FCBARCELONA.CAT

24.09.2009 17:33

Spanish League Round Up Week 4

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Barca take over at the top of the Spanish League after the fourth round of games, with Real Madrid level on 12 points and Bilbao losing their first match of the season and dropping to fourth on goal difference behind Seville.

Madrid beat 10-man Villareal

An early goal from Cristiano Ronaldo and a second half penalty from Kaka were enough to give Madrid the points at Villareal after the home team were reduced to 10 men once Gonzalo was sent off on 35 minutes. For Villareal boss Ernesto Valverde: “the red card was the deciding factor in the game”. Villareal are now down in the bottom three with just two points. Seville's 2-0 win over Mallorca on Tuesday moves them up to third spot, level on 9 points with Bilbao who went down 1-0 in Tenerife to a late Mikel Alonso strike. Valencia also lost, going down 3-1 at Getafe despite taking the lead through David Villa's early strike – his fifth of the season that leaves him level with Ronaldo and Leo Messi. Two goals from del Moral and a spectacular third from Pedro Leon gave Getafe the points.

Atletico Madrid disappoint again

Atletico Madrid again disappointed their long suffering fans with a 2-2 draw at home to Almeria. Diego Forlan missed a first half penalty, but when he scored the home team's second goal on 55 minutes to put them 2-1 up, it looked as if Atletico were on course for their first win, but with just a minuter to go Piatti grabbed his second to take a point for Almeria. Only Jerez sit below Atletico Madrid after they again failed to score, losing 0-3 to Deportivo. The newly promoted team have yet to score or take a point this season and have already conceded 11 goals.

Second win on the trot for Espanyol

Espanyol won their second game on the trot and their first league game at their new Cornella Stadium, beating Barca's opponents this weekend,Malaga, 2-1. Ben Sahar and Ivan Alonso were on target for Espanyol and for boss Mauricio Pochettinin, “it was an important win, we turned the result around by believing in ourselves and playing good football”. Osasuna have already had three players sent off this season, but in their 1-2 win over Valladoilid it was their opponents who saw red with Prieto and Cesar Arzo both taking an early bath for the hosts.