Barca remain five points clear of Atlético Madrid as the top four all win
BARCELONA cemented their fivepoint lead at the top with a 2-0 win at 10-man GIRONA in the Catalan derby. Nelson Semedo got the Blaugrana on their way as he swept home a loose ball inside the box with 10 minutes on the clock, and Philippe Coutinho should have made it 2-0 moments later but was unable to provide the finish. Even so, Girona might have been back in it three minutes before half-time when MarcAndré ter Stegen saved from Cristhian Stuani before Gerard Piqué cleared the ball off the line. Girona then had defender Bernardo dismissed for two yellow cards, yet it was left to Lionel Messi to settle any nerves in the 68th minute as he got on the end of a Jordi Alba pass and produced a superb chip to beat goalkeeper Yassine Bounou.
ATLÉTICO MADRID kept up the pressure on leaders Barcelona after seeing off GETAFE 2-0 at the Wanda Metropolitano. France international Antoine Griezmann gave Diego Simeone’s men the lead on 27 minutes after being played in by Thomas Partey, while Saúl Niguez doubled the advantage 10 minutes later when Nikola Kalinic’s shot was stopped by David Soria and the rebound fell kindly for him. Getafe’s misery was complete late on as they finished the game with nine men with Djene Dakonam and Leandro Cabrera both dismissed.
Gareth Bale scored on his return from injury as REAL MADRID beat ESPANYOL 4-2 at the RCDE Stadium to remain third. Goals from Karim Benzema and Sergio Ramos inside the opening 15 minutes got Santiago Solari’s side off to a flyer, yet with Los Blancos looking in control Espanyol responded through a Leo Baptistao goal on 25 minutes when he pounced on a loose ball and crashed an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net. But the two-goal cushion was restored on the stroke of half-time when Benzema got his second by stroking the ball into the far corner. Bale was introduced from the bench in the 64th minute and scored three minutes later, before Madrid had Raphael Varane sent off for tripping Pablo Piatti. Roberto Rosales notched a late consolation for Espanyol with a superb volley.
SEVILLA put their recent disappointing form behind them with an ultimately comprehensive 5-0 thrashing of LEVANTE at the Sánchez Pizjuán, all the goals coming in the second half. Wissam Ben Yedder broke the deadlock three minutes after the break with a shot that found the bottom corner from a tight angle, although Levante almost got back into it immediately as Enis Bardhi saw his effort bounce back off a post. Nonetheless, the Andalusians made it two on the hour mark when André Silva tapped in, and the lead was further stretched through a Franco Vázquez goal and a penalty from Pablo Sarabia. Sevilla were awarded a second spot-kick in added time taken by Dutch winger Quincy Promes, who despite seeing his initial effort saved reacted quickly to crash the ball high into the net.
REAL SOCIEDAD and bottom club HUESCA played out a 0-0 draw in a disappointing encounter marred by bad weather at Anoeta. In the first half Yangel Herrera hit the post for Huesca and Mikel Merino did likewise for La Real, but the rest of the game was largely uneventful and both sides appeared happy to settle for a share of the spoils at the final whistle.
ATHLETIC BILBAO continue to move up the table after being stuck near the bottom three just a few weeks ago and are up to halfway following a 1-0 home victory over REAL BETIS. Iker Muniain got the only goal of the game on 21 minutes, the midfielder firing home from inside the area, but the visitors pushed for the equaliser in the second half and Bilbao’s task was made more difficult when Óscar de Marcos was sent off for a challenge on Sidnei. However, the Basques hung on to make it four wins and three draws from seven league games since boss Gaizka Garitano took over from Eduardo Berizzo.
VILLARREAL suffered a blow in their fight for survival after crashing to a 3-0 defeat against VALENCIA at Mestalla. Mouctar Diakhaby opened the scoring in the fourth minute with a powerful header, and Los Che doubled the lead six minutes after half-time when a defensive error enabled Denis Cheryshev to finish. Rodrigo Moreno made it three with four minutes remaining to leave the Yellow Submarine five points adrift of safety.
LEGANÉS came back from two goals down to salvage a 2-2 draw against EIBAR at Butarque. The away team scored twice within five minutes midway through the opening period, first from Kike García and then from Joan Jordán, but Leganés clawed their way back into the contest a minute after the restart when Youssef En-Nesyri was on target. The same player levelled things in the 67th minute to take the Madrid outfit three points above the drop zone.
CELTA VIGO dropped into the relegation places as they went down to a 2-1 away defeat at REAL VALLADOLID. A defensive mix-up allowed Celta to go ahead after 15 minutes with Pione Sisto curling a left-footed shot past Jordi Masip from the edge of the box. It remained like that until 10 minutes after half-time when Óscar Plano found the equaliser, before Keko grabbed what proved to be the winner with 20 minutes remaining.
The Galicians’ evening got worse after that as on-loan Southampton defender Wesley Hoedt was sent off on his debut after picking up two yellow cards.
RAYO VALLECANO hauled themselves out of the bottom three after picking up a surprise 1-0 win over high-flying ALAVÉS at Mendizorroza. Raúl de Tomás’ second-half header proved the difference between the two sides as Rayo claimed a fourth win in their last five league outings. The result sees the Madrid side leapfrog Celta Vigo and takes them two points clear of the danger zone at the wrong end of the table.