La Liga SRL Round-Up | Barcelona, Atletico Madrid register big wins, Getafe and Leganes log full points
Barcelona cruised to a 4-0 victory over Espanyol to stay in the hunt for the Spanish top tier title while Atletico Madrid blew away Celta Vigo by a similar margin in their respective fixture. Getafe edged past Villarreal in a dominating win while Leaganes handed a 2-0 defeat to Eibar away from home.
Getafe 2 - 0 Villarreal
Getafe kept their Champions League dreams alive having scripted a comfortable 2-0 win over Villarreal at home on Friday night. The hosts were undoubtedly the dominant side in the first-half and they were duly rewarded with the goal in the 22nd minute. But Villarreal struggled to hit back with any offensive move lacking a punch, which meant they went to the dugout trailing by a goal and much work to do in the decisive second period.
Getafe’s display in the second half took an upward curve and it took them just 10 minutes to double the lead. The remainder of the match saw both the teams stitch up attacks at regular intervals, with the only thing missing being a goal. The hosts were the better team in the second and overall, in a game that ended 2-0. Getafe registered 67 dangerous attacks, compared to Villarreal’s 41, which proves that justice prevailed.Â
Eibar 0 - 2 Leganes
The battle of the minnows was far from an even contest with Leganes just blowing away Eibar with a dominating 2-0 win away from home. Leganes weren’t hesitant to take the offensive route from the first minute itself, having bamboozled Eibar’s defence in the opening quarter of the game and subsequently netting the first goal in the 20th minute. Even though the hosts picked themselves up and showed signs of recovery, their ambitions were put to rest when Leganes doubled the lead in the 39th minute.
The second half was more bearable for Eibar, as the visitors did not press hard like in the first period, rather they were happy to defend the two-goal lead. Even though Eibar did try to invade Leganes’ box quite a few times, they failed to score each time and gave away three points in the process. Leganes took 17 shots on goal, out of which 7 were on target, while they accounted for 59 dangerous attacks, compared to Eibar’s 52.Â
Celta Vigo 0 - 4 Atletico Madrid
Atletico Madrid eased past Celta Vigo by registering a 4-0 victory to keep their chances of a top-four finish alive and kicking. It took them just 14 minutes to take the lead, netting the second just four minutes later and there was looking back from then on, with the visitors taking the game away from Celta Vigo completely. The hosts went to the break with a 2-goal deficit.
The second session was not much of an exception, with Atletico Madrid striking their third just three minutes into the second half. The Los Rojiblancos never looked in threat with a three-goal lead which but Celta Vigo did put up a spirited fight in the last quarter of the game, only to see the visitors score a fourth in the dying minutes of the game. Atletico managed to keep 8 shots on target, one more than Celta Vigo.Â
Barcelona 4 - 0 Espanyol
Barcelona kept the pressure on top-placed Real Madrid after by routing Espanyol 4-0 in the Saturday evening kick-off. Espanyol started on a positive note in the first half, but conceding from an own goal was the last thing they wanted and from then on, it was all Barcelona all the way. The away side did manage to keep their hosts' in check for quite some time, but it was eventually in vain.Â
The second half was a typical Barcelona display at Camp Nou as the star-studded forward-line scored in the 79th, 84th and the 91st minute to seal the deal. The hosts took 12 shots on goal, same as the visitors, but they managed to convert 4 of them, while Espanyol failed each time.
