News
SUN 12.02.2017
Real Sociedad 0-3 FC Barcelona
Barcelona could not afford to stumble in San Sebastian and they passed the test with flying colours to continue their pursuit of Atletico Madrid at the top of the table. La Real hung on for the opening 40 minutes, only to be hit by a sucker punch when Jenni Hermoso – who was in majestic form throughout – broke the deadlock with a deflected strike. Andressa Alves doubled the scoreline with an hour gone after latching on to a fine Hermoso through ball and rounding the keeper, before Olga Garcia added extra gloss to the result in the dying minutes.
RCD Espanyol 1-2 Atletico Madrid
Following Barça's victory, the pressure switched to Atletico, who had to win to re-establish their four-point cushion at the summit. Win they did and in authoritative fashion, thanks in no small part to an inspirational performance from Sonia Bermudez, who teed up both of her side's goals (Esther Gonzalez's headed 21st-minute opener and Priscila Borja's tap-in just before the hour mark) with excellent crosses from the left. Although Espanyol fought valiantly and pulled one back through Luana de Lima – making her debut against the league leaders – they never looked like claiming a point, which would have been enough to move out of the drop zone.
Rayo Vallecano 3-1 Granadilla Egatesa
Natalia Pablos stole the show at Vallecas, deciding a thrilling contest between two teams firmly in contention for Copa de la Reina qualification. Pisco (Raquel Peña) put the visitors ahead prior to the break, but Raquel Carreño equalised five minutes after the restart. With no further goals forthcoming, the points seemed destined to be shared, before Pablos popped up to bag a quick-fire brace (87' and 94') and propel Rayo up into seventh place, just a point behind Granadilla.
Two losing runs came to an end in an entertaining match at the Estadio Pedro Sancho, although the hosts will have been the happier of the two sides at full time. Clara Martinez fired Zaragoza into the driving seat after 17 minutes with one of the goals of the season, a stunning bicycle kick following a free-kick, and only Sandra Torres's save from Alba Aznar's penalty prevented Levante from going 2-0 down. The visitors worked their way back into the game and drew level through a spot-kick of their own, converted by Maria Jose Perez on 55', but were left ruing their inability to find a winner, the stalemate seeing them drop down to fourth in the table.
Lowly Albacete kept Valencia at bay for the first half, but half-time substitute Marta Peiro opened the floodgates 10 minutes into the second period and Mari Paz Vilas made it 2-0 shortly afterwards. Maripaz struck again a few minutes later and then Paula Nicart wrapped up the rout in the latter stages. The victory will have tasted doubly sweet to Las Che, who capitalised on cross-town rivals Levante's slip-up to climb into third place.
Sporting Huelva 2-0 Oiartzun KE
Amid a party atmosphere at the Nuevo Colombino, Sporting kept plugging away and eventually delivered the goods to mark their first appearance at the stadium in style. Struggling Oiartzun threatened to rain on the home team's parade, but were hamstrung by Joana Arranz's sending-off for a second yellow card with 25 minutes to go. Goals from Ana Belen Hernandez and Laura Rus followed soon after, sending Sporting into the top eight and ensuring prolonged celebrations in Huelva.
The champions proved too strong in Tenerife, moving to within three points of fourth-placed Levante and quashing the bottom side's hopes of a second straight victory in the process. Although Yulema Corres was thwarted by the crossbar in the first half, there was to be no denying Athletic, who got their noses in front through Joana Flaviano on 55', before Nekane Diez sealed the deal with a sumptuous finish with a quarter of an hour left on the clock.
Real Betis 1-1 Santa Teresa CD
The spoils were shared in Seville in a game that could have gone either way and ultimately did little for either side's aspirations. The away team, bidding to build on their win over Barcelona, drew first blood through Estefania Lima after an hour, but Paula Moreno restored parity 20 minutes later. The result is not enough to take Santa Teresa back into the Copa de la Reina spots, while Betis edge a point further away from the relegation picture.
© LALIGA - 2017