19.09.2011 12:22
Spanish League Round Up, Week 3
Week three of La Liga saw Valencia and Betis keep up their 100% record, whilst Real Madrid lost their first game and five teams remain without a win –Racing, Getafe, Sporting and more surprisingly perhaps, Bilbao and Villarreal.
Radamel Falcao. Image: www.clubatleticodemadrid.com
Valencia and Betis top the table with nine points from three games after wins in Gijon and Bilbao,
with Seville, who beat Real Sociedad, behind them on seven points alongside Barça. At the bottom,
Sporting have yet to take a point and Villarreal have just one after losing 1-0 in Granada, as do
Racing, who were thrashed 4-0 at the Vicente Calderon, Athletic Bilbao and Getafe, who were beaten
0-1 by Rayo.
Valencia and Betis on top
Roberto Soldado was again on target for Valencia to give Emery’s team the points
against Sporting and is now level on five with Leo Messi and has now scored 17 in his last 12
league games. The Valencia boss praised the character of his players who must surely go into
Wednesday’s game against Barça on a real high. Betis are also enjoying the new season and are
level on points with Valencia after their 2-3 win in Bilbao. Both teams ended with 10 players after
Mario and Amorebieta were shown red cards, but Betis’ three first half goals were enough to
withstand the hosts’ late surge and deny the Basques’ new boss Bielsa his first league
win of the campaign.
Kanoute goal enough for Seville
A solitary goal from Frederic Kanoute was enough to give Seville the win over Real Sociedad
on Saturday night and they now sit in fourth with seven points and still unbeaten. Real Madrid lost
their first game of the season at Llevant – who are also still unbeaten this season - going
down 1-0 after playing for 50 minutes with ten men after Khedira was sent off. Madrid are joined on
six points by Malaga, who won 0-1 at Mallorca.
Falcao hat trick
Falcao announced his arrival at the Vicente Calderon with a hat trick against
Racing Santander with fellow summer signing Adrian getting the fourth, whilst Luis Garcia scored
twice –including an injury time winner – to sink his ex-team Espanyol at Zaragoza(2-1).
Rayo remain unbeaten after seeing off Getafe 0-1 on Sunday lunchtime, though they have only scored
two goals so far, one more than Granada who got their first of the campaign through Uche in the win
over Villarreal, for whom Rossi missed a penalty.