La Liga Round 5 : Sabotage In The Air?

Hello everyone and thanks to the few people who commented last time meant a lot to me so thanks.

It was a great bunch of results last week so lets have a look and see if round five was as good as round four! I plan on dropping the formations out for now as they are quite time consuming so if you want them back just leave me a comment and let me know and I will type them for next time.

Last week Real Madrid dropped more points while Barcelona continued there perfect start with another victory, sabotage was in the air as someone cut the floodlights at Rayo forcing the game to be abandon. They also damaged the turnstiles just in case in a protest against having season ticket holders to pay extra money to see the Real Madrid game so that will be replayed on Monday at night again, poor Spain can never quite organise anything properly.

So onto the results in the fifth round of La Liga :-

(12th) Real Zaragoza 3 — 1 Osasuna (20th)

So much for tipping Osasuna to have a good season! The problem is the defence which was breached after just four minutes away at Zaragoza as a good header from Victor Rodriguez allowed Helder Postiga to race clear through and finish low into the far corner. However they got back onto level terms when Armenteros dribbled from the halfway line unchallenged to finish with a good strike on twenty nine minutes. Osasuna missed a glaring opportunity and were made to pay when a cross was headed in by Timor giving the home side the lead. The game was sealed through Apono when he converted from the penalty spot, thats four defeats out of five for Osasuna.

Goals : Postiga 4′, Timor O/G 46′, Apono 71′ — Armenteros 29′

Ana’s Man of the Match : Victor Rodriguez (Zaragoza), made one and it was his deflected cross that took the lead looked lively all game.

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(11th) Celta Vigo 2 — 1 Getafe (17th)

Celta secured a deserved victory at home against Getafe, they had hit the post and missed a guilt edge opportunity until a sweeping counter attack saw them go from one side of the pitch to the other allowing Augusto Fernandez to latch onto Krohn-Delhi’s excellent pass to fire past the keeper and the lead. Getafe soon equalised after fine work from Diego Castro picked our Barrada to smash in for one all. However Celta deservedly re-took the lead when another fine delivery from Krohn-Delhi found substitute Chu-Young Park to finish from close range and give the home side all three points, Alexis was sent off in the very last moments to compound more misery onto Getafe.

Goals : Augusto 57′, Park 68′ — Barrada 59′, Alexis S/O 94

Ana’s Man of the Match : Michel Krohn-Delhi (Celta Vigo), two terrific assist and his pace and energy caused all kinds of problems.

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(6th) Real Betis 1 — 0 Espanyol (19th)

Real Betis continue there strong start to the season with a narrow victory over struggling Espanyol, Benat’s free kick was headed in my defender Paulao on nineteen minutes as Espanyol still have yet to record a victory in La Liga so far. Worrying signs ahead I feel.

Goals : Paulao 19′

Ana’s Man of the Match : Paulao (Real Betis), scored a fine header and was fantastic in defense also to help see his side to all three points.

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(1st) Barcelona 2 — 0 Granada (18th)

Barca made it five wins from five but left it late to seal all three points against a battling Granada side. Barca created a string of chances but found goal keeper Tono in inspired form as he denied Messi, Fabregas, Villa and Alexis Sanchez with some world class saves. Step up Mr Barcelona himself Xavi to save the day as his stunning finish on the edge of the area was rewarded as Barca frustration grew then turned to relief thanks to the captain, Messi’s cutback was put into his own goal by Gomez to add a gloss to the scoreline as Granada missed a couple of great chances themselves to steal the points as Barca maintain their 100% winning start.

Goals : Xavi 87′ Gomes O/G 92′

Ana’s Man of the Match : Tono (Granada), Truly inspired keeping as he made a string of world class saves.

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(2nd) Real Mallorca 2 — 0 Valencia (15th)

Mallorca’s good start to the season continued as they saw off Valencia in an excellent home display, Victor opened the scoring on seven minutes when his strike was not properly saved by Diego Alves as it trickled past him to give the home team the lead. Arizmendi combined with Victor to smash a shot across the keeper and past him as Mallorca remain unbeaten. Valencia created some good chances and did strike the woodwork but it just wasnt meant to be.

Goals : Victor 8′, Arizmendi 55′

Ana’s Man of the Match : Victor (Mallorca), scored one and created one in an impressive performance.

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(9th) Levante 2 — 1 Real Sociedad (14th)

New signing Obafmi Martins repaid the faith by Levante as he struck a late winner as the home team battled back from a goal down to claim all three points. Zurutuza had opened the scoring for Sociedad from outside the area after riding a few challenges however they were given a way back into the match when Inigo Martinez fouled El Zhar allowing Barkero to hold his nerve and put the home side back on level terms. Martins had scored but was disappointed when he saw the linesman’s flag for an offside but he showed fantastic pace and power to finish late on scoring the winner on his debut.

Goals : Barkero 70′, Martins 86′ — Zurutuza 23′

Ana’s Man of the Match : Obafemi Martins (Levante), a fantastic cameo on his debut and he has the pace and power to worry defenders this season.

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(5th) Atletico Madrid 2 — 1 Real Valladolid (13th)

Atletico’s fine start continued with a narrow victory over Valladolid, Koke’s incisive pass found the unlikely Diego Godin in the clear and his finish was quality as he clipped the ball over the goal keeper to give the home side the lead. Just before half time Diego Costa was cruelly taken out resulting in a penalty and the ever reliable Falcao stepped up to double Atletico’s lead and well on the way to another three points. Valladolid did pull one back after Bueno’s shot was poorly dealt with by Courtois in the Atleti goal but they held on to secure another good home win.

Goals : Godin 31′, Falcao 45′ — Bueno 55′

Ana’s Man of the Match : Koke (Atletico Madrid), a terrific pass for the opener and is getting better with every game he plays, defiantly one to watch for the future.

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(16th) Athletic Bilbao 0 — 0 Malaga (3rd)

Malaga remain unbeaten so far in La Liga and played out an incredibly dull game away at the San Mames. Neither side really created that much in a drab game with Aduriz going close for the home side and a couple of half chances for the away one. A game to forget. I think we can agree on. :)

Goals : None

Ana’s Man of the Match : Natxo Monreal (Malaga), showed more attacking spirit than most players and he is the full back! A good performance in a pretty poor game.

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(8th) Rayo Vallecano 0 — 2 Real Madrid (7th)

Real Madrid closed the gap on Barca to eight points after a routine away victory at Rayo, the game pushed back a day after someone cut the floodlight cables and broke the turnstiles in protest went the away side’s way on thirteen minutes when Angel di Maria broke clear to square for Karim Benzema to tap into the open goal. The game was secured when Ronaldo converted a penalty on the stroke of the seventy minutes  as Rayo offered very little in resistance who had Casado sent off very late in a routine victory.

Goals : Benzema 13′, Ronaldo 70′

Ana’s Man of the Match : Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid), always assured, confident on the ball and makes the team play well.

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(10th) Deportivo 0 — 2 Sevilla (4th)

Depor lost their unbeaten start to the season whilst Sevilla maintained theirs after a two zero victory. Sevilla played well but were at times under pressure by a confident looking Deportivo side but that resolve was finally broken on seventy five minutes when Cicinho crossed for Alvaro Negredo to tap the away side into the lead. The goal was a bitter blow to Depor who conceded again soon after when Rakitic fired in a lose ball in the area to cap an impressive away day performance.

Goals : Negredo 75′, Rakitic 84′

Ana’s Man of the Match : Jesus Navas (Sevilla), quickly becoming my favourite player in La Liga! Has so much quality and pace he is looking world class with every performance I see him.

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Thats that as they say, you can check the league table after five games here and also check all my other La Liga updates here on any round you may have missed in a less shocking week of La Liga. The big two won again but my two surprise packages in Sevilla and Atletico Madrid are also going along very nicely so far. The bottom looks worrying especially for Osasuna and Espanyol as neither have won a game so far and have been largely poor in the opening five games.

So any thoughts questions and feelings you would like to share, just leave a comment below and I will respond to it, don’t be shy! :)

Have a great week everyone!! :)