FOOTBALL – After the drama of Friday night’s matches, the next of La Liga second games were played on Saturday. Here we bring you the highlights from Saturday´s matches.
Osasuna 2-0 Cadiz
There were some frantic moments in, and around the box, resulting in a penalty being awarded to Osasuna after 37 minutes of the game. Ledesma had put down Budimir in the area. But it was Chimy Avila who stepped up. The goalkeeper went to his right, but Avila hit the ball top and centre of the net.
The first half ended 1 – 0 for the home side.
Second half
During the second half, Osasuna continued to dominate, but found it hard to break the Cadiz defence.
Then in the 76th minute, Cadiz midfielder, Tomás Alarcón received his second yellow card of the match and was therefore sent off.
Again, there was a lot of pushing and shoving in the box. Consequently, Chust´s struggle with Kike resulted in a 79th minute penalty being awarded.
Kike Garcia scored from 11 metres. This time, Ledesma went to his left, but Kike sent the ball to the right.
Six minutes were added for stoppage time, but the game ended 2-0 for Osasuna. This makes 2 wins out of 2 games for Osasuna with Cadiz yet to score.
Mallorca 1-2 Real Betis
Both Betis goals were from penalties. The first came for Iglesias after just 9 minutes. The ball was deflected because of a hand ball in the box.
15 yellow cards were handed out during the game. The first of which was received by William Carvalho in the first minute of the game. Carvalho was shown the card for a bad foul.
The equaliser
The first half ended 0-1 for the visitors, but Mallorca came out strong in the second half. The home fans didn´t have to wait long until the equaliser happened. Vedat Muriqi scored a fantastic header in the 56th minute.
The yellow cards continued fast and furious, until another penalty was awarded to Betis. Battaglia blocked a move by Iglesias as both fell just inside the box. Once again, Iglesias scored his second goal from a penalty. Subsequently, Battaglia received a yellow card.
Cards and substitutions
The remainder of the game was filled with yellow cards and substitutions. Almost every player in the starting 11 received a yellow card.
11 minutes were added for stoppage time. It ended 1-2 for Real Betis.
Celta Vigo 1 – 4 Real Madrid
The 4-3-3 line up for Real Madrid certainly paid off. All three attackers, Vini Junior, Benzema, and Valverde took the opportunity to score, along with Modric on the wing.
Handball
The first goal came in the form of a penalty for Benzema after just 14 minutes. A chance had come for Real Madrid when they took a corner kick. But despite their pleas for handball in front of the goal, the ref allowed the game to play on. However, over a minute later, after a review from VAR, the penalty was awarded to Real Madrid.
Less than 10 minutes later, Celta Vigo got their own chance at a penalty after virtually the same thing happened inside the box. Iago Aspas managed to put the ball just out of reach for the keeper´s hand.
Rooted to the spot
Then, just before half-time, Modic, almost effortlessly, ran with the ball through three or four players before beating the goalkeeper and putting the ball in the net. The goalkeeper almost didn´t see it coming.
The first half ended with the advantage for Real Madrid.
On fire
Real Madrid were on fire when they came out for the second half. The next goal came from Vini jnr after 56 minutes of play. He started the run in his own half after Modric passed the ball into the space in front of him. With only two players and the goalkeeper between him and the net, he calmly continued as the goalkeeper came out to meet him. He side-stepped the keeper, and ran the ball around and past him, and tucked it home to make the score 1-3.
Ten minutes later Vini jnr passed the ball in from the wing towards Benzema. However, Benzema who had slipped and was on the ground struggled to get up to reach the pass. But, Valverde got to the ball, and scored.
Yet another chance came after 87 minutes when Real Madrid were given a penalty after a clash inside the box between Benzema and Mallo. Despite the fresh legs from substitute, Eden Hazard, he missed.
The game ended with a 1-4 win for Real Madrid.
