Hola!! :)
So welcome back to the full round up of the results at the end of fourth round of La Liga, and again there were shocks, amazing comebacks and amazing goals as once again we review another exciting weekend of results.
I haven’t been feeling my usual self over the past couple of weeks due to problems in my real life but rest assured am I am getting back to my old self again after a difficult time. I really enjoy writing these posts so it does help me to remove myself if you will from ‘real life’ stuff and talk about my main passion which of course is Spanish football.
As you all know the international break has forced domestic football into a brief rest in which my country Spain played two games the first being a friendly against Saudi Arabia winning as you would expect by five goals to zero and as a little question do you know who currently manages the Saudi Arabian team? (quick clue he was once a Barcelona manager!) no cheating! Answer is at the bottom. ;)
Goals from Santi Cazorla, Pedro, Xavi, David Villa and a second from Pedro was good enough for a comfortable victory, in the first game of the world cup qualification and is was a narrow one zero victory away in Georgia as a late goal from Valencia forward Roberto Soldado got the team of too a winning start.
So lets get onto all the results of this weekends results starting with Malaga against Levante :-
(2nd) Malaga 3 — 1 Levante (13th)
Malaga (4-5-1) — Caballero, Sanchez, Demichelis, Weligton, Monreal, Camacho, Portillo, Eliseu, Joaquin, Isco, Saviola
Levante (4-5-1) — Munua, Juan Fran, Navarro, Ballesteros, Lell, Diop, Michel, Juanlu, Barkero, El Zhar, Gekas
So inform Malaga continue there strong start to the season with a comfortable home win against Levante. Malaga took the lead just before the half hour when new signing Javier Saviola raced through to put the home side up by one goal but the lead was lost when a fine strike from Michel just outside the area leveled the game. However the Levante defence was pierced again with Joaquin finishing well from inside the area as Malaga look a really good side, Sanchez was red carded just before the end but it was still Malaga’s day as Portillo came of the bench to strike a third and all three points.
Goals : Saviola 27′, Joaquin 59′, Portillo 93′, Sanchez S/O 88 — Michel 46′
Ana’s Man of the Match : Isco, created one and looked world class in a brilliant display for Malaga.
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(10th) Valencia 2 — 1 Celta Vigo (16th)
Valencia (4-5-1) — Alves, Barragan, Rami, Ruiz, Cisokho, Parejo, Costa, Feghouli, Jonas, Viera, Soldado
Celta (4-5-1) — Varas, Mallo, Cabral, Tunez, Lago, Oubina, Insa, Fernandez, Alex Lopez, Krohn-Dehli, Aspas
So Valencia claim there first victory under new manager Pellegrino with a hard fought win over newly promoted Celta Vigo. Sofiane Feghouli opened the scoring after a lovely pass from Veira to smash in the opening goal, however Celta equalised 12 minutes later when Krohn-Delhi stretched to turn the ball into the goal and back on level terms. However Valencia always looked the more likely to grab the winner and when Tino Costa’s fine free kick met the head of new signing Cisokho he made no mistake as Valencia claim there first three points of the new season.
Goals : Feghouli 4′, Cisokho 50′ — Krohn-Dehli 16′
Ana’s Man of the Match : Tino Costa, has superb delivery from set pieces which he showed again with a fine assist and a fine performance in the midfield.
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(12th) Getafe 1 — 4 Barcelona (1st)
Getafe (4-5-1) — Moya, Valera, Lopo, Alexis, Torres, Torres, Michel, Leon, Barrada, Castro, Colunga
Barcelona (4-3-3) — Valdes, Montoya, Pique, Puyol, Adriano, Xavi, Busquets, Tiago, Tello, Fabregas, Pedro
So Barcelona started their first game in well I don’t even remember without Lionel Messi in the starting eleven!, he was rested by manager Vilanova but still managed to affect the game the only way he knows how. It was Fabreagas though who stepped up first his fine run as he slalomed through a few challenges eventually losing the ball as it trickled to Adriano who scored for the second week in succession. Penalty shouts galore as both sides were denied some nailed on decisions but it was Pedro who was fouled allowing super sub Lionel Messi to smash in the resulting spot kick.
It was he who scored the third when a fine pass in midfield released full back Montoya and he squared the ball for who else Messi, who tapped into the empty net his second after coming of the bench. Getafe pulled one back when a Sarabia strike deflected off a Barca player right into the face almost of Mascherano who replaced the injured Puyol and past the helpless Valdes and it was Fabregas again with a terrific ball over the top allowing another sub this time David Villa to do what he does best to seal a fantastic away day performance as Barca lost in this fixture last year.
Goals : Sarabia 80′ — Adriano 32′, Messi 74′, 78′, Villa 91′
Ana’s Man of the Match : Cesc Fabregas, two assists and showed his true class in one of his finest performances for Barcelona.
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(4th) Sevilla 1 — 0 Real Madrid (11th)
Sevilla (4-3-3) — Palop, Cicinho, Botia, Spahic, Navarro, Maduro, Medel, Rakitic, Navas, Negredo, Trocowski
Real Madrid (4-2-3-1) — Casillas, Arbeloa, Pepe, Ramos, Marcelo, Khedira, Alonso, di Maria, Ozil, Ronaldo, Higuain
Real Madrid’s stuttering start to the season continued as Mourinho blasted his players after a poor performance away at Sevilla. Lets take nothing away from Sevilla who matched them every step and made the perfect start with only two minutes gone when Trocowski smashed the ball into the goal from close range. However Madrid were lucky to keep all eleven players on the field as their frustration was evident Higuain lashing out at Navarro a red card offense unpunished. Madrid did test the Sevilla back line but goalkeeper Palop was up to the task making a couple of really decent saves.
Sevilla too pushed for more goals the outstanding Jesus Navas a constant threat for the home side who lashed a shot wide when he had an easier pass to the centre, di Maria next was lucky to escape without a red card after what looked liked a punch thrown but again it went unpunished. A triple sub at half time from the Madrid manager almost worked as Modric’s effort was tipped onto the post by the excellent Palop but Negredo missed a guilt edge opportunity pulling his shot disappointingly wide.
The game ended and a fine home victory for Sevilla who were more than worthy of all the points.
Goals : Trocowski 2′
Ana’s Man of the Match : Jesus Navas, another terrific display from the Sevilla wide man who’s reputation grows with every game he plays.
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(19th) Espanyol 3 — 3 Athletic Bilbao (14th)
Espanyol (4-5-1) — Alvarez, Rodriguez, Forlin, Moreno, Capdevilla, Sanchez, Verdu, Javi Lopez, Mubarek, Fonte, Longo
Athletic Bilbao (4-4-2) — Iraizoz, Amorebieta, Iraola, Iturraspe, Susaeta, Perez, Gurpegi, de Marcos, Isma Lopez, Muniain, Aduriz
A terrific game played out in Catalonia as Espanyol threw away yet another two zero advantage in a breathtaking game, things began well enough as Javi Lopez finished a terrific team move and when Verdu tapped in just before half time Espanyol looked on there way to all three points. Cue another amazing comeback from Bilbao as Aduriz headed in which saw the return of Fernando Llorente and he capped his performance with the equaliser as once again Espanyol let a two goal advantage slip away. Cue a moment of madness from Longo who scored then celebrated in the crowd resulting in a second yellow and he was sent off allowing Aduriz to volley a superb third for a share of the points.
Goals : Javi Lopez 18′, Verdu 44′, Longo 80′, Longo S/O 82 — Aduriz 56′, 83′, Llorente 71′
Ana’s Man of the Match : Artiz Aduriz, bought to replace Fernando Llorente and showed alongside him they could have a strike force to be feared.
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(18th) Granada 1 — 1 Deportivo (7th)
Granada (4-5-1) — Tono, Nyom, Mainz, Siqueira, Lopez, Mikel Rico, Torje, Iriney, Floro Flores, El Arabi, Orellana
Deportivo (4-5-1) — Aranzubia, Pablo, Evaldo, Dominguez, Marchena, Aythami, Aguilar, Gama, Camunas, Riki, Pizzi
Depor’s unbeaten start continues as Granada look for their first win of the season, Nelson Oliveira opened the scoring just before the break and probably should have had a second just moments after as his effort hit the crossbar and looked like it crossed the line but wasn’t seen by the linesman. That decision came back to haunt them as Antonio Floro Flores struck a late equaliser as Deportivo spurred a load of chances leaving with only a point when they should have taken all three worrying signs ahead for Granada I feel.
Goals : Floro Flores 81′ — Oliveira 41′
Ana’s Man of the Match : Carlos Marchena, I struggle to think what Depor would be without him as he produced yet another brilliant display.
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(20th) Osasuna 1 — 1 Real Mallorca (3rd)
Osasuna (4-5-1) — Andres, Bertran, Oier, Flano, Tamia, Lolo, Timor, Cejudo, Sisi, Armenteros, Llorente
Mallorca (4-5-1) Aouate, Ximo Navarro, Nunes, Conceicao, Lopez, Pina, Marquez, Nsue, Gimenez, Alfaro, Pereira
So Mallorca continue their unbeaten record as Osasuna still have failed to register a victory this season, a game that started slow sparked into life on 34 minutes when Llorente and Nunes clashed and both were sent off in the opening half. Osasuna took the lead on 70 minutes when Sola latched onto a Lamah ball through to give Osasuna the lead only for Tomer Hemed to equalise eight minutes later heading in an Nsue corner so a point each.
Goals : Sola 70′ Llorente S/O 34 — Hemed 78′, Nunes S/O 34
Ana’s Man of the Match : Kike Sola, came of the bench for Osasuna and totally turned the game earning a decent point against Mallorca.
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(10th) Real Sociedad 2 — 0 Real Zaragoza (17th)
Sociedad (4-4-2) — Bravo, Gonzalez, De la Bella, Bargara, Martinez, Illarramendi, Zurutuza, Estrada, Agirretxe, Vela, Griezmann
Zaragoza (4-4-2) — Roberto, Supanaru, Paredes, Abraham, Mari, Zuculini, Alvaro, Montanes, Babovic, Oriol, Postiga
A routine victory for Sociedad as they beat a pretty lack luster Zaragoza by two goals to zero, it took a while to break Zaragoza resolve but on the stroke of 55 minutes Inigo Martinez headed in from a corner to give the home side the lead. They doubled that lead six minutes later when Paredas fouled Carlos Vela and he stepped up to double Sociedad’s advantage. Zaragoza failed to get going but there best chances were wasted by Postiga as they look like they will struggle again this season.
Goals : Inigo Martinez 55′, Vela 61′
Ana’s Man of the Match : Carlos Vela, a very good performance from the former Arsenal player who is settling in well at Real Sociedad capped with a fine performance.
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(5th) Atletico Madrid 4 — 3 Rayo Vallecano (6th)
Atletico Madrid (4-4-2) — Courtois, Juan Fran, Miranda, Godin, Filipe Luis, Suarez, Gabi, Turan, Koke, Falcao, Costa
Vallecano (3-4-3) — Gimenez, Titio, Amat, Casado, Piti, Javi Fuego, Trashorras, Adrian, Leo, Bilie Nielson, Jose Carlos
Well what a game!! Its fair to say that Atletico almost pulled of an Ana FM type moment as they almost threw away a four goal advantage! Things began well enough as a fine run from Diego Costa cutting the ball back into Mario Suarez to give the home side the lead. Determined work from Falcao in the early stages of the second half as he won the ball back for Arda Turan who again cut the ball back into the unmarked Koke to tap Atletico into a comfortable position. It was like de ja vu for the Vallecano side as once again Atletico attacked the wings and yet another cutback this time for Arda Turan and it was three zero and it looked game over.
By the time Falcao converted a penalty of the stroke of 56 minutes you would have been forgiven to have switched the channel happy knowing the game was gone but how wrong we were! I think by the time Delibasic tapped in on 82 minutes consolation was all they had but only three minutes later he tapped in his second and the score line read four two. Leo set up a frenetic final few moments when the ball broke for him in the area and he converted as Atletico completely fell apart but stood firm to get a what turned out in the end to be a very hard earned three points.
Goals : Suarez 29′, Koke 49′, Turan 51′, Falcao 56′ — Delibasic 82′, 85′, Leo 89′
Ana’s Man of the Match : Diego Costa, two assists and looked top class in a fantastic attacking display for Atletico Madrid.
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(9th) Real Valladolid 0 — 1 Real Betis (7th)
Valladolid (4-5-1) — Jaime, Rukavina, Rueda, Valiente, Balenziaga, Rubio, Victor Perez, Ebert, Oscar, Omar, Guerra
Betis (4-5-1) — Casto, Nelson, Paulao, Mario, Nacho, Benat, Perez, Ruben Castro, Nono, Agra, Molina
A very late winner sealed a fantastic away three points for Real Betis, the game was evenly contested as both sides wasted chances until the final few minutes when Castro found possession in the area and fired his shot pass the despairing keeper to seal a nice away three points for Betis.
Goals : Castro 89′
Ana’s Man of the Match : Patrick Ebert, created the better chances for Valladolid and worked very hard.
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Thats the round up of the round four results!
Some shocks in there as you can see and some terrific games so what do you make it of, Real Madrid losing again ahead of the game against Manchester City and all seems down from what I have read about it. Fernando Llorente’s return? What do you make of that, he wanted to go but there were no real bids for him so Bielsa brought him back and he returned that faith with a goal so will he stay on?
What of Atletico’s wannabe Ana moment! (Have to poke fun at yourself once in a while I find!) and can they in reality challenge for the title? I have said they were best placed to do so if any team could and with that amount of attacking talent then who knows.
Again thanks for reading! As always your thoughts, comments and ideas are welcomed in a fantastic round four of La Liga, muchas gracias!! :)
P.S. The answer to the quiz question was Frank Rijkaard.
