Spanish La Liga – Round Twenty-three

Top Four:

1. Real Madrid

2. Barcelona

3. Sevilla

4. Atletico Madrid

Bottom Four:

17.  Leganes

18.  Sporting Gijon

19.  Granada

20.  Osasuna

February 17, 2017

Granada                                    4-1                    Real Betis

Mehdi Carcela-Gonzalez 18’                                                         Petros 75’

Adrian Ramos 28’ 64’

Andreas Pereira 33’

Granada got their third league victory of the 2016-17 La Liga season by beating Real Betis to get a home victory that might help in their quest to get out of the drop zone. Three first-half unanswered goals for Granada gave them the win.  

February 18, 2017

Sporting Gijón                           1-4           Atlético Madrid

Sergio Alvarez 49’                                                          Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco 46’

                                                                                           Kevin Gameiro 80’ 81’ 85’

Kevin Gameiro scored a hattrick in the final the minutes of regulation time to secure all three points for Atletico Madrid.

Real Madrid                               2-0                    Espanyol

Alvaro Morata 33’

Gareth Bale 83’

Gareth Bale returned from injury to score the insurance goal for Real Madrid to get another league victory.  A goal in each half was how Real Madrid took all three points at home against Espanyol.

Deportivo La Coruna                   0-1                  Alavés

                                                                                                            Manu Garcia 68’

Deportivo La Coruna remained relegation-threatened after falling at home to Alaves. Manu Garcia’s 68th-minute goal was the difference maker.

Sevilla                                      2-0                         Eibar

Pablo Sarabia 30’

Vitollo 90’+1’

In a close contest, Sevilla kept up with the teams in the top four by grabbing a home victory against Eibar.

February 19, 2017

Real Sociedad                              0-1                  Villarreal

                                                                                                           Samuel Castillejo 90’+4’

It would have been a hat-trick of league victories for Real Sociedad.

A late goal and some great tactical work allowed Villarreal a victory over Real Sociedad and cut the point gap between the two teams down to 2 points in the league standings.

Valencia                                       2-0                      Athletic Club

Nani 13’

Simone Zaza 45’+1’

The form sheet would have predicted an Athletic Club victory, but two goals in the first half gave Valencia their first victory in four matches.

Celta Vigo                                        3-0                       Osasuna

Pione Sisto 23’

Jozabed 87’

Iago Aspas 89’

Osasuna remains at the bottom of the league table after a third consecutive league defeat. Celta Vigo scored two late goals to make their victory a convincing one.

Barcelona                               2-1                   Leganes

Lionel Messi 4’ 90’(pen)                                                            Unai Lopez 71’

It was arguably a victory Barcelona did not deserve.

Lionel Messi scored a late penalty to give Barcelona a victory over recently-promoted Leganes. On the balance of play, Leganes probably deserved more out of this match than what hey got.

February 20, 2017

Malaga                            2-1                      Las Palmas

Pablo Fornals 27’                                                                Mauricio Lemos 19’

Charles 35’

Despite taking an early lead, Las Palmas couldn’t stop a third consecutive league defeat.

A home victory for Malaga allowed them to cut down the gap between themselves and Las Palmas down to just 2 points.