Levante fall as Madrid bounce back: Liga F Week 24 Round Up
Third-placed Levante were dealt a big blow in their bid to finish second after suffering a narrow 1-0 defeat to hosts Madrid CFF at the Estadio Fernando Torres on Saturday afternoon.
The all-important goal came from Zambian forward Racheal Kundananji who converted a pass from fellow forward Florencia Bonsegundo on the stroke of half-time with a looping shot from outside the penalty box.
The win moved Madrid CFF to 43 points whilst Levante remained on 56 points, seven above fourth-placed Atlético Madrid.
Watch Madrid CFF vs Levante UD highlights:
Meanwhile, Real Madrid bounced back from their two consecutive defeats against UDG Tenerife and Barcelona respectively to beat visiting Levante Las Planas 3-0 at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano on Friday night.
The hosts broke the deadlock after 14 minutes through 18 year-old January signing Linda Caicedo who converted a pass from midfielder Maite Oroz to register her first goal for Real Madrid.
Player of the moment, midfielder Caroline Weir, doubled the hosts’ advantage four minutes later, converting a pass from French forward Naomie Feller.
The hosts suffered a setback when midfielder Claudia Zornoza was injured in the 37th minute and was replaced by fellow midfielder Teresa Abelleira.
Substitute forward Caroline Møller Hansen scored the third goal in the 83rd minute with a spectacular hit from near the centre circle just two minutes after replacing Caroline Weir to seal the victory for the hosts.
The win took Madrid to 59 points, three clear of third-placed Levante whilst Levante Las Planas remained three points above the relegation zone.
Watch Real Madrid vs. Levante Las Planas highlights:
Log leaders Barcelona continued with their 100% record with a 2-0 away win against relegation-threatened Alhama CF ElPozo at the Campo de Fútbol José María Soriano Muñoz on Sunday evening.
The visitors had a completely changed side after their cell sapping midweek UEFA Women’s Champions League match against AS Roma, with 16 year-old forward Vicky López playing the whole 90 minutes.
The log leaders made a double change at half time after a goalless first half, introducing midfielder Aitana Bonmatí and forward Caroline Graham Hansen for midfielder Bruna Vilamala and forward Ana-Maria Crnogorčević respectively.
The changes paid dividends as the two substitutes combined to give the visitors a well deserved lead through Graham Hansen in the 57th minute and it was the visitors’ 100th goal of the season in the league.
The visitors doubled their lead through an own goal by midfielder Lucía Martínez González on the hour mark to secure maximum points for themselves.
The win moved the defending champions to 72 points whilst Alhama are still hanging by the thread on 17 points, tied with Sporting Huelva who are occupying the last relegation spot.
Watch Alhama CF ElPozo vs. Barcelona highlights:
Atlético Madrid produced a scintillating second half performance to dismantle a determined visiting Valencia side 6-2 at the Centro Deportivo Alcalá de Henares on Saturday evening.
The hosts opened the scoring after 20 minutes through midfielder Maitane López and it was enough to go to the half-time break leading.
The hosts made a half-time substitution bringing on forward Lucía Moral Ruiz for forward Andrea Stašková to add fresh legs in their attack.
However, the visitors went on to level the scores five minutes into the second half through midfielder Fiamma Benítez who headed home a cross from fellow forward Macarena Portales Nieto before the hosts hit back in the 53rd minute through an Eva Navarro penalty after defender María Molina Molero had fouled substitute Moral Ruiz in the box.
Nigerian forward Rasheedat Ajibade made it 3-1 in the 55th minute to double her side’s advantage after being set up by substitute Moral Ruiz before Ruiz herself registered her name on the scoresheet in the 59th minute to make it 4-1 after being set up by Navarro.
The visitors pulled a goal back in the 65th minute through defender Kerlly Real.
The hosts made a double change in the 66th minute to strengthen their defence and midfield bringing on defender Hanna Lundkvist and midfielder Bárbara Latorre for forwards Eva Navarro and Rasheedat Ajibade respectively.
Ruiz went on to make it 5-2 with 11 minutes remaining, converting a pass from defender Carmen Menayo before Latorre rounded off the scoring in the third minute of second half added time with a well taken curling shot outside the penalty box to make it 6-2 to the hosts.
The win moved the hosts to 49 points, coming within seven points of third-placed Levante whilst Valencia dropped from sixth to eighth position.
Watch Atlético Madrid vs. Valencia highlights:
A resurgent UDG Tenerife continued with their fine run coming from behind to win 2-1 against hosts Villarreal at the Ciudad Deportiva on Saturday afternoon.
The hosts took an early lead after two minutes through dependable forward Sheila Guijarro off a pass from midfielder Belén Martínez before the visitors levelled the scores 10 minutes later through midfielder Patri Gavira.
Forward Jassina Blom gave Tenerife the lead a minute after their equaliser, converting a pass from fellow forward Gift Monday.
The win moved Tenerife to seventh position with 33 points whilst Villarreal remained on 20 points, just three away from relegation.
Sevilla continued to pick crucial points after they dismissed bottom-placed Alavés at the Ramón Cisneros Palacios on Saturday afternoon.
Sevilla broke the deadlock eight minutes into the match through forward Cristina Martín-Prieto after being fed by fellow forward Inma Gabarro before the former doubled the hosts’ advantage two minutes into added time of the first half to complete her brace.
Otermín was back in the thick of things again in the 56th minute setting up forward Gabarro who made it 3-0 to the hosts with a well taken chip before forward Jessica Martínez made it 4-0 with 20 minutes left to play.
Half-time substitute midfielder Gema Soliveres pulled a goal back for the visitors through a well taken freekick with three minutes left on the clock to make it 4-1 before she set up fellow midfielder Miku Ito who made it 4-2 in the fifth minute of second half added time.
The win moved Sevilla to sixth on 34 points whilst Alaves remained bottom on 15 points.
Struggling sides Real Sociedad and Athletic Club played to a one-all draw at the Reale Arena on Sunday afternoon.
The hosts opened the scoring in the 13th minute from the penalty spot through midfielder Nerea Eizaggire after defender Marta Unzué had fouled forward Amaiur Sarriegi in the box and they took the lead into half-time.
The visitors levelled the scores five minutes into the second half through defender Naia Landaluze Marquínez who converted a pass from forward Ane Azkona.
The draw took Sociedad’s points tally to 31 whilst Athletic Club moved to 22, only five from the relegation zone.
Real Betis fought to a 1-0 victory over fellow relegation-threatened hosts Sporting Huelva at the Campo del CD Lamiya on Sunday afternoon.
The visitors were the first to make changes in the 71st minute having had a goalless first half, introducing defender Lucía León and forward Laura Moreno Moreno for midfielders Laurina and Violeta García Quiles respectively.
Substitute León was the heroine of the day after giving the visitors the lead at the death of the match when she converted a pass from fellow substitute Moreno Moreno.
The win moved Betis three points clear of the relegation zone on 20 points whilst Huelva remained holed up in the relegation zone with 17 points.
Results (Friday): Real Madrid 3-0 Levante Las Planas
Results (Saturday): Villarreal 1-2 UDG Tenerife; Madrid CFF 1-0 Levante; Sevilla 4-2 Alaves; Atlético Madrid 6-2 Valencia
Results (Sunday): Real Sociedad 1-1 Athletic Club; Sporting Huelva 0-1 Real Betis; Alhama CF ElPozo 0-2 Barcelona