Sporting Gijón end Leganés unbeaten started to the season
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Having struggled at the wrong end of the table last season, Sporting earned their second win from three games this season and thus inflicted a first defeat of the season on newly promoted Leganés.
Leganés had, in fact, not conceded before Sunday’s visit to the El Molinón, but they were the creators of their own downfall with the goals they conceded against Sporting.
The opening goal came for the home side after 17 minutes of play when visiting centre-back Martin Mantovani made a complete mess of an attempted clearance from a low cross played into the penalty area.
Croatian international striker Duje pounced on the error, rolling the ball to hometown boy Nacho Cases who supplied a composed finish.
Panicky defending was then to blame for the home side’s penalty two minutes before half-time, when David Timor’s sloppy tackle brought Victor Rodriguez to the ground, as the new signing raced into the box.
Duje stepped up to place the resulting spot-kick to the back of the net beyond the despairing dive of visiting ‘keeper Jon Ander Serantes.
The visitors grabbed a lifeline just before the hour mark when Diego Rico sent a low shot across Iván Cuéller in the home goal and into the back of the net.
From there, Leganés huffed and puffed but didn’t come particularly close to forcing an equaliser, as Sporting leapfrog into third place in the table with Leganés remaining tenth.
Betis beat Valencia at the death
The home side completed a remarkable comeback from 0-2 behind and with only ten men, to level the score at 2-2 at La Mestalla, but they were eventually beaten thanks to a winner deep into injury time at the end of the game.
The visitors took the lead seven minutes before half-time. A sweeping move down the right flank saw a ball swept across the edge of the box, which found the home defence all at sea. The ball found its way to Ruben Castro, who took a touch before finishing right footed with composure into the corner from 12 yards out.
Things got worse for the home side in the 50th minute as Enzo Perez was sent off for a stupid studs up tackle on the halfway line.
Four minutes later, with the home side chasing the game, Los Che were hit on the counter-attack.
It was quite clear that the home side had a man less, as Joaquín received the ball some 35 yards from Valencia’s goal and didn’t face a tackle before advancing on goal and taking his time before and finishing with composure from less than 15 yards out.
15 minutes from time, the home side forced their way back into the game. Daniel Parejo played a lovely first-time low diagonal ball, which took five Betis defenders out of the game. Parejo’s ball found Rodrigo on the edge of the box and he calmly struck a first-time left-footed shot into the far bottom right-hand corner of the net, through the advancing goalkeeper’s legs.
Three minutes later, Valencia were somehow level. A header from a corner was parried by Antonio Adán but the ball fell to Ezequiel Garay who tapped the ball home from three yards out, from a somewhat tight angle.
The drama didn’t end there, though. Two minutes into injury time at the end of a pulsating encounter, a ball was played across the box, which somehow evaded everyone, before finding Castro five yards out from goal. He finished the low cross and tucked it into the net to finally give the visitors a 2-3 win, which they deserved over the 90 plus minutes.
Ten-man Eibar topple Granada
Eibar were reduced to ten men on the half hour mark when goalkeeper Asier Riesgo came charging out of his penalty area and tripped onrushing striker Ezequiel Ponce without making contact with the ball.
Eibar took the lead two minutes before half-time, when Pedro Leon squirmed past a tackle before hitting a speculative 35-yard effort which bounced right in front of goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa, before skidding into the roof of the net.
The home side equalised on 76 minutes when a corner was swung into the box and was met with a powerful downward header which bounced up off the turf before rebounding off the crossbar, bouncing down off goalkeeper Yoel’s back, giving Artem Kravets the simplest tap in a yard out from goal.
The spirited visitors were not to be denied, however, as they hit Granada on the counter attack at the death. A sweeping move eventually saw Antonio Luna find Sergi Enrich in space deep into injury time.
He took a touch on the edge of the penalty before finishing with composure low into the bottom right-hand corner, with his second touch from 12 yards out past the advancing goalkeeper. It was the last action of the match.
Athletic Bilbao pip Deportivo La Coruna
Deportivo’s Florin Andone planted a header from near the penalty spot which forced visiting goalkeeper into a flying fingertip save after just ten minutes of play. It was as close as the home side would come to finding a goal.
The match had few clear cut chances but Bilbao came close with another header from a corner on the half-hour mark.
On 41 minutes Bilbao took the lead. Ager Aketxe found his way past a few tackles, moving from the left to a central position, before laying the ball off to Raul Garcia some 40 yards out from goal. He took a touch before looking up and sending a rising thunderbolt flying into the top left-hand corner of the net from more than 35 yards out. It was a goal worthy of winning any game.
Deportivo had a very good chance to equalise five minutes after the restart. Andone was played in on goal but his effort was well saved.
Eight minutes from time Celso Borges hit a shot from 30 yards which was also well saved and from there the visitors held out comfortably.
