La Liga review: Sevilla and Malaga in bottom three
Few would have predicted the current state where Sevilla and Malaga find themselves in the Spanish top division. Although it’s still early days, but they are already losing ground on champions, Barcelona and other title contenders.
Malaga started week four travelling to Getafe but couldn’t get back into the game as they were downed by a second minute strike from Stefan Scepovic. The 1-0 win moved Getafe up to 14th place leaving Malaga on 18th position with two points.
Sevilla, however couldn’t find form in the league despite doing well in the UEFA Champions League last week. As expected, CeltaVigo’s current form was going to be an extra incentive for the visitors but many will be surprised with the outcome of the match. Two goals in the first 26 minutes from in-form Nolito and Daniel Wass gave CeltaVigo the lead but Fernando Llorente’s early second half strike was only a consolation for the home team.
Sevilla is currently 20th on the table after the 2-1 home loss to CeltaVigo. CeltaVigo however will hope to keep their current form which has seen them stay 4th with just a point ahead of title contenders, Athletico Madrid. Athletico Madrid, placed 5th won 2-0 away at Eibar with goals from Correa and Torres.
Barcelona maintained their place at the top of the table with an impressive second half performance against a resilient Levante side. Bartra, Neymar and a Lionel Messi brace was enough to secure a 4-1 win over Levante. Messi also missed a penalty shortly after Victor Casadesus got the only goal for Levante but the European footballer of the year made up for that when he scored his second of the night in the 90th minute. Luis Suarez and Andreas Iniesta were unused substitutes and Barcelona look to be good enough in regaining the title they won last season.
Real Madrid is one team that won’t give Barcelona an easy ride in fighting for the league title. Although the Blancos had many injury problems, they managed to win Granada with an important Karim Benzema’s second half strike at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu. The positive for Real Madrid is that they are yet to concede a goal this season with Navas keeping five clean sheets in all competitions as they maintained their second spot on the log two points behind Barcelona.
The pressure is growing on David Moyes with his Real Sociedad team placed 17th on the table. The weekend loss to Espanyol has done little to help the Scot. Real Sociedad who saw a man sent off before half time lost 3-2 to Espanyol at the Anoeta. Despite going ahead through Agirretxe and getting an equaliser on the 86th minute by Jonathas, the host went on to lose through a 90th minute strike from Hernan Perez.
Valencia also struggled to break down 10-man Betis side in a stalemate at the Mestalla. Villareal won Athletico Bilbao 3-1 moving the yellow submarines to 3rd spot on the table. Goals from Soriano, Gaspar and Baptistao were enough to make Aduriz late strike for Bilbao only a consolation.
Antonio Sanabria got a brace in four minutes to help Sporting Gijon secure an important 3-2 away win at Deportivo La Coruna. RayoVallecano moved to 12th on the table after an important 1-0 away win at Las Palmas.
Despite failing to score this weekend, Cristiano Ronaldo is still the highest goal scorer with five goals closely followed by Nolito with four. Lionel Messi moved up to join Bakambu, Sanabria, Aduriz and Benzema on three goals.
Twitter: @zikson_b
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