La Liga Round-Up: Getafe Win At Espanyol; Mallorca Snatch Late Victory

SATURDAY

Deportivo La Coruna 2-1 Atletico Madrid: See full match report

Tenerife 1-2 Sevilla: See full match report

Real Madrid 1-0 Racing Santander: See full match report

Athletic Bilbao 1-1 Barcelona: See full match report

SUNDAY

Villarreal 3-1 Real Valladolid

See full match report

Espanyol 0-2 Getafe

These two sides met just prior to the international break in the Copa del Rey and the Catalan-based outfit were desperate to avenge their elimination from the cup competition. They got off on the right foot when Luis Garcia’s 10th minute corner found Ivan Alonso, who rattled the bar with a bullet header from 12 yards out.

Neither side could create anything meaningful until the 30th minute when Adrian Gonzalez found space inside the box for El Geta but his effort was blocked by Kameni and cleared off the line by Chica.

Raul Tamudo, back in the Espanyol side, then saw his shot from angle saved by Oscar Ustari as the Blanc-i-Blau pressed forward in vain in search of the opener before the break. And clear cut chances were even harder to come by in the second period as Ivan Alonso, Coro and Jose Callejon were all off the mark for the hosts.  But against the run of play, Getafe grabbed the winner ten minutes from time.

Roberto Soldado’s initial shot was pushed away by Kameni, but an alert Javier Casquero reacted first as he easily slipped the rebound into the back of the net. And Los Azulones made sure they didn’t have to suffer a nervy finish after Pedro Rios made it 2-0 a minute into injury time when he headed in a cross from Mane.

Xerez 0-0 Sporting Gijon

Xerez have gone three league games without a goal now but they didn’t waste any time trying to put an end to their drought. Just five minutes in, Yaya Keita connected with Armenteros’ cross but slammed his shot against the crossbar.

Sporting, however, responded in kind a minute later when Jose Angel ran onto a short freekick and rifled in a left-footed drive, but he too saw his effort cannon off the post. Miguel de las Cuevas was next to have a crack at goal but he was thwarted by Renan.

Armenteros and Keita combined again for Xerez and it almost broke the deadlock ten minutes before halftime when the former whipped in a corner and the Malian’s header looked destined for goal, but Juan Pablo popped up with a superb one-handed block.

The humble Andalucians picked up where they left off for the second half. Nine minutes in, Antonito hit the woodwork when Mate Bilic nodded Armenteros’ corner away from his own goalkeeper’s hands to the backpost but the Xerez forward couldn’t direct his effort on target.

Cuco Ziganda’s lightweight attack was cruelly exposed as they continually pummelled Sporting’s goal but went away unrewarded.

Mallorca 3-1 Almeria

Mallorca had a 100 percent home record to protect but they were under siege after just six minutes when Fernando Soriano pounced on a loose ball and hammered in a shot from close range which Dudu Aouate managed to keep out. And Soriano had the hosts back-pedalling again ten minutes later as he forced the Israeli goalkeeper into another crucial save at his near post.

The Balearic Islanders gradually settled into the contest and on 21 minutes, Ivan Ramis blazed his header over from point-blank range. Aritz Aduriz came close to putting his side infront moments later when he lunged forward to meet Gonzalo Castro’s cross but the ball just skipped away from him.

Mallorca ’s pressure paid off and three minutes into the restart, they were infront. Castro picked up a squared ball from Julio Alvarez and let fly with a left-footer on the edge of the box to beat Diego Alves at his near post.

Almeria responded immediately and created a flurry of changes in a frantic ten-minute spell, but they had to wait until the 76th minute before they drew level. Pablo Piatti did all the hard work when he careened down the left flank and centred for David Rodriguez, who made no mistakes with his finish from close range.

But a minute from time, Victor Casadesus turned hero for Mallorca when he netted from a tight angle after a cross from the right bobbled all the way to the backpost. As Almeria surged forward desperately for another equaliser, Castro made sure of the points for the hosts as he struck the third goal, and his second of the game, to put the icing on the cake two minutes into stoppage time.

Malaga - Real Zaragoza: Kick off 19:00 CET

Osasuna - Valencia: Kick off 21:00 CET

Click here for full standings…

KS Leong, Goal.com

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