Celta Vigo pulled ahead at the 7th minute of their match at the Santiago Benabeu only to see Real Madrid score twice to take the lead, before Santi Mina’s 85th-minute score settled the match at 2-2. Eden Hazard, returning to play after 85 days out had a decent game but Zinedine Zidane’s umpteenth starting line-up spent the entire first half controlling, after Fedor Smolov’s score against the run of play but were unable to put any serious pressure on Celta’s goal.
Seven minutes into the second half, Toni Kroos hammered home a great Marcelo cross, scoring the tying goal from inside the box. Six minutes after that Sergio Ramos scored the go-ahead goal with a penalty off a foul on Hazard. But despite playing as if they knew a one-goal lead was insufficient, Real still managed to be brittle at the back as they pushed forward for a third and clinching goal.
The exposed central part of the defense was where Celta’s substitute, Mina, found room and an easy score.
The point was golden for Celta Vigo who are now above the relegation zone, while Real had their three-point lead over Barcelona reduced to one just ahead of their March 1st Clasico in Madrid.
Rounding the scores on Sunday, Sevilla were held to a 2-2 home draw by Espanyol while Leganes suffered the same fate in a 0-0 tie against visiting Real Betis. Osasuna won 1-0 away to Athletic Bilbao. Meanwhile, Eibar and Real Sociedad had to cancel their match and have yet to set a postponed date.
On Saturday, Mallorca won 1-0 at home to Alaves, Barcelona did the same 2-1 over Getafe and with the same scoreline at home Villarreal defeated Levante and Granada were victorious over visiting Real Valladolid. Valencia came from behind twice to draw 2-2 at home against Atletico Madrid on Friday.
Getafe, despite their away loss to Barcelona, are still in third place and even the mainstream media are beginning to notice.
At round’s end, Madrid were top of the table with 53 points followed by Barcelona at 52, Getafe in third place at 42 and Atletico Madrid in fourth at 41. The top scorer remained Barca’s Lionel Messi at 14 goals and 12 assists, followed by Real’s Karim Benzema at 13 goals and six assists and Barca’s Luis Suarez at 11 goals and seven assists.
You must be logged in to post a comment.