Bilbao continue run of form

http://www.espnfc.com/spanish-primera-division/story/2360165/la-liga-fernando-torres-scores-as-atletico-madrid-beat-getafe-while-gael-kakuta-nets-as-rayo-vallecano-beat-malaga

Athletic Bilbao continued to keep the pressure on the teams above them with a deserved 2-1 victory over Almeria at San Mames.

Athletic have been the form team in La Liga over the last few weeks and Saturday's win, secured by goals from Xabier Etxeitia and Mikel Rico in the opening half-hour, was their fifth on the trot and saw them move to within five points of Malaga in seventh.

Almeria did manage to reduce the deficit when home defender Mikel Balenziaga put through his own net at the start of the second half, but they never really threatened an equaliser as their winless run stretched to six games.

It took Athletic just nine minutes to take the lead as Etxeitia climbed above a group of players to glance in Benat Etxebarria's corner.

In what was a rampant start by the home side, Ibai Gomez struck the crossbar five minutes later and Almeria survived two more scares before Athletic doubled their lead in the 26th minute.

Almeria goalkeeper Julian Cuesta's punch from a right-wing cross only went as far as Rico on the edge of the box and he chested the ball down before lofting a shot over the stranded Julian and into the net.

At that stage it was looking set to be an Athletic romp, but somehow Almeria managed to get through to half-time only 2-0 down despite Rico, Iker Muniain (twice), Guillermo and Inaki Williams all going close for the hosts.

Athletic really should have been out of sight following a dominant first-half showing, but they were not and could have paid the penalty as Almeria pulled a goal back in the 47th minute when Wellington Silva's cross deflected in off Balenziaga.

That was only the second goal Athletic have conceded in six matches since suffering a crushing 5-2 home mauling at the hands of Barcelona and gave Almeria an unexpected boost.

However, the Andalusian side could not get any closer and Athletic had the chances to finish the game off well before the end, with Guillermo and Williams unable to take two of the home side's openings.

That kept Almeria in contention right until the end but opportunities were few and far between and they ended up finishing the match with 10 men as Fran Velez picked up a second yellow card in stoppage time.

Almería 0, Villarreal 0: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Sevilla…

Andalusian sides continue to trouble Villarreal, as Almería takes a point and probably deserves more at Estadio Juegos Mediterráneos. This time Marcelino’s backups failed to deliver the result, with Tomás Pina coming closest for the visitors after both sides had a man sent off.

An  ugly match in the Asian time slot on Sunday afternoon, as is often the case. A poor performance from Villarreal in Andalucía, as is often the case. And a chance wasted to recover from Thursday's European setback.

With card-crazy Undiano Mallenco misguidedly at the helm of a relatively clean match,Almería's Mauro dos Santos saw a straight red card for a last-man WWE takedown of Giovani dos Santos. Villarreal then anticipated 50 minutes to press for a winner, but captain Jaume Costa committed a second bookable offense on rojiblanco winger Wellington Silva - the on-loan Arsenal man was a constant menace. The hosts looked more likely to take all three points on the day, with Tomer Hemed putting over with only a defender to beat, but the scoreboard failed to operate.

Three takeaways from a disappointing jornada 27:

1.      Tired legs for the Yellow Submarine. Villarreal has purportedly played the most matches in Europe since the start of 2015. And it has shown in the last few weeks, even with the extensive squad rotations by manager Marcelino García Toral. Much of today's XI did not feature against Sevilla on Thursday evening, but perhaps unfamiliarity resulted in yet another slow start. Not the ideal mix against a desperate team in the face of an expected late-game swoon.

2.      Spanish referees are...special. The cardinal rule of officiating: don't become the focal point of the match. And yet Spanish international Alberto Undiano Mallenco has violated this tenet time and again. Today's match was no different - ten yellow and two red cards awarded for 31 total fouls. Not that either dismissal was unwarranted given the circumstances, but Costa's first yellow was rather soft, as were many other bookings that conditioned the contest. Chechu Dorado, Tomás Pina, and Antonio Rukavina were also cautioned among the Yellow Submarine's defensive nucleus.

3.      The Champions League is falling out of reach. With only eleven matches left in the season, Villarreal now trails fourth-place Atlético Madrid by seven points, and third-place Valencia is a further point ahead. And Sevilla can pull three points clear of the Yellow Submarine with a home win over Elche later today, not to mention thenervionenses' high probability to advance to the Europa League quarterfinals. A top-four finish was never likely, but with the European setback on Thursday, this writer would have liked a stronger effort from a more full-strength team in Almería. But not to be.

On to the Sánchez Pizjuán for Thursday night's Europa League round of 16 return leg. Villarreal needs three goals to start the conversation about a comeback. It's extremely long odds, but at least the top guns are rested for the charge. Nothing to lose.

Late Elche goal deny Almeria the full points 2-2

Almeria 2 Elche 2

Almeria took the lead through Victor Rodriguez before Jose Antonio Verza made things level at the break.

Jonathas put the visitors back in front 10 minutes after the interval before he saw red for a second bookable offence and Tomer Hemed rescued a point for Francisco Rodriguez's men late on.

The result moves Elche up three places into 16th, while Almeria moved into eighth with nine points from their opening seven matches.

The away side started well and got on the scoresheet after just six minutes with the first real chance of the game as Rodriguez headed home from Jonathas' cross in the centre of the box to hand his side the lead.

Elche continued to press and Damian Suarez tested Ruben with a long-range drilled shot, but the home goalkeeper held his effort out.

Edgar Mendez had a chance to bring Almeria back on level terms but his shot from just outside the 18-yard box sailed round the post.

Moments later Jonathas had the opportunity to double his side's tally but his thunderbolt from 35 yards out powered over the bar and into the stands.

The home side looked likely to pull a goal back with a series of Verza corners midway through the first half with Fernando Soriano unfortunate not to score with his close-range header on the end of one of them.

However, their pressure paid off with less than 10 minutes of the half to go as Edu Albacar conceded a penalty which Verza did well to convert to level the score at the break.

The second half started at a slower pace but Edgar had a chance to hand the home side the lead, forcing visiting keeper Manu Herrera to tip his effort around the post.

But it was the visitors that went ahead for the second time in the match as Pedro Mosquera set up Jonathas and he made no mistake with his well-placed volley landing in the top left of the Elche goal.

Deep into the second period, Jonathas received his marching orders after he was shown his second yellow card, this one for handball to leave his side with 10 men and fighting to hold onto their narrow lead.

The home side began to press for an equaliser as Wellington Silva and Jonathan Zongo came close before Verza's corner found the head of second-half substitute Hemed, who clinched a point with five minutes remaining.

Atletico Madrid lost La Liga lead after upset by Almeria

From BBC Sport.Com

Atletico Madrid were knocked off the top of La Liga by Real Madrid after a disappointing defeat at Almeria.

Diego Simeone's men crashed to their second league defeat of the campaign after two late goals for relegation-threatened Almeria. Verza's cross opened the scoring with 10 minutes left before the midfielder doubled the lead from the penalty spot.

Atletico goalkeeper Dani Aranzubia was sent off for fouling Sundy Zongo in the build-up to the penalty. The visitors had made all three of their substitutes, leaving midfielder Gabi to go in goal for the final five minutes on a miserable night for them.

Real Madrid had beaten Villarreal 4-2 earlier in the evening to move level on points with their city rivals.  But, with the chance to return three points clear of La Liga, Atletico produced one of their worst performances of the season to drop below Real on goal difference.

Atletico led La Liga outright for the first time since their double-winning season in 1995-96 after a 4-0 over Real Sociedad on 2 February. But just six days later, they have lost the advantage with Barcelona also able to move ahead of them with a win at Sevilla on Sunday.

For 79 minutes neither side looked capable of scoring, until Almeria's Aleix Vidal had a shot from the edge of the area hit both posts. The visitors failed to heed the warning and were behind a minute later when Verza whipped in a cross from the left wing, and the ball went over Aranzubia and into the net.

To seal a miserable night for Atletico, Aranzubia received a harsh red card for pulling back Zongo after his clearance had hit the striker. And, with makeshift goalkeeper Gabi going the wrong way, Verza made sure of victory from the spot.