Manchester City reject Roque Santa Cruz scored twice as 10-man Real Betis Balompie maintained their 100 percent Liga BBVA record with a 4-3 victory over Real Zaragoza on Thursday to open a two-point lead at the top.
Santa Cruz, on loan from English giants City, scored the first of a double after seven minutes and Salva Sevilla extended the lead from the penalty spot, before Efrain Juarez pulled a goal back for Zaragoza.
Betis, promoted from the second division last season, never looked secure at the back, but another penalty this time from Benat Etxebarria and Santa Cruz’s second on 49 minutes gave them a comfortable cushion.
Photo: AFP
However, midway through the second half, Betis goalkeeper Casto Espinosa rashly darted off his line and was red-carded for upending Luis Garcia despite having defenders behind him.
A double from Juan Carlos led to some anxious last minutes for Betis, but they held on.
Betis coach Pepe Mel is refusing to get carried away by the impressive run.
“We are 10 points from the drop zone, the team are leading and we are playing well,” Mel said. “These are the only things that I am looking at. We have won the four games we have played so far, but all we can do is look to the next one against Getafe.”
Super-sub Walter Pandiani scored a stoppage-time winner as RCD Espanyol beat Getafe 1-0 and condemned their rivals to their third successive defeat.
Getafe have not won away since January and their confidence was not high after a poor start to the season, but they were up against an Espanyol team who had also suffered two defeats from three games.
There was plenty of toil, but little flowing soccer in the first half, but after the break Espanyol took the game to the visitors.
Javi Marquez saw a deflected shot go just wide and Alberto Lopo blocked a Vladimir Weiss strike on the goal-line, but it was really goalkeeper Miguel Moya who was keeping Espanyol at bay. In particular he did well to stop a Thievy Bifouma shot from close range.
Getafe missed a glaring chance themselves when Juan Valera blazed wide late on, but Espanyol got a deserved win a minute into stoppage-time when Pandiani coolly slotted home in the box.
“This victory gives us a good feeling because, as well as the three points, it is good to get your reward after searching for the goal for so long,” Espanyol coach Mauricio Pochettino said. “We struggled to get in the game during the first half, but after that we dominated completely.”
Spain’s top two continued to not have it their own way in midweek as Barcelona could only draw 2-2 at Valencia, while Real Madrid came away with a 0-0 draw from their trip to Real Racing Club de Santander.
“I never believed it was a case of just two teams in the league, as all the clubs are dangerous. This is still an important point for us as Valencia are a strong team, although it is unfortunate we didn’t get a third goal,” Barca goalkeeper Victor Valdes said.
Matvei Michkov did not score on Monday, but the Philadelphia rookie had a hand in both goals as hosts the Flyers earned a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale got the goals for the Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points), who won their third straight. Michkov and Travis Konecny assisted on both. Ivan Fedotov stopped 28 shots to earn his first win since March 1, ending a personal six-game losing streak. Zachary L’Heureux got the lone goal for Nashville. Michael McCarron and Brady Skjei got the assists for the Predators (27-39-8, 62 points), who have just four goals in their
Arminia Bielefeld on Tuesday pulled off a major upset in the DFB-Pokal by defeating defending champions Bayer 04 Leverkusen 2-1 in their semi-final. The third-division team came from behind after Jonathan Tah gave the visitors a 17th-minute lead. Marius Worl replied three minutes later and Maximilian Groser scored Bielefeld’s second goal just before the break. The home team looked more likely to add to that tally as the Leverkusen players looked jaded. “I’m just proud of this team,” Bielefeld coach Mitch Kniat said as most of the fans the small stadium sang around him. “No one will sleep in the city tonight.” Patrik Schick went
THREES KINGS: The Celtics claimed a piece of league history by setting a new record for the number of threes in a season, ending their game with 1,370 Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun on Friday combined for 65 points as the Houston Rockets halted Oklahoma City’s 11-game winning streak with a statement 125-111 victory. In a potential Western Conference finals preview, the Rockets produced a dominant all-round performance to jolt the top-seeded Thunder’s all-conquering preparations for the post-season. Green finished with 34 points from 11-of-24 shooting, while Turkish big man Sengun made 31 points as second-placed Houston improved to 51-27. Oklahoma City grabbed the lead in the opening minutes of the first quarter, but Houston soon knocked the Thunder out of their stride with a physical approach to move into the
Marcus Rashford’s first goals for Aston Villa on Sunday inspired a 3-0 win against Preston North End that sent his side into the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in 10 years. Rashford struck twice in the second half at Deepdale to end Preston’s stubborn resistance before Jacob Ramsey wrapped up Villa’s long-awaited return to the last four. Villa are to face Crystal Palace — 3-0 winners at Fulham on Saturday — in the semi-finals at Wembley Stadium in London. Revitalized since joining Villa on loan from Manchester United during the January transfer window, Rashford is beginning to show the form that
RSS