La Liga round-up: Real Madrid leave it late against Deportivo La Coruna as Sergio Ramos’ late header wins epic battle
Los Blancos carry on their unbeaten run in the league as they score twice late on to win 3-2 at the Bernabeu Stadium
Real Madrid set off for the Club World Cup not quite cruising to a 3-2 win over Deportivo La Coruna, but grabbing a victory which saw Zinedine Zidane’s men reach a new all-time club record of 35 games unbeaten.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modric and Karim Benzema were all rested, and once Alvaro Morata expertly put the hosts ahead, the result looked a formality. That was before returning Madrid youth product Joselu hammered in a quick-fire double to put Depor in command.
A shock still looked on the cards with 10 minutes to go but Mariano’s first at the Santiago Bernabeu and another Sergio Ramos injury-time header, salvaged all three points.
Ramos in particular never knows when he is beaten and Real’s captain fantastic can always be relied upon to drag his teammates up to his level, even when they’ve not been at their best.
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All the while Los Blancos continue their epic run, Barcelona have to keep winning too.
Against Osasuna, the Catalans looked comfortable without actually scoring in a first half which ended goalless. As the game wore on, Luis Enrique got ever more animated on the touchline until an incisive burst from Jordi Alba and pinpoint delivery to Luis Suarez saw the Uruguayan open the scoring and calm the nerves.
The left-back was the provider for Lionel Messi’s second and the Argentinian would go on and score a trademark third late in the game.
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On balance of play they deserved the victory but it was far from vintage Barcelona.
With Atletico Madrid not playing Villarreal until Monday evening, Real Sociedad’s 3-2 victory over Valencia thrust the Basques into the heady heights of fourth in the table.
What a game it was too, with 10 yellow cards, a red and a missed penalty to go with the five goals. Willian Jose’s double saw the hosts take charge but Dani Parejo’s penalty 10 minutes before the break gave a fading Los Che some hope.
Even after Juanmi had put La Real further ahead in injury time, there was still time for Zakaria Bakkali to grab another for the visitors.
Unfortunately, the loss doesn’t strengthen Cesare Prandelli’s claims for the role long term. The Italian hasn’t improved the side as hoped and it remains to be seen if Peter Lim’s trigger finger will see yet another manager fired in due course.
Malaga and Granada got week 15 under way on Friday night, playing out a 1-1 draw. Ignacio Camacho was unmarked and in acres of space to put the hosts ahead with a free header on 23. However, in a sign of how Granada are improving week on week, Artem Kravets rescued the point late on. Malaga can count themselves unlucky that two late chances were also ruled out for offside.
Marko Livaja looked to have won all three points for Las Palmas, who were cruising at home to Leganes until substitute Guerrero equalised with 15 minutes to go via the penalty spot. The visitors managed to hold on, meaning the Canary Islanders have now drawn their last three.
Sunday’s early kick off saw Eibar take on Alaves in another Basque derby, the first time that these two had met in the top flight. By 55 minutes the ball had been given away 100 times between the sides in a match that was low on quality and goals; 0-0 it finished.
If there’s one La Liga game where goals are guaranteed, Celta Vigo v Sevilla would be it. So it was something of a surprise that the two teams went into the break goalless. Sevilla sub Vicente Iborra soon changed that, scoring just five minutes after coming on and following it up with an 84th-minute second as Celta pushed in search of an equaliser.
The icing on this particular cake came when Iborra completed his hat-trick via an injury time penalty, to send his side into third just a point behind Barcelona.
Late drama at Espanyol. Felipe Caciedo’s opener just before the hour looked like it would be the only goal against Sporting Gijon, but Leo Baptistao doubled the hosts lead only for Duje Cop to poach an injury time consolation - the first time keeper Diego Lopez has been beaten in five La Liga matches.
Victor Sanchez continues to turn things around at Real Betis. An exciting 4-1-2-1-2 formation was enough to outfox Athletic Bilbao, the old warhorse Ruben Castro with the only goal after 18 minutes.