La Liga wrap up, Barcelona defeat Atletico Madrid
La Blaugrana finally broke their Atletico voodoo as they recorded their first win at the Vincente Calderon last night in over three seasons.
The win ended Los Roji Blancos 100% start to the La Liga but all was not rosy for Barcelona as their star player, Lionel Messi, was stretchered off with an ankle injury.
The scans later revealed that there is no fracture and its only ligament damage but it’s an initial prognosis and the full extent of the injury will only be revealed after further scans.
However, Messi did not depart the field before leaving his mark on the game as it was his and Gerrard Pique goals that earned his side a well deserved victory.
The home side got things level through Raul Garcia but Barcelona were in no mood to squander their advantage as they held on to win 2-1 on the night that also saw Thomas Ujfalusi sent off for his tackle on Messi.
In the Andalusian derby at the weekend, Sevilla saw off Malaga by the same score line as a header from Martin Caceres before the break gave the Los Palanganas a hard fought 2-1 victory.
Malaga took the early advantage in the game when Jose Rondon scored early in the first half but his side was pegged back as Alejandro Alfaro equalized just after 5 minutes.
Caceres made sure of propelling his side to a second spot in the League with a winner just before the break.
Over at the Estadio Mastella, Valencia continued their 100% start to the season with a 2-1 win over newly promoted Hercules.
Unai Emery’s men sit pretty at the top of the La Liga table after three wins from three matches and after goals from Juan Manuel Mata and Pablo Hernandez in the first half there were no doubts that they will be squandering their top slot to anyone else.
However, Hercules pulled a goal back when David Trezeguet scored from the spot but Los Che held on for the win.
Another match with the same score line was played between Villareal and Levante. Nilmar was the inspiration as the yellow submarines beat the bottom of the table outfit, who are pointless after their opening three games of the season,
Nilmar opened the scoring as early as the 16th minute when he latched on to a sublime through ball by Santi Cazorla and beautifully chipped the ball over the goalkeeper.
Levante were two nil down when Nilmar scored again but this time from close range.
The hosts pulled a goal back late in the second half when Felipe Caicedo toe poked an Asier Del Horno cross, but it was too little too late and Villareal held on for the win.
Over at the Santiago Barnabeau Cristiano Ronaldo scored a fortuitous goal to give his side a well deserved 2-1 win over Real Sociedad.
Angel Di Maria opened the scoring in the second half with a beautiful individual goal after cutting in from the left and unleashing a thunderous shot into the top right corner of the goal.
Raul Tamodo equalized for the visitors just after the hour mark but Cristiano Ronaldo saw his free kick deflect into the goal just 16 minutes before time to give the Los Blancos a hard fought win on the night.
Over at the Estadi Cornella-El Prat Jose Maria Callejon scored the solitary goal of the night as Espanyol saw off Almeria.
In another match Athletic Bilbao staged a remarkable comeback to draw 2-2 with Sporting Gijon.
Miguel de las Cuevas opened the scoring on the night on 12-minutes after an error from the Bilbao keeper.
Gaston Sangoy doubled the Bilbao advantage late in the first half but Carlos Gurpegui reduced the arrears almost immediately after the restart and Fernando Llorente made sure of taking a point home with an equalizer 12 minutes from time.
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