Four points separate the top four
continues in the top spot for another week after beating RAYO VALLECANO 02. Messi and Neymar scored a goal apiece within a minute of each other in the 35th and 36th minute respectively that virtually sealed the game. Barça had the man advantage for more than half an hour following defender Morcillo's sending off but could not find the back of the net again. Rayo did well to prevent a trouncing but it was costly as second defender Aquino also clocked up his second booking in the 90th minute for a double whammy! Meanwhile VALENCIA enjoyed a 3-1 victory over last season's League Champions ATLÉTICO MADRID. It wasn't Miranda's night when he put the ball in his own net gifting Valencia with the first goal in the sixth minute, however it took just a couple more before Andre Gomes scored Valencia's second and Otamendi made it 3-1before the quarter hour. Mandzukic narrowed the gap for Simeone's side that went down to ten men when Cerci, who had only been on the field for 26 minutes, received his second booking.
SEVILLA has been on form only losing one game so far this season. Last weekend the Andalucian club gave DEPORTIVO a 41trouncing and stepped into third place on the League ladder. M'Bia opened the scores in the 23rd minute with Medunjanin getting the equaliser on the half hour. Bacca regained the lead for Sevilla in the 38th minute for the 2-1 half time result. M'bia was at it again for his second goal of the match in the 56th minute and Vitolo sealed victory a little over five minutes later. The La Coruña club is really struggling having conceded 19 goals and netting less than half, which shows a leaky defence. REAL MADRID regained a Champions League spot after crushing ATHLETIC with a 5-0 result. Although the Bilbao club had a couple of chances it was the Madrid side that put the balls in the net. Cristiano Ronaldo managed to score three goals for his 22nd hat trick in La Liga and Benzema scored a brace, which nudged Athletic into the drop zone for the second time.
Unbeaten CELTA had that record broken by VILLARREAL last weekend when the ' Yellow Submarines' enjoyed a 1-3 victory at the Balaidos stadium in Vigo. Moi Gómez scored two goals in 60 seconds with Larrivey clawing one back a minute before half time.
The result did not change until a whisper before the end when Mario sealed the game for the visitors. ESPANYOL needed this well-deserved 2-0 win. Lucas Vasquez opened the scores in the seventh minute and Stuani ended the game with his effort in the 92nd. REAL SOCIEDAD'S manager has less than two weeks in which to make some serious corrections before his team faces Getafe, otherwise his job is on the line! LEVANTE ended the first half with a 2-0 advantage over EIBAR, goals scored by Morales in the second minute and Camarasa a couple of minutes before the break. A minute into the second half Pedro López gifted Eibar with an own goal with Saul Berjon making it 2-0 in the 70th minute. Victor regained the lead for the visitors but Piovaccari denied Levante victory with his 94th minute effort that resulted in a 3-3 tie. While Eibar occupies a spot in the top half of the League table, Levante is a point above the drop zone.
ALMERIA and ELCHE shared the points from their 2-2 draw. Victor gave Elche the lead in the seventh minute however Almeria equalised from a controversial penalty half an hour later. The 1-1 result remained unchanged until Jonathas edged the visitors back in front with his 56th minute effort. When it looked like Elche would take all the points, Hemed found Almeria's second equaliser in the 84th minute. CORDOBA hoped for its first victory after Ekeng broke the deadlock in the 78th minute. However it took opponents GETAFE just ten minutes before Baba took advantage of lethargic Cordoba to level the playing fields and deprive the Andalucian club of all three points. MÁLAGA went down a goal to regional derby rivals GRANADA in the 43rd second and couldn't seem to be able to find a response in the first half, apart from Amrabat who had plenty to say to the referee! Málaga's star buy was substituted by Samu Castillejo in the second half, which was the best decision that Javi Gracia made as the young footballer first assisted Roque Santa Cruz with breaking his goal-scoring deadlock and then went on to win a penalty award which Antunes converted for Málaga's needy victory.
There are no League games as FIFA fever takes hold with international games scheduled for this weekend.