deportivo La Coruña (2) – Grenada (2)
A midweek replacement, new Grenada coach Abel Resino got a draw in his first match after scoring quickly and giving the visitors new hope. Piti opened the scoring for Grenada with a rising shot into goal in just the 6th minute. Deportivo equalized in the 33rd minute when a mis-handled save fell for Jose Rodriguez who scored on the follow-up. Just four minutes later, Lucas Perez took Deportivo to the lead with a goal off of a beautiful pass from Sidnei. Granada would snatch a late equalizer, though, when Robert Ibanez fired home the equalizer from Dimitri Foulquier’s header in the 83rd minute. A late red to Farina will effect Deportivo in their next match, but both teams seemed content with the single point in this match.
Athletic Bilbao (1) – Malaga (1)
Athletic ended its four-game losing streak but was hoping for more as a strike 12-minutes from the end allowed Malaga to equalize. In the 70th minute, Susaeta’s corner was headed low across goal by Mikel San Jose to give Bilbao the lead. Just eight minutes later, though, Malaga equalized when Javi Guerra flicked home a cross from Miguel Torres. These two teams drew last week and play this week in the Copa quarter-finals, where one team must win.
Espanyol (3) – Almeria (0)
Almeria’s struggles continued, as Espanyol scored three in a conservative effort for both teams. Towards the end of the first half, Christian Stuani headed home the first goal over Fran Velez. Just three minutes later, some shoddy defending from the visitors led to a Lucas Vazquez pass into the path of Stuani who got his brace in classy fashion. After the break, Victor Sanchez launched a long ball for Felipe Caucedo to run onto and the substitute shot into the far corner, beating the hapless keeper.
Valencia (3) – Sevilla FC (1)
Valencia leapfrog Sevilla into fourth place on a referee-controlled game that featured multiple penalty kicks. Valencia started with the high intensity they frequently show in to start games, and won the first of many penalties when Diogo Figueiras fouled Negrado in the box. Dani Parejo calmly finished the spot kick to give the home team the 1-0 lead. Parejo got his brace just minutes later when he finished off an excellent counter with a goal off of a nice pass by Enzo Perez. Parejo continued to feature in the game, when two minutes later he fouled Diogo in the box, sending Sevilla’s Carlos Bacca to the spot where he finished to give the visitors hope. Valencia keeper Diego Alves had another penalty facing him when Vitolo was brought down in the area, but this time Alves got the better with a block of the shot with his legs. Alves has now stopped 20 of 39 penalties taken against him. Valencia landed their third when Javi Fuego slammed home a centered pass from Rodrigo to put the game away.
Getafe (2) – Celta Vigo (1)
Getafe finally broke their nine-game winless streak in La Liga with the victory over Celta Vigo. 15 minutes in, Charles fired a right-footed shot from Nolito’s pass to open the scoring for Celta. Almost immediately, Pablo Sarabia sent Vazquez clear and the forward finished with style to equalize. At the death, however, Sarabia grabbed on to Sammir’s free-kick to get a second for Getafe and end the Getafe losing streak.