05.10.2009 12:01
Spanish league roundup – matchday six
Sevilla’s thrilling 2-1 win over Real Madrid on Sunday evening broke the deadlock at the top of the table and left Barça as sole leader. Meanwhile, Valencia’s narrow win away to Racing left them in fifth place ahead of the visit of FC Barcelona.
Barça go clear at the top
Barça now stand alone at the top of the La Liga table after Real Madrid crashed to their
first defeat of the league season (2-1) in an intense duel in Sevilla’s Sánchez Pizjuán
stadium. This leaves both clubs tied on 15 points in second and third place respectively and sends
out a clear signal that Sevilla are determined to have a voice in this year’s league title
race. Afterwards, Madrid’s director General Jorge Valdano admitted to reporters that Sevilla
had done enough to deserve the three points: “Sevilla’s win was a fair result”.
Win for Valencia ahead of Barça visit
Meanwhile, Deportivo and Valencia both secured narrow away wins (0-1) against Tenerife and
Racing to keep up the pressure on the leading group. Serbian international striker, Zigic, scored
for Valencia after replacing the injured David Villa, while down in the Canary Islands Deportivo
took maximum advantage of Diego Colotto’s set piece goal in the 60th minute.
Alarms bells sound at Villarreal
Atlético Madrid finally won their first league game of the season with a 2-1 home win against
Zaragoza to ease the pressure on manager Abel, but Villarreal continued their alarming slide down
the table after a goalless draw at home to Espanyol. The Yellow Submarine is now in penultimate
position just one point ahead of bottom club Jeréz, who scored their first goal of the season in
the 1-1 home draw against Malaga.
In the remaining matches, Getafe beat Osasuna 2-1 to climb into 8th place just a point
outside the Europa League places, Sporting hit four against Mallorca (4-1) and Athletic Bilbao held
out for a point in their visit to Valladolid (2-2).