Valencia Victory: La Liga matchday six round-up
La Liga’s sixth round of fixtures in the 2010-11 season threw up the usual wealth of excitement, but Valencia has kept their grip on top spot in the table.
Valencia's continued occupation of the top position came after a comfortable 2-1 victory over Athletic Bilbao. Valencia managed to take the early advantage after taking control of the game. Their persistence in pushing forward paid off after just 11 minutes,
when Aritz Aduriz put the home site ahead. The goal was an impressive one, with Pablo Hernandez playing in Roberto Soldado with a deft back-heel pass. Soldado then broke into Bilbao’s penalty area before crossing for Aduriz to finish.
The home side continued to assert their dominance throughout the rest of the game, and wrapped up the three points with a 90th-minute strike by Vicente Rodriguez Guillen. Bilbao, after a much improved second-half performance, managed to grab an equaliser
when Igor Gabilondo netted from a free-kick, but they could not halt Valencia taking its place at the top of the table before the international break.
Barcelona slip up
Defending champions Barcelona, on the other hand, faltered against Real Mallorca. While the Blaugrana had the vast majority of possession at the Nou Camp, they could not force a winner and the game ended 1-1.
Barca had come racing out of the traps and saw Bojan Krkic, Pedro Rodriguez and Gerard Pique all pass up on chances to score. They continued to exert pressure and eventually found themselves ahead, through the formidable Lionel Messi.
Right-back Daniel Alves steamrolled his way up the flank before sending the ball through to Pedro. The Spanish winger then chipped the ball past two Mallorca defenders to the reigning FIFA World Player of the Year, who netted his seventh goal of the season.
But the Catalan giants could not capitalise on their lead, and were punished by the visitors. Mallorca eventually managed to enjoy a spell of possession which saw them test Barca keeper Victor Valdes before the break. Fernando Cavenaghi played in Gonzalo
Castro, whose effort was saved by the Spain international, but Valdes was unable to thwart Emilio Nsue, who headed home from a corner just a minute later.
Despite Messi continuing to torment Mallorca’s defenders, he could not find a way to restore Barcelona’s advantage. Mallorca, however, were much improved in the second half and came close to finding a winner when Pierre Webo found Valdes off his line, but
the goalkeeper raced back to clear the ball.
Real Madrid enjoy big win
Barcelona’s failure to win has seen them drop down to fourth after Real Madrid’s thumping of Deportivo de la Coruna. Jose Mourinho’s all-star cast finally found their shooting boots to record an emphatic 6-1 victory.
It took just four minutes for Cristiano Ronaldo to open the scoring when he headed home Mesut Ozil’s corner from point-blank range. The goal settled Madrid, who had begun the game in all-action style, as they were content to retain possession. After 23 minutes,
the home side extended their lead when Ozil got himself on the end of an intricate passing move to slide the ball beyond Deportivo keeper Manuel Fernandez Muniz (‘Manu’).
The onslaught continued with a goal by Angel Di Maria sending Madrid into half-time with a three-goal cushion. Eight minutes after the break, Madrid improved their advantage when Gonzalo Higuain, who had set up the two previous goals, netted himself from
a cross by Di Maria.
Deportivo added to their woe when Jose Eduardo Rosa Vale e Castro (‘Ze Castro’) scored an own goal, but Juan Rodriguez was able to pull one back with a header. Ronaldo completed the rout when he scored an impressive solo goal.
Elsewhere, a 2-0 victory over Racing de Santander lifted Villarreal to second while Sevilla rose to fifth after their 3-1 win over Atletico Madrid.
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