Friday, May 18th, 2012
Osasuna 2 Levante 0
Osasuna ended Levante’s seven-match winning run with a deserved 2-0 victory to maintain their own unbeaten record at home this season.
Levante started the weekend as league leaders following a remarkable run which had seen them take 23 points from a possible 27, and they started with the confidence expected of a side in such a lofty position. Kone had the first shot on target after nine minutes when a long-ball from Gustavo Munua found the Senegalese striker free down the right but his fierce effort from a narrow angle was well handled by Andres Fernandez.
Asier Del Horno then nearly gave the visitors the lead but his header from Jose Barkero’s corner dropped just wide of Fernandez’s left-hand post and two minutes later Kone had Levante’s best chance of the match as Juanlu headed a cross towards the back post but the on-loan Sevilla striker could only direct his header wide as he careered into the frame of the goal.
Osasuna, and in particular Alvaro Cejudo, then began to take control of the match. The winger came close on two occasions as first a shot from distance was palmed away by Munua, before a wonderful run from inside his own half took him past two Levante defenders and into the box before his shot was deflected away for a corner.
On 40 minutes however, Cejudo got the luck his performance to that point had deserved as Vicente Iborra’s poor clearance fell to him outside the area and his deflected shot screwed past Munua for the opening goal.
The hosts were now well in the ascendency and they doubled their lead before half-time as more poor defending from Levante saw Munua and Del Horno collide from Ibrahima Balde’s flick-on and Nino was left with the simplest of finishes as he tapped into an empty net from six yards out.
Cejudo had been booked for removing his shirt when he scored and the former Las Palmas man was stupidly sent-off on 58 minutes when he unnecessarily tripped Barkero on halfway.
Kone came closest to reducing the arrears when he shot narrowly wide despite being surrounded by three defenders and Ruben Suarez saw his free-kick bend just wide of the post as Levante slipped to their first defeat of the season.
Victory for Osasuna rounds off a successful week for Jose Luis Mendilibar’s men as they took seven points from their three games and now sit seventh in the table.
FT: Osasuna 2 (Cejudo 40, Nino 44) Levante 0
Racing Santander 1 Real Betis 0
Christian Stuani came off the bench to hand Racing Santander their first win of the season with the only goal against a forlorn Real Betis.
Betis have now suffered six defeats in a row, however it was they who started the better of the two sides and youngster Pozuelo was extremely unlucky to see his effort from 20 yards come crashing back off the bar midway through the first-half.
Benat Extebarria was at the heart of everything good Betis going forward and the tricky playmaker was first to test Tono Ramirez in the Racing goal with another effort from distance which was turned over. From the resulting corner the visitors were again denied by the woodwork as Ustaritz’s flicked header came off the top of the bar.
Moments later Racing produced their best move of the match as Pedro Munitis fed Domingo Cisma down the left and his cross was powerfully met by Adrian, but Betis keeper Casto denied the midfielder with a fantastic save. Again though the resulting corner nearly broke the deadlock as this time Torrejon’s header into the ground bounced up and clipped the bar on its way over.
Nahuelpan had got his first goal for Racing in midweek with an excellent header but he couldn’t repeat that finish after the break as another good burst down the left from Cisma found the Argentine all alone in the middle of the box but his header flew well wide of Casto’s right-hand post.
Hector Cuper then turned to Stuani on his return from injury on the hour mark, and it proved an inspired substitution as the striker instantly broke into the box and was clumsily brought down by Isidoro. Stuani composed himself to stand up and hammer the penalty high beyond Casto into the top corner.
Betis offered little by way of response but should have been level in stoppage time when Javier Matilla picked out fellow substitute Jefferson Montero, but the Ecuadorian could only fire straight at Tono and Racing held on for a vital three points.
FT: Racing Santander 1 (Stuani (pen) 62) Real Betis 0
Sporting Gijon 1 Athletic Bilbao 1
Mate Bilic made a crucial contribution from the bench for the second successive game as Sporting came from behind to draw 1-1 with Athletic and extend their unbeaten run to three games.
Athletic had come into the game in high spirits after Thursday’s 3-0 win over Atletico Madrid and had the better of the opening stages as Fernando Llorente and Ander Herrera - starting his first game since a two month lay-off with a knee injury – coming close.
Gorka Iraizoz was then called into action three times before the break to deny Sebastian Eguren, Oscar Trejo and David Barral and keep the score level at half-time.
Athletic made the breakthrough just after the hour as David Lopez’s corner was flicked on by Gaizka Toquero and Markel Susaeta volleyed home unmarked at the back post.
However just like in midweek at Mallorca, Manuel Preciado introduced Bilic and the Croatian scored within five minutes. This time he had more than a touch of fortune as his shot took a wicked deflection off Barral and looped over Iraizoz.
From then on Sporting looked the most likely to win it but Ivan Hernandez shot wide of the target before Barral was again denied by Iraizoz.
FT: Sporting Gijon 1 (Bilic 71) Athletic Bilbao 1 (Susaeta 62)
Tags: Athletic Bilbao, Levante, Osasuna, Racing Santander, Real Betis, Sporting Gijon
