Matchday 18 - Round-up

There was no sign of complacency within Barcelona’s ranks as they stormed to a 0-4 victory over Deportivo La Coruna at the Riazor on Saturday night. This victory was Barca’s twelfth straight league win and their ninth triumph on the road, which means they conclude the first half of the 2010-11 season with an incredible 100% record away from home. David Villa, Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Pedro scored the goals which keep Pep Guardiola’s team two points ahead of Real Madrid at the summit of La Liga. Depor are 12th following this home defeat but they remain a comfortable eight points above the relegation zone.

Athletic Bilbao denied Malaga’s new-look team a win on matchday eighteen as a 93rd minute equaliser from Javier Martinez gave the Basques a 1-1 draw at the Rosaleda. Martin Demichelis, a new signing recently incorporated from Bayern Munich, scored what looked like the winner for Manuel Pellegrini’s team with ten minutes remaining but their hopes of a second consecutive league win in 2011 were spoiled by Athletic’s late set-piece.

Two goals in two second half minutes from Luis Fabiano and Fredi Kanoute inspired Sevilla to a 2-3 comeback win over Real Sociedad at Anoeta. Real Sociedad led twice during the game but were overrun in the second half. Diego Rivas’ initial opener was cancelled out by Kanoute in the first half but Joseba Llorente restored the hosts’ lead just before half time. Sevilla rallied after the break, however, and deserved their three point reward thanks to a fine attacking display.

Real Mallorca exacted revenge for their cup exit at the hands of Almeria with a 4-1 demolition job at the Iberostar Estadi on Sunday evening. Ivan Ramis, Victor Casadeus, Emilio Nsue and Michael Pereira scored the goals which condemned Almeria to another week in the relegation doldrums.

Juan Mata popped up with another late controversial goal a week after his winner against Espanyol and again it looked like the Spanish international scored from an offside position. That goal gifted Valencia a 0-1 win over Levante in the east coast derby and left Luis Garcia Plaza and his players bemoaning what they perceive as unfair treatment from match officials.

Diego Castro popped up with a crucial goal in second half stoppage time to earn Sporting de Gijon a 1-1 draw against Racing Santander at the Sardinero. Miguel Angel Portugal’s team were afforded a lead by a Gregory Arnolin goal and they wasted opportunities to kill the game. Sporting did enough in the second half to prove worthy winners of a precious point on the road, which might just have kept Manuel Preciado in a job for now.

Osasuna and Getafe played out a 0-0 draw at the Reyno de Navarro on matchday eighteen to ensure a cordial point each for former Real Madrid legends Jose Antonio Camacho and Michel. Getafe were the better team in the first half but were denied an opening goal by some fine Ricardo saves. Osasuna had the initiative in the second period, however, so a draw was a fair result on balance. 

Espanyol ended a run of five matches without a win in truly comprehensive style as they whitewashed Real Zaragoza 4-0 at the Cornella El Prat stadium to lift the mood after a disappointing week in which they were knocked out of the Copa del Rey. Mauricio Pochettino’s men took an early lead through Pablo Osvaldo and were three up by half time as Luis Garcia and exciting young forward Alvaro Vazquez added to the tally. Sergio Garcia’s late strike was the icing on the cake. The win keeps Espanyol in the Champions League hunt and condemns Zaragoza to the bottom of the table again. 

Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick at the Bernabeu on Sunday to help Real Madrid to a 4-2 victory over Villarreal in this clash between second and third in the table. Juan Carlos Garrido’s men were scintillating in the first half and took the lead twice through Ruben Cani and Marco Ruben. Ronaldo, however, levelled the score twice before giving his team the lead twelve minutes from the end, a lead which was then extended in the dying minutes by an elated Kaka, who is yet to start a game after five miserable months on the sidelines.

Atletico Madrid fell to an embarrassing defeat on matchday eighteen as they were totally outplayed in a memorable first half by Hercules at the Jose Rico Perez. Esteban Vigo’s men ran out 4-1 winners after a flurry of first half goals from Tote, Nelson Valdez, Olivier Thomert and David Trezeguet. Atletico did not respond until Jose Antonio Reyes’ 89th minute consolation goal but it was far too little too late for a team supposedly competing for a Champions League place.