Barca, Madrid march on as Betis drop into relegation zone: Liga F Week 5 Round-Up
The Barcelona juggernaut continued with a 1-0 win over hosts Atlético Madrid at the Centro Deportivo Alcalá de Henares on Sunday evening.
The visitors broke the deadlock through skipper and forward Alexia Putellas after 51 minutes for her 182nd goal for the club after being set up by midfielder Patri Guijarro.
The defending champions welcomed back forward Salma Paralluelo from injury and made her appearance in the 63rd minute replacing forward Esmee Brugts.
The win took the defending champions to 15 points whilst the hosts, on 10 points, dropped to fourth after suffering their first defeat of the campaign.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid turned the heat on hosts Granada CF to win 5-2 at the Ciudad Deportiva del Granada CF on Saturday afternoon.
The visitors opened the scoring after 13 minutes through midfielder Athenea del Castillo who converted a pass from forward Linda Caicedo before the hosts levelled the scores in the 38th minute through an own goal by Real Madrid captain and defender Ivana Andrés.
The visitors restored their lead as early as the fourth minute into the second half through forward Naomie Feller before the hosts restored parity after 56 minutes through midfielder Edna Imade.
The visitors made a double substitution after 57 minutes bringing on midfielder Sandie Toletti and forward Signe Bruun for midfielders del Castillo and Hayley Raso respectively.
Toletti quickly made her presence count 10 minutes later when she made it 3-2 off a pass from Feller before rounding off her scoring for the day with her second two minutes later after being fed by Caicedo. Feller completed her third goal contribution for the day with an assist for substitute Bruun who made it 5-2 to round off the scoring for the day.
The win saw Madrid maintain their 100% start to the season whilst Granada suffered their fourth defeat in a row.
Visiting Madrid CFF survived an early scare coming from behind to beat 10-women Sporting Huelva 3-1 at the Campo Federativo de la Orden on Sunday afternoon.
The hosts opened the scoring after eight minutes through forward Jessica De Filippo before the visitors levelled the scores six minutes from half-time through forward Luany who converted a pass from fellow forward Racheal Kundananji.
The hosts suffered a setback 10 minutes into the second half when defender Katarzyna Konat received a second yellow card.
The visitors could have wrapped the match early when they were awarded two penalties in the 66th and 75th minute but defender Mônica and midfielder Ana González missed the spot kicks.
Substitute midfielder Karen Araya gave the visitors the lead after 82 minutes after being set up by fellow substitute defender Itziar Pinillos before Mônica made amends for her penalty miss when she scored an insurance goal to make it 3-1 on the stroke of full-time.
The win kept Madrid CFF in touch with the leading pack whilst Huelva found themselves at the base of the standings.
Villarreal picked their first points of the season by beating visiting Athletic Club 3-0 at the Ciudad Deportiva on Saturday afternoon.
The hosts broke the deadlock as early as the third minute through midfielder Francisca Lara’s chipped shot from outside the box after she was fed by fellow midfielder Fatou Kanteh.
The visitors suffered a first half setback when forward Sanadri was taken off due to injury and replaced by fellow forward Paula Arana after 11 minutes.
Kanteh made it a brace of assists when she set up midfielder María Llompart who doubled the hosts’ lead after 67 minutes.
Forward Kayla McKenna completed the scoring with six minutes left on the clock to make it 3-0 to Villarreal after a defensive mix-up to secure maximum points for the hosts.
The win put Villarreal on three points whilst Athletic Club remained on six points.
Real Sociedad produced a scintillating first-half performance to beat visiting SD Eibar 3-1 at the Instalaciones de Zubieta on Saturday afternoon.
The hosts opened the floodgates as early as the fourth minute through captain and forward Nerea Eizagirre after being set up by midfielder Andreia Jacinto before doubling their advantage 12 minutes later through forward Synne Jensen who converted a pass from fellow forward Mirari Uria.
The provider for the second goal registered her name on the scoresheet with a third for the hosts after 19 minutes to make it 3-0 after connecting well with a pass from defender Alejandra Bernabé.
The visitors made a tactical change in the 70th minute taking out midfielder Esperanza Pizarro Pagalday for forward Natividad Cano Cabello.
The substitute pulled a goal back 13 minutes after coming on when she coolly converted a pass from defender Elba Vergés to make it 3-1.
The win put Sociedad on seven points whilst Eibar continued to struggle with only three points after five games.
Valencia turned it around to earn a 2-1 comeback victory against hosts Sevilla at the Ramón Cisneros Palacios on Saturday evening.
The hosts took a 62nd lead through forward Inma Gabarro after she was set up by defender Eva Llamas before substitute defender Sara Tamarit Verdeguer levelled the scores for the visitors with 11 minutes left on the clock.
The big goal for the visitors came five minutes later when forward Anita Marcos struck to complete a hard fought comeback after she was set up by substitute midfielder Estela Fernández.
The win took the hosts to seven points whilst Sevilla remained on three points.
A solitary Sandra Hernández strike was enough to hand hosts UDG Tenerife a win against Real Betis at the Municipal de Adeje on Sunday afternoon.
The hosts broke the deadlock two minutes into the match through the midfielder after being set up by defender Claudia Roldán Blanco.
The visitors made a double change at the break in a bid to throw more numbers forward bringing on midfielders Rosa Márquez and Natalia Montilla Martínez for defenders Paula Perea and Violeta García Quiles but they found the hosts’ rearguard resolute.
The win moved Tenerife to nine points whilst Betis, on three points, fell into the relegation zone.
A battle of the Levantes ended in a share of the spoils with a 1-1 result at the Ciudad Deportiva de Buñol - Campo 1 on Sunday afternoon.
Levante UD suffered an early setback when midfielder Nataša Andonova was taken off due to injury after a quarter of an hour into the match and was replaced by fellow midfielder Érika González.
The substitute broke the deadlock 20 minutes after coming on to give her side the lead off a pass from midfielder Ángela Sosa.
Visiting Levante Las Planas levelled the scores four minutes from half-time through defender Morgane Nicoli off a pass from Allegra Poljak.
The draw saw the hosts move to nine points as they registered their third draw of the season whilst Las Planas are also on nine points after registering their third draw in a row.
Results (Saturday): Villarreal 3-0 Athletic Club; Granada 2-5 Real Madrid; Real Sociedad 3-1 SD Eibar; Sevilla 1-2 Valencia
Results (Sunday): Sporting Huelva 1-3 Madrid CFF; UDCA Tenerife 1-0 Real Betis; Levante 1-1 Levante Las Planas; Atlético Madrid 0-1 Barcelona