Barcelona, Real Madrid march on as Atlético Madrid, Madrid CFF bounce back: Week 5 Liga F Roundup
Barcelona continued with their title defence beating Athletic Club 3-0 at the Lezama Facilities on Saturday evening.
Forward Clàudia Pina opened the scoring for the visitors in the 50th minute after converting a pass from fellow forward Fridolina Rolfö. Eight minutes later forward Geyse doubled the advantage for the defending champions after she turned home a pass from forward Caroline Graham Hansen.
Barcelona made a triple substitution in the 61st minute with Pina, Geyse and defender Marta Torrejón making way for midfielder Aitana Bonmatí, forward Asisat Oshoala and defender Lucy Bronze respectively.
The hosts responded with their own double substitution four minutes later to try new legs by bringing in midfielder Clara Pinedo and forward Ainize Barea for midfielders Marta Unzué and Eunate Arraiza respectively.
The visitors, however, sealed the win with forward Mariona Caldentey scoring in the 84th minute when she connected with a pass from defender-cum-forward Ana-Maria Crnogorčević.
The victory saw Barcelona open a two-point gap at the top of the standings whilst troubles continued to mount for Athletic Club.
Elsewhere, in-form Real Madrid thumped visiting Alavés 7-1 at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano on Sunday evening.
The Madrid side had to endure a frustrating 50 minutes of trying to come back after the visitors had taken a 22nd minute lead through defender Camila Sáez.
The hosts then found a breakthrough in the 53rd minute when defender Osinachi Ohale beat her own keeper to make it 1-1. The hosts took the lead for the first time in the match three minutes after their equaliser when forward Caroline Weir put them ahead. Weir doubled the hosts’ lead after getting the third goal for Real Madrid and her second for the match in the 58th minute.
Forward Esther González made it 4-1 in the 71st minute converting a pass from defender Ivana Andrés to put the match beyond the visitors. González was back again to haunt the visitors two minutes later when she made it 5-1 to Madrid, completing her brace after converting a pass from defender Olga Carmona. The Real Madrid number 10 completed her hattrick with nine minutes remaining before substitute forward Caroline Møller made it 7-1 with just five minutes remaining to put the icing on the cake.
Atlético Madrid returned to winning ways when they humbled Sporting Huelva 5-0 at the Estadio Wanda Atlético de Madrid Alcalá de Henares on Saturday.
Forward Rasheedat Ajibade was the heroine after scoring four goals for the hosts to ensure they collected maximum points and bounce back from their setback a fortnight ago when they lost 2-1 to Levante.
Ajibade opened the scoring in the 27th minute to ensure the hosts went to half time leading.
The visitors made a double substitution at half-time bringing in defenders Laia Ballesté Sciora and Laura Blasco Sánchez for midfielder Patrícia Hmírová and defender Athena Kühn respectively.
Ajibade, however, doubled the hosts’ lead in the 51st minute before Brazilian forward Ludmila scored the third goal for the hosts from the penalty spot in the 70th minute. Ajibade completed her hat-trick in the 88th minute and got her fourth goal in the 91st minute.
Real Sociedad shared the spoils with visiting UDG Tenerife with a 1-1 draw at the Instalaciones de Zubieta on Saturday afternoon.
The visitors got the breakthrough in the 79th minute when substitute forward Jassina Blom scored after coming on for fellow forward María José Pérez González in the 61st minute.
Tenerife were reduced to 10 women when defender Patri Gavira was shown her second yellow card in the 94th minute.
The hosts took advantage of the numerical advantage to level the scores in the 96th minute through forward Amaiur Sarriegi when she converted a pass from midfielder Nerea Eizagirre to ensure a share of the spoils.
It was Sociedad’s third draw in a row this season.
Levante UD held hosts Levante Las Planas to a one-all draw at the Camp Municipal Les Planes on Saturday afternoon.
The visitors were awarded a 15th minute penalty which was missed by forward Alba Redondo and the teams went to the break nil-all.
Forward Mayra Ramírez gave the visitors the lead in the 61st minute when she pounced on a pass from fellow forward Nataša Andonova.
The hosts fought back and were duly rewarded in the 69th minute when forward Irina Priscilla Uribe García converted a pass from forward Mari Paz Vilas to level the scores.
The teams settled for a share of the spoils which meant a good start to the campaign for the newcomers whilst Levante maintained their second position on the standings.
Sevilla recorded their first win of the season with an emphatic 5-0 win against struggling Villarreal away at the Ciudad Deportiva on Sunday.
The visitors opened the scoring as early as the 10th minute when forward Ana Franco converted a pass from fellow forward Toni Payne. The two players combined again for Franco’s second goal in the 23rd minute to double the lead for the visitors. Forward Jessica Martínez gave the visitors a three-goal cushion before half-time when she scored in the 28th minute.
The hosts made a double substitution at half-time in a bid to salvage something bringing in midfielder Cienfu and forward Rocío García Fernández for midfielders Estefanía Lima and Fatou Kanteh respectively.
The visitors, however, increased the lead when Franco and Payne combined once again for the former’s third goal in the 54th minute to make it 4-0. Forward Cristina Martín-Prieto came off the bench to seal the scoring for Sevilla when she made it 5-0 in the 82nd minute.
Madrid CFF continued with their good run dismissing visiting Real Betis 4-0 at the Estadio Municipal Nuevo Matapiñonera on Sunday.
Forward Florencia Bonsegundo opened the scoring in the 31st minute after converting a pass from Zambian forward Grace Chanda. The hosts doubled their lead two minutes later when forward Racheal Kundananji converted a pass from midfielder Aida Esteve for her third goal of the season.
The visitors made a triple change at half-time taking out midfielder Ángela Sosa, defender Vicky Benítez and forward Carmen Álvarez for midfielder Leles, defender Lidia Sánchez Gonzalez and midfielder Natalia Montilla Martínez respectively.
Nevertheless, Kundananji went on to grab her second of the day and fourth of the season when she scored the third for the hosts in the 58th minute. Chanda scored her first goal for the club when she converted a pass from midfielder Laura Domínguez in the 61st minute to make it 4-0.
Visiting Valencia scored on the stroke of half-time to record a one-nil victory over Alhama CF ElPozo at the Campo de Fútbol José María Soriano Muñoz on Sunday evening.
The visitors scored the important goal through defender Berta Pujadas after she converted a pass from forward Ascensión Martínez Salinas.
The hosts made a double substitution in the 78th minute bringing in forwards Helena Torres Máiquez and Nerea Vicente Fernández for midfielder Andrea Carid Cao and defender Olivia Oprea respectively in an attempt to mount a comeback.
Valencia, however, held on for their second win of the season to move them to seventh on the standings.
Results (Saturday): Levante Las Planas 1-1 Levante UD; Real Sociedad 1-1 UDG Tenerife; Atlético Madrid 5-0 Sporting Huelva; Athletic Club 0-3 Barcelona
Results (Sunday): Real Madrid 7-1 Alavés; Villarreal 0-5 Sevilla; Alhama CF ElPozo 0-1 Valencia; Madrid CFF 4-0 Real Betis