Villarreal 2-0 Athletic
Sevilla 4-1 Valladolid
Barcelona 6-0 Malaga
Real Madrid 3-0 Almeria
Mallorca 2-0 Atletico Madrid
Racing 0-1 Valencia
Osasuna 1-0 Espanyol
Getafe 2-1 Recreativo
Deportivo 1-1 Betis
Numancia 2-1 Sporting
As you were up top where all of the sides in the top four achieved convincing victories. On Saturday, second half goals from Santi Cazorla, rifling home Giuseppe Rossi’s pass, and Chilean Mati Fernandez, who scored a lovely late solo goal, gave Villarreal a deserved victory over a gritty Athletic side who lacked cutting edge, and found goalkeeper Diego Lopez in inspired form. The evening’s other game consisted of Fredi Kanoute turning in another inspired performance as Sevilla beat Valladolid. The Mali striker put the home side in front early on only for Swedish striker Henok Goitom to equalize minutes later – his 9th of the season. Kanoute was not about to be outdone, however, volleying brilliantly from Navas’s cross to put the Andalucians back in the lead. Luis Fabiano extended their advantage before Kanoute completed a superb hat-trick with a towering header 20 minutes from time. It is 15 for the season for Sevilla’s main man, coming good just at the right time.
On Saturday, Barcelona showed they are back to their devastating best with an utter dismantling of high-flying Malaga at the Camp Nou. Xavi, Messi, Alves, Henry and Eto’o (2) got on the scoresheet, the Cameroon striker scoring his 25th league goal of the season, an outstanding return. There was little Tapia’s men could do against such an onslaught, but they remain very much in the European hunt tied on 43 points with a host of other teams. Real Madrid encountered little difficulty against Almeria, making it 13 games unbeaten in La Liga. Marcelo’s fierce shot gave them a first half lead, before Klaas Jan Huntelaar scored his 7th and 8th goals of his short spell to wrap things up.
Valencia are back in business on the pitch if not of it, after a 1-0 win at Racing, who are most accommodating to visiting sides at the Sardinero these days. Valencia even had a man sent off, Alexis, and still eased to victory thanks to Juan Mata’s 78th minute strike. Racing even had time for Oscar Serrano to blaze a penalty over the bar, meaning Racing join the sides who are by no means safe from relegation. Atletico Madrid’s defeat at Mallorca, thanks to goals from Aduriz and Castro, means there is now a 5-point gap separating Villarreal in fourth from the 4 teams on 43 points.
Deportivo remain in that group after a 1-1 win at Betis; Espanyol’s survival hopes are fading by the week and a 90th minute Javed Nekounam winner condemned them to yet another defeat, this week at Osasuna; Numancia boosted their prospects with a 2-1 win over Sporting while Getafe eased their worries with a much-needed 2-1 victory over Recreativo. Osasuna, third bottom, are just a point behind Recre and Betis above them.
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