FOOTBALL – There was plenty of football action this weekend in the 11th game out of 38 of La Liga
With the teams playing their 11th football match, it is just over a quarter of the way through La Liga season. The clubs at the bottom of the table are finding it hard to climb out of that relegation position so far. But, in any case, the main action this weekend was seen at the top half of the table.
Rayo Vallecano 5 – 1 Cadiz
Tenth place Rayo Vallecano destroyed Cadiz in this 6 goal, 3 red card tense match. The first 30 minutes, however, were fairly uneventful. But, the first yellow card came after 31 min for Oscar Trejo of Rayo Vallecano. Then, just 6 minutes later a yellow followed for Rubin Sobrino of Cadiz.
First red card of the match
It wasn´t long to wait until the first red card of the match was shown. 42 minutes in, and Isaac Carcelén, a Cadiz defender was sent off. A penalty was subsequently awarded, and Isi Palazón stepped up and scored the first goal for Vallecano.
Then 2 minutes into stoppage time of the first half, the second goal for the Madrid side came. This time, midfielder, Alvaro García Rivera scored, assisted by A Catena Marugán.
The first half ended 2-0 for the home side.
Second half
At the start of the second half, Cadiz made a substitution almost immediately and replaced striker, Alex Fernandez for defender, Rafael Jimenez Jarque. A second yellow card for Cadiz in the 52nd minute went to midfielder, Ruben Alcaráz. However, not even 10 minutes later, he received his second, and was sent off.
Florian Lejeune then scored the third goal for Vallecano.
A yellow card was issued to Cadiz striker, Lucas Perez. Then a few minutes later, in the 79th minute, Sergio Camello scored the 4th for Vallecano. However, 3 minutes after, Cadiz managed to get a goal back. But only because of an own goal from Iván Balliu.
Yet another red card! This time for Randy Nteka of Vallecano.
Goal number 2 for Lejeune
The final goal came in the final minute of normal time. This was the second of the match for Florien Lejeune.
Four minutes were added, but the game remained 5-1 for the home side.
Real Madrid 3 v 1 Sevilla
In the opening minutes of the match Vini Jnr got close to scoring. Rodrygo took the ball down the wing, and passed it square in front of the box for Vini jnr. But Gudelji of Sevilla got in the way, and Bono was quick to save it.
Then Vini Jnr ran with the ball down the opposite wing, square passed to Modric across the box for him to finish it off and score the opener five minutes in.
Alaba missed the chance to go 2 up, when he took a penalty but sent the ball just over the net.
The first half ended with Real Madrid one goal up.
Second half
Seven minutes into the second half, a mistake by Vini Jnr allowed Montiel to take possession, and cut a pass through the Real Madrid defenders to Erik Lamela, who then scored. Making it level and one goal apiece.
Two minutes later, Sevilla almost scored a second goal, when Lamela took advantage of sloppy defending and passed to Navas, who crossed to Isco. But the ball hit the side of the net.
Once again, a few minutes later, Sevilla had another good chance at goal. Montiel burst through the middle of the field. He passed to Lamela, who just put the ball wide of post. With just 30 minutes of normal time remaining, Real Madrid must have been feeling the pressure.
They had to wait almost 20 minutes more before their second goal came. Vini Jnr went up against the goalkeeper but passed the ball to Lucas Vazquez allowing him a simple finish and putting Real Madrid back in the game. Two minutes later, the third and final goal for Real Madrid came. Valverde left the goalkeeper standing when he crashed the ball into the top corner of the net. The Sevilla side seemed to deflate, and the game ended 3-1.
Barcelona v Athletic Club
Barcelona were at home against Athletic Club. The Bilbao side haven´t won a league game this month so far. And last night´s game did nothing to change that.
Just 4 minutes into the game, and Lewandowski was caught offside as he raced into the box. Another chance came 6 minutes later as Dembele chipped the ball over the Bilbao defender and onto the path of Gavi. But it was just a little too far to chase. But Dembele´s persistence paid off in the 10th minute when he headered the ball over the goalkeeper and into the net. Barcelona went 1-0 up.
Barcelona were on fire
Dembele and Sergi Roberto did a one-two and as the ball was passed back to Roberto, he found the net. Only 18 minutes had gone, and it was 2-0 for the home side.
Just 4 minutes after this, Dembele was once again amidst the football action as he ran with the ball before passing to Lewandowski in the middle. Lewandowski then moved around the keeper, and made the goal look easy. The first half finished with Barcelona in the lead, and Athletic Club hardly involved in the football.
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More football action for Dembele
In the second half, Dembele had yet more chances for a piece of the action and had a few near misses. However, once again, he dribbled the ball forward, and through the defence before passing on to Ferran Torres as he raced forward and scored. Dembele was instrumental in this game. It ended 4-0.
Real Betis v Atletico Madrid
The home side put up a heavy defence against Atletico, and as such, despite some football creativity from Griezmann, the first half ended 0-0. But, a few minutes into the second half, and Henrique of Betis scored. However, VAR ruled it offside due to Iglesias being just offside. The game remained 0-0.
Then, from a corner, Griezmann managed to swing the ball in, missing the defenders, and bounced into the net. Atletico went one goal up. After 71 minutes, Griezmann struck again. 2-0 for the visitors.
However, in the 84th minute after winning a free kick on the edge of the area, Fekir stepped up, and fired the ball into the net.
One minute into stoppage time, Betis very nearly equalised when the ball hit off the bar. The game ended 1-2 with Atletico taking the 3 points.
Table
Real Madrid sit top of the table on 31 points with Barcelona just 3 points behind in second position. Thanks to their win against Betis, Atletico are in 3rd place on 23 points.
