Madrid: Real Madrid came back from a goal down and the loss of Karim Benzema through injury to win 4-1 at home to Real Mallorca and maintain their unbeaten record at the top of La Liga.
Vedat Muriqi headed Mallorca ahead in the 35th minute on Sunday evening, but Fede Valverde equalised in first-half injury time. The Uruguayan collected the ball inside his own half and slalomed his way into the Mallorca area before scoring a magnificent goal.
Vinicius Jr was looking to lead Madrid in Benzema’s absence, but Mallorca held firm until the 72nd minute when the Brazilian scored with a left-foot shot, reports Xinhua. The game was still in the balance until Rodrygo also scored an excellent solo goal in the 89th minute and Antonio Rudiger headed in a fourth in injury time.
FC Barcelona won 4-0 in Cadiz in a match that had to be stopped for over half an hour in the 81st minute when a Cadiz supporter suffered a supposed heart attack and received emergency treatment.
Barca were leading 2-0 when the game was halted thanks to second-half goals from Frenkie de Jong and Robert Lewandowski, and Ansu Fati and Ousmane Dembele doubled that when the match restarted.
Atletico Madrid beat Celta Vigo 4-1, with Angel Correa putting Atletico ahead in the sixth minute, before Rodrigo de Paul, Yannick Carrasco and an Unai Nunez own goal completed the scoring after the break, with Atletico playing some flowing football in attack.
Real Betis forward Rodri scored the first goal that Villarreal have conceded this season and that also meant the first defeat for Unai Emery’s side.
Rodri’s goal decided an entertaining match in the 60th minute to lift Betis into third place, while an injury suffered by Villarreal striker Gerard Moreno will be a worry for both Emery and Spain coach Luis Enrique.
Athletic Bilbao bounced back from last weekend’s surprise defeat at home to Espanyol with a 4-1 thrashing of a hapless Elche away from home.
Athletic led 4-0 by the break, thanks to an own goal, a penalty from Oihan Sancet, a spectacular strike from Nico Williams, who beat two defenders before shooting home with his left foot, and Alex Berenguer, who took advantage of some comical defending to volley home.
Ezequiel Ponce pulled a goal back for Elche just before the hour, but Athletic comfortably controlled the game for the last half hour.
Getafe claimed their first win of the season after an Enes Unal free kick and a shot from the edge of the area from Carles Alena gave them a 2-1 win at home to Real Sociedad.
Borja Mayoral saw a penalty saved for Getafe at 0-0, and although Brais Mendez pulled a goal back for Real Sociedad, the Basque side’s main worry could be a knee injury for new signing Umar Sadiq.
Sevilla coach Julen Lopetegui can thank young defender Jose Antonio Carmona for two goals, as his side won 3-2 away to Espanyol to probably save his job – at least in the short term.
Sevilla raced into a 3-0 lead, with Erik Lamela, who would later be sent off, scoring inside the first minute, before Carmona netted in the 25th and 44th minutes.
Joselu pulled a goal back for Espanyol from the penalty spot before the break, and Martin Braithwaite’s second goal in two games left Sevilla with a nervous last half hour to defend.
Rayo Vallecano beat Valencia 2-1 in the Vallecas Stadium with Isi Palazon’s fifth-minute goal and a Nico Gonzalez own goal giving Rayo a comfortable lead well before Mouctar Diakhaby netted an injury-time consolation for the visitors.
Oriol Romeu’s 88th-minute header gave Girona all three points as they won 2-1 at home to Valladolid on Friday night. Reinier Jesus had put Girona ahead in the 22nd minute before Monchu’s stunning shot had leveled for Valladolid in the 38th minute.
–IANS