Barcelona run riot and Atlético Madrid, Real Sociedad win as top three battle climaxes: Primera Iberdrola Week 23 Round-Up

Barcelona were uncompromising running riot against Alavés with a 6-0 victory away at the Ciudad Deportiva José Luis Compañón yesterday.

Forward Clàudia Pina was the heroine of the day with a hat-trick and two assists. She broke the deadlock with a strike in the 13th minute and followed it up with another two goals in the 66th and 73rd minutes to cap a memorable day for herself.

The other goals came from forward Fridolina Rolfö, who also had two assists, midfielders Ingrid Syrstad Engen and Ona Baradad Rius, in the 29th, 33rd and 35th minutes respectively.

The victory came at an expense for Barcelona as they lost defender Leila Ouahabi to injury in the first half and she had to be replaced by fellow defender Melanie Serrano. Ouahabi joins forwards Asisat Oshoala and Lieke Martens on the injury list for the defending champions.

Barcelona also welcomed forward Caroline Graham Hansen from injury with the Norwegian being introduced in the 59th for midfielder Ona Baradad Rius.

The victory took them to 69 points after 23 games and they now need just one point from their last seven matches to retain the title.

Elsewhere, Atlético Madrid won the battle for third place after beating UDG Tenerife 4-1 at the Estadio Wanda Atlético de Madrid Alcalá de Henares yesterday.

The hosts opened the scoring in the eighth minute through midfielder Maitane López before Tenerife equalised in the 29th minute through forward Cristina Martín-Prieto.

Midfielder Estefanía Banini restored the home side’s lead on the stroke of halftime before the visitors were reduced to 10 women after defender Cristina Cubedo was shown a red card three minutes into first half added time.

The home side came back determined to win the match and extended their lead eight minutes after the restart through forward Rasheedat Ajibade before midfielder Amanda Sampedro made it 4-1 from the penalty spot in the 64th minute.

Tenerife were awarded a penalty in the 81st minute but they fluffed the chance to reduce the deficit.

Atlético Madrid were later reduced to 10 women when forward Deyna Castellanos was shown her second yellow card in the 92nd minute.

The win took the Madrid side to within two points of second-placed Real Sociedad with a game in hand whilst the defeat moved Tenerife to fourth place, two points behind their opponents.

Real Madrid fancy their chances of mounting a last-minute top three finish after a 2-0 victory over Athletic Club at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stéfano on Saturday.

The home side left it late and found a breakthrough in the 71st minute when midfielder Athenea del Castillo found the back of the net.

Fifteen minutes later forward Nahikari García doubled Real Madrid’s lead to ensure that the hosts collected maximum points.

The win moved Real Madrid to fifth on the standings on 38 points with two games in hand whilst the loss meant Athletic Club drop to sixth on the table.

Real Madrid will be back in action on Wednesday against across town rivals Atlético Madrid.

Real Sociedad bounced back from a string of poor results to beat Eibar 2-1 away at the Instalaciones de Zubieta on Sunday.

The visitors took the lead in the 30th minute through forward Racheal Kundananji and were set for a crucial win until nine minutes before the time when Real Sociedad’s midfielder Gemma Gili equalised.

Midfielder Nerea Eizagirre then made it 2-1 with a strike in the first minute of second half added time to secure maximum points for the hosts.

The win was enough for Sociedad to maintain their second position whilst Eibar still occupy the 15th spot with just 16 points from 23 matches.

In the El Gran Derbi, Sevilla and Real Betis shared the spoils with a nil-all draw at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán yesterday.

The draw saw Sevilla remain in eighth position whilst Betis moved to ninth above Alavés who lost to Barcelona.

Madrid CFF were relieved after a 1-0 victory against Valencia at the Estadio Municipal Nuevo Matapiñonera on Sunday.

Madrid CFF’s top scorer Geyse Ferreira scored the all-important goal in the 43rd minute to hand her side a huge boost in their fight for relegation survival.

The win took them to 11th position with 23 points, seven points above the relegation zone whilst the defeat left Valencia only five points above relegation zone.

Sporting Huelva registered their 12th draw of the season with one-all draw against bottom-placed Rayo Vallecano away at the Campo Federativo de la Orden on Sunday.

The hosts opened the scoring in the 71st minute through midfielder Elsa Amanda Edgren before the visitors responded seven minutes later when defender Cecilie Struck converted a pass from forward Slađana Bulatović for 1-1 to ensure a share of the spoils.

The draw left Huelva on 18 points, two points above relegation zone whilst Rayo remained at the bottom with 10 points.

Results (Saturday): Real Madrid 2-0 Athletic Club

Results (Sunday): Sporting Huelva 1-1 Rayo Vallecano; Madrid CFF 1-0 Valencia; Alavés 0-6 Barcelona; Real Sociedad 2-1 Eibar; Atletico Madrid 4-1 UDG Tenerife; Sevilla 0-0 Real Betis; Villarreal vs Levante (Postponed)