Atletico went top for the first time so far this season with a win over Betis as Barcelona succumbed to a loss in Tenerife as Athletic Club put an end to Espanyol’s unbeaten run and Rayo hit Santa Teresa for three. Elsewhere, Sociedad stretched their unbeaten run to three with a draw away to Levenate as Valencia beat Seville and Madrid scooped all three points against Sporting with Albacete claiming a late win away to Zaragoza.
Levante 1-1 Sociedad
Stretching their run to three games unbeaten, Sociedad took the lead half an hour in at the Ciudad Deportiva de Buñol when Claudia Zornoza slotted Nahikari García’s smart lay-off into the open net, with the defence pulled apart by the 20-year-old. The match, open throughout, begged a second goal, with both sides agonisingly close from the get-go, the ball routinely whisked centimetres wide or fractions too high.
Moments after dropping the ball on the roof of the net for the second time, Charlyn Corral picked out Ida Guehai, the Ivorian sharp to run onto the ball and crash it against the back of Mariasun’s net from 18-yards.
Sevilla 1-3 Valencia
Marianela Szymanowski’s streaking run fifteen minutes in in Seville set the pace, the Argentine able to dash behind the high defensive line with ease before chasing into the box and rolling the ball around Pamela Tajonar. Stunned, the hosts were soon two goals down, Marta Peiró quick to pressurise Rocío and force her into a sloppy back-header, the ball bouncing down for Peiró to cut across the defender and poke the ball into the bottom corner.
Things fast went from bad to worse for the Rojiblancas when Szymanowski added a third five minutes before the break. Both goalscorers combined to once again out-run their markers, Peiró quick to terrorise the defence and lay the ball off to Szymanowski as she ran around the back of Natalia Benítez before curling the ball inside of the righthand post.
Having shown plenty of attack during the first half the hosts were finally rewarded for their industry when Jenni Morilla cut the deficit down just after the hour but it was all too little too late for Sevilla who fell to their third successive loss.
Zaragoza 0-1 Albacete
Still looking for their first win of the season, the Aragonese side were within seconds of a second successive win when Alba Redondo scored her sixth of the year to consign the hosts to their seventh loss of the season.
With the better chances throughout, namely through Nuria Mallada, the hosts struggled to find their best when it mattered, Elena kept busy in the visiting goal as Zaragoza came up emptyhanded time and again. The game decided three minutes into stoppage time when Redondo swept the ball past Oihana at a sharp and devesting counter, the lone goal enough to take El Funda up to sixth.
Madrid 2-1 Sporting Huelva
After five games without a win, Madrid had it all to do when Anita struck the ball past Paola Ulloa in the second minute in the Spanish capital – Sporting looking to put an end to their own four-match winless streak.
Both saw good chances as the game opened up before the hosts pushed to the front foot, peppering Sarita Serrat’s goal until finally, something stuck fifteen minutes from time when Laura Del Rio fired Costa’s deft pass into the back of the net. Having finally broken their duck of over 450 minutes without a goal, the hosts had the wind in their sails and soon turned the tie around. Paula Serrano’s well struck header to divert Alba Mellado’s pacey cross past Serrat five minutes from time enough for all three points in Madrid and see the hosts leapfrog their opposition into eleventh.
Espanyol 0-2 Athletic Club
Unbeaten in five, the Españolistas were on the back foot from the seventh minute when Erika Vázquez tucked Nekane’s controlled ball home from close range, the visiting Basques taking charge from thereon out. Flirting with spring into life, the hosts remained stilted in the game, Yulema Corres’ late strike scuppering any chance of Espanyol finding a comeback, the team now without a goal in 320 minutes.
Rayo 3-0 Santa Teresa
Struggling for consistency Rayo were grateful to face a Santa Teresa side who’d been struggling full stop. Natalia her usual talismanic self for the Rayistas, her deft chip from the top of the D, curling over Yolanda Aguirre and dropping in off of the teenager’s fingertips on the stroke of half-time.
The advantage doubled just after the break when Sheila found herself criminally free in the box to blast Natalia’s cut-back into the top corner, the visitors already looking ragged with the chances flowing for Rayo. The scoring wrapped up by Auñon seven minutes from time, the fullback’s sharp run and check into the box completed with a whisked effort that slipped around Aguirre.
Tenerife 1-0 Barcelona
Unbeaten in sixteen matches in all competitions (a run stretching back to May) coming into the tie, few would have expected the usually free-scoring Catalans to face their first league defeat of the season to be muted in Tenerife.
The chances came and went for Barca, their usual fluency in front of goal lacking before Jackie Simpson poked the ball home at a corner that staunchly refused to be cleared just before the half hour. When the game resumed for the second half, it was the same story for the visitors, the hosts stubborn in defence, not letting anything cross Pili’s goal, no matter who Fran Sanchez threw at them.
Real Betis 2-4 Atletico
Off the back of a sore defeat to Valencia, Betis were carved open once again, this time by a rampant Atleti side, the rout started thirteen minutes in when Sonia Bermudez’ corner was allowed to curl all the way home. Still well in it, the hosts restored parity ten minutes before the break when Priscila Borja was clipped by Mônica as she raced into the box, Paula calm to tuck the subsequent penalty inside of Lola’s left post.
The deadlock lasted just nine minutes however, the visitors grabbing a late goal just before the break after Ludmila had seen her neat header bounce against the upright, Miriam quick to push Marta Corredera’s rebound around the post. Though it was for naught as Mesi tucked her own header home at the near post at the resulting corner.
Denied once, Ludmila made certain ten minutes after the break, powering the ball beyond Miriam after being left free in the centre of the box, the lead extended further by Amanda Sampedro as she clipped the ball home from the Brazilian’s low cross. There was a touch of late excitement for Las Lobos however when Borja slipped into the box, touching the ball around the defence before poking the ball home off of the bottom of the upright, the two minutes left on the clock not enough for a late comeback.
The win taking Atleti to the top of the table with Barcelona dropping points in Tenerife.
