Goals galore as Barca and Madrid maintain title head to head in Liga Matchday 34
DUSHANBE, 27.04.2017. /NIAT “Khovar”/. FC Barcelona assured they will end matchday 34 of the Spanish Liga Santander as league leaders when they thrashed Osasuna 7-1 in the Camp Nou Stadium on Wednesday night.
Barca were only in trouble for the first five minutes of the second half when Roberto Torres scored Osasuna’s goal, but by then the visitors were 2-0 down following goals from Leo Messi and Andre Gomes.
Torres’ goal spurred Barca into action and four goals in 10 minutes, scored by Messi, Gomes, Paco Alcacer and Javier Mascherano, who netted his first ever goal for the club after seven seasons, sealed the win, before Alcacer added Barca’s seventh of the night with four minutes remaining.
Real Madrid remain level on points with Barca but with an extra game to play after their 6-2 thrashing of Deportivo La Coruna.
Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane rested key players such as Tony Kroos and Cristiano Ronaldo, but saw how theoretical fringe players such as Marco Asensio and Isco once again ran the show.
Alvaro Morata opened the scoring in the first minutes before James Rodriguez doubled the lead after 13 minutes and had it not been for Deportivo keeper, German Lux, it could have been 5-0 before Florin Andone pulled a goal back for the home side.
Lucaz Vazquez, continually booed by the home fans, scored a key goal to put Madrid two ahead again on the stroke of halftime and in the second half the visitors ran away with the game with James, Isco and Casemiro all scoring.
Leganes scored three goals in a six minute second half spell to open up a six point gap between themselves and the relegation zone as they defeated Las Palmas 3-0 in the Butarque Stadium.
Luciano Never scored on either side of Miguel Angel Guerrero’s goal as Leganes ended a four game losing streak with a result which also mathematically condemns Osasuna to second division for next season.
Meanwhile Real Sociedad won 3-2 in Valencia thanks to an own goal from Diego Alves and goals from Willian Jose and Mikel Oyarzabal.
On Tuesday Villarreal earned three vital points in their battle to qualify for next season’s Europa League when they took a surprise 1-0 win away to Atletico Madrid in the Vicente Calderon Stadium.
Andres Fernandez kept Atletico at bay with series of fine saves with just eight minutes remaining Cedric Bakambu crossed for Roberto Soriano to score the only goal of the game with just eight minutes remaining.
The win strengthens Villarreal in fifth place, and also gives Sevilla the chance to close the gap on Atletico in the battle for third when they entertain Celta on Thursday.
Tuesday also saw struggling Sporting Gijon held to a 1-1 draw at home to Espanyol.
Victor Rodriguez put the home side ahead with a fine free kick six minutes before halftime, but Sporting’s lead was cancelled out by Gerard Moreno’s 12th game of the season and Sporting are now six points from safety.
Meanwhile Sandro Ramirez scored twice to give Malaga a 2-0 win away to Granada, which virtually dooms Tony Adams’ side to second division football next season.