Atlético Madrid suffer surprise defeat
Lionel Messi was on target twice as leaders BARCELONA came from two goals down to draw 2-2 with VALENCIA at the Camp Nou. Denis Cheryshev hit a post for Los Che early on before they managed the breakthrough in the 24th minute courtesy of Kevin Gameiro, who beat MarcAndré ter Stegen after being set up by Rodrigo Moreno. The lead was doubled just after the half-hour mark as Dani Parejo scored from the penalty spot when Sergi Roberto bundled Daniel Wass over in the area. But Barca won a spot-kick of their own five minutes before halftime after a Toni Lato foul on Nelson Semedo, Messi coolly converting it, and they levelled things in the 64th minute with Messi curling a drive through a crowd of players and into the corner. Yet the Catalans could not find a winner after that and had to settle for point.
ATLÉTICO MADRID passed up the opportunity to close the gap at the top as they went down to a surprise 1-0 defeat at REAL BETIS. In a game of few chances, Sergio Canales got the all-important winner from the penalty spot on the hour mark after substitute Filipe Luis had handled inside the area, although Diego Simeone’s men thought they should have been awarded a penalty themselves minutes earlier. Even so, the result means a first defeat for Atleti in 19 La Liga matches and only a second loss in 31 games. Betis, meanwhile, are level on points with Alavés and Getafe and only four points off the Champions League places.
Youngster Vinicius Junior was the star of the show as REAL MADRID made light work of beating ALAVÉS 3-0 at the Santiago Bernabéu. Karim Benzema tapped in his sixth goal in four games on the halfhour to give Santiago Solari’s team the lead, yet Los Blancos had to wait until the 80th minute to seal all three points as Vinicius scored from close range after getting on the end of a Marco Asensio cross. That was after the 18-year-old had earlier produced a series of tricks to delight the Madrid faithful. Substitute Mariano Díaz wrapped things up in stoppage time with a diving header to ensure an ultimately comfortable evening for Los Blancos.
REAL SOCIEDAD beat ATHLETIC BILBAO 2-1 in the Basque derby at Anoeta to complete a league double over their near neighbours. Mikel Oyarzabal opened the scoring for the home side on 15 minutes with a mazy dribble that saw him round opposition goalkeeper Iago Herrerín to tap home. La Real made it 2-0 on the stroke of half-time, Willian José blasting the ball past Herrerín on the turn, and their defence was hardly troubled for most of the second half. However, the visitors were given a lifeline from the penalty spot with eight minutes left when Raúl García scored at the second attempt after Gerónimo Rulli had saved his initial attempt. Nonetheless, Los Leones were unable to capitalise on that and left empty-handed.
VILLARREAL remain rooted in the bottom three as they threw away a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with ESPANYOL at the Estadio de la Cerámica. The Yellow Submarine took a deserved lead 10 minutes before the break as Vicente Iborra poked home after a Gerard Moreno header had struck the crossbar. Santi Cazorla scored a second from the penalty spot on 64 minutes after Mario Hermoso had fouled Karl Toko Ekambi, yet after that Villarreal were unable to hold on for the points. First, goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo spilled the ball into the path of his own defender Daniele Bonera for an own goal, then Espanyol right-back Roberto Rosales found the top corner from just outside the box to make it a nervy ending for the hosts.
Basement boys HUESCA earned just a third win of the campaign with a 4-0 home thrashing of REAL VALLADOLID. They took the lead after 19 minutes through Enric Gallego and Jorgé Pulido doubled it five minutes after the break. Moi Gómez added a third shortly afterwards and the scoring was completed with 13 minutes remaining thanks to Ezequiel ‘Chimy’ Ávila.
LEVANTE and GETAFE played out a 0-0 draw in a disappointing encounter at the Ciutat de Valencia. Both sides failed to create any meaningful chances during the 90 minutes, although Getafe thought they had won the game late on when Mauro Arambarri turned the ball into the net, only for the goal to be ruled out for offside.
CELTA VIGO moved out of the relegation places with a 1-0 victory over high-flying SEVILLA at Balaídos. The Galicians netted the only goal of the game in the 73rd minute as Gustavo Cabral helped the ball on from a corner and an unmarked Okay Yokuslu was on hand to tap in. Sevilla had earlier struck the woodwork through Wissam Ben Yedder, but Celta just about deserved their win following five consecutive league defeats.
EIBAR made the most of the conditions at a rainsoaked Ipurua to inflict a 3-0 defeat on struggling GIRONA. Rubén Peña gave the Basques the lead in the 37th minute when firing past Bono, and the advantage was doubled immediately after the break as Charles produced a superb chip over the goalkeeper. Charles then sealed the points as Eibar were awarded a penalty for a foul on Sergi Enrich, with the Brazilian sending Bono the wrong way from the spot. Eibar are now mid-table with Girona just one point above the drop zone.
RAYO VALLECANO’s five-game unbeaten run came to an end as they lost 2-1 to 10-man LEGANÉS in Vallecas. Martin Braithwaite gave Leganés the lead with a 36th minute strike, but the visitors then had Allan Nyom dismissed early in the second half. Álvaro García levelled for Rayo with seven minutes left, but they were unable to make their numerical advantage count and Youssef En-Nesyri grabbed the winner for Leganés two minutes later to pull off what appeared an unlikely victory for the Madrid outfit.